Mexican soldiers, police to face torture trial

Mexican soldiers, police to face torture trial

MEXICO CITY - Three federal police officers and two soldiers will face trial on torture charges after a video surfaced showing a woman being nearly suffocated with a bag, authorities said Wednesday.

The case is the latest allegation of torture against the country's security forces amid a relentless drug war.

The video, which circulated on social media, shows a policewoman placing a bag over the woman's head while she is being interrogated.

A female soldier also points the muzzle of her assault rifle on the head of the woman, who sobs as she sits barefoot on a dirt floor.

Officials say the video captures an incident that took place in February 2015 in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, in the southern state of Guerrero.

The defence ministry, which arrested the two soldiers on charges of disobeying orders, says it only learned about it last December.

In addition to the policewoman, two male officers were charged, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

The defence ministry has said that the troops were an army captain and the female soldier.

The heads of Mexico's military and National Security Commission, which oversees the federal police, issued rare apologies over the incident.

Rights groups say the video shows that torture remains a technique for authorities to obtain coerced confessions.

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