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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Mexican Lt. Colonel to be tried for 2009 murders |
| 2012-02-10 |
| For a map, click here For a map of Chihuahua state, click here By Chris Covert A Mexican Army lieutenant colonel held for murder since 2010 is going to trial for the 2009 execution of civilians during a security operation in Chihuahua state, according to Mexican news accounts. Lt. Colonel of Infantry Alfredo Bravo Alcaraz has been in detention in a penal barracks near Mexico City since March of 2010, by order of a military judge. A second officer, Second Captain Alberto Miguel Gutierrez has also been charged in the incident for failing to notify his superiors about the incident. The Second Captain was detail commander for the Immediate Reaction Force involved in the incident. The incident took place near Nuevas Casas Grandes, Chihuahua on March 19th, 2009 where the Immediate Reaction Force detachment commanded by Second Captain Miguel Gutierrez had been dispatched to Pena Blanca with orders to arrest an unidentified member of La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Juarez Cartel. Along with the detachment came Lt Colonel Bravo Alcaraz, then deputy commander of the Mexican 35th Infantry Battalion, 5th Military Zone. On the way to Pena Blanca soldiers in the detail observed a GMC Sierra pickup truck with two passengers, which began to maneuver off the road to flee the army convoy. Lt. Colonel Bravo Alcaraz opened fire on the vehicle with an MP-5 submachine gun. Several other riflemen in the detail opened fire on the vehicle along with the colonel. The driver was killed in the shooting. The passenger dismounted the vehicle and attempted to flee the scene but was caught by several soldiers. The Lt.Colonel asked another officer, Lieutenant Cruz Violante why the captive civilian had been brought to him. "Why do the motherf*ckers live? Take him and kill him here," said the Lt. Colonel Bravo Alcaraz. Corporal Vincent Ramirez Marquez was then ordered by the Lt. Colonel to execute the civilian by shooting him in the forehead with his G3 rifle. The pickup truck was set afire and then rolled into a ravine to make it appear the victims were killers who had run from the military. Later, the detail arrived in Pena Blanca, but only managed to secure an AK-47 rifle and two vehicles. The two vehicles, a Hummer SUV and and Mercedes Benz sedan were apparently requisitioned by Lt. Colonel Bravo Alcaraz and concealed from authorities. It is customary for Mexican military units in the field following an incident, whether it is an arrest or a shooting, to turn over all seized property to local prosecutors. The taking of prizes or booty by the Mexican military is forbidden. Currently, civilian federal legal authorities are attempting to determine whether Lt. Colonel Bravo Acaraz will be tried in a civilian or a military court. The military investigating incidents involving civilians is a source of protest for human rights groups in Mexico, which claim -- albeit without much evidence -- the military is less likely to prosecute soldiers for serious crimes in the conduct of their duties in the field. A July, 2011 Supreme Court decision mandated that all incidents involving the military and civilians must be investigated and tried in civilian courts. A later unofficial public reinterpretation of the court decree left the disposition of cases that make it to federal court a judge's sole discretion. The presumption is that Mexican federal judges can determine whether the investigation and prosecutions were within federal law. To read the original Rantburg.com report on the Mexican Supreme Court decision, click here and here. Since that decision, three high profile cases involving civilians and allegedly involving military personnel have been sent to the Mexican federal courts system, but two of those cases may never be properly adjudicated due to the incompetence of the civilian judicial authorities and victims' refusal to accept military jurisdiction. It seems clear by the announcement today that the case involving the 2009 Pena Blanca incident is already resolved, only the final disposition has yet to be determined. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #2 I think the incident shows just how little regard a Mexican Army field officer has for a detail commander. Lt.Colonel Alcarz should never have been permitted in the convoy with a loaded MP-5 submachine gun. He was not expected to be a shooter. Either Second Captain Miguel Gutieterrz was too cowed by the presence of the deputy commander, or he is not allowed to countermand an officer who is with his detail. |
| Posted by: badanov 2012-02-10 16:49 |
| #1 Did he use Fast and Furious weapons? Maybe he could get Holder named as a co-conspirator. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2012-02-10 10:07 |
