July 1, 2008, 9:47AM
Videos allegedly show Mexican police engaged in torture



MEXICO CITY — Videos shown by Mexican news media allegedly display municipal police participating in torture.

One of the videos shows members of an elite tactical unit trying out methods on a fellow officer. They appear to squirt water up his nose and dunk his head in a hole said to be full of excrement and rats. The man gasps for air and moans repeatedly.

In another video, an unidentified English-speaking man who appears to be training the group forces one exhausted agent to roll over into his own vomit.

The Reforma newspaper said today that local officials defended the action of the agents, saying they were being prepared for extreme situations.

Mexican officials have long struggled to eliminate torture by police agencies.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5865575.html