ARCELIA, Mexico (AP) – Mexico’s Civil Rights Commission says it is investigating the circumstances of a June confrontation between the army and a suspected drug gang that left 22 people dead.
The revelation came Thursday after The Associated Press quoted a woman as saying she saw soldiers fatally shoot her 15-year-old daughter in the incident even though the girl was lying wounded on the ground. Twenty others also were shot to death after they surrendered and were disarmed, the mother said. She said one youth was slain earlier in a gunbattle with the troops.
The Mexican government has maintained that all 22 died during a fierce shootout when soldiers were fired on in the early morning of June 30. That version came into question because government troops suffered only one wounded, and physical evidence at the scene pointed toward more selective killings.
“We have an investigation and are discussing the case to find out what really happened,” Human Rights Commission President Raul Plascencia said.
According to the witness, only one gunman died in the initial shootout, and another gang member and her daughter were wounded. The rest of the gunmen surrendered on the promise they would not be hurt, she said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.