TAPACHULA, Mexico — An 11-year-old Egyptian lady and her 18-year-old sister have been amongst these killed after Mexican military troops opened hearth on a truck carrying migrants earlier this week, an official mentioned Friday.
The sisters, and 4 different migrants from nations together with Peru and Honduras, have been killed on Tuesday within the southern state of Chiapas.
An official within the state’s prosecutors workplace confirmed the identification of the 2 sisters and mentioned their father was wounded within the capturing, however survived. The official was not licensed to be quoted by title, however a second federal official confirmed that data on the identical foundation.
Federal officers, together with newly inaugurated President Claudia Sheinbaum, once more refused Friday to verify the ages or genders of the six migrants killed within the capturing, which occurred on Sheinbaum’s first day in workplace.
The Egyptian embassy in Mexico and the Egyptian international ministry didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Troopers claimed they heard pictures and returned hearth and officers have studiously averted saying the migrants have been killed by military gunfire. Nonetheless, that seems to be the case, and two troopers have been relieved of obligation and turned over to civilian prosecutors for questioning.
The killings positioned unsure Sheinbaum’s statements over her first days in workplace that human rights will probably be on the forefront of her administration’s insurance policies.
Requested about her immigration coverage Friday, Sheinbaum mentioned solely that the killings have been beneath investigation and doubled down on earlier claims that the federal government would not violate human rights.
“To begin with, human rights are revered,” Sheinbaum mentioned. “That is essential, that’s the reason it’s referred to as a humanistic immigration coverage, as a result of human rights are on the forefront.”
Three of the useless have been from Egypt, and one every from Peru and Honduras. The opposite has apparently not but been recognized.
Ten different migrants have been wounded within the capturing. however there has not been any data on their circumstances.
Peru’s international ministry confirmed one Peruvian was killed and demanded “an pressing investigation” into the killings. Peru and Mexico have had broken relations since a 2022 diplomatic spat.
It was the worst killing of migrants by authorities in Mexico since police within the northern state of Tamaulipas killed 17 migrants in 2021.
Sheinbaum has mentioned the shootings are being investigated to see if any commanders would possibly face punishment, and famous “a state of affairs like this can’t be repeated.”
However she disregarded any point out of that Thursday at a ceremony at a Mexico Metropolis military base, the place military and navy commanders pledged their loyalty to her in entrance of massed fight automobiles and a whole lot of troops.
“In our nation, there’s not a state of siege, there aren’t any violations of human rights,” Sheinbaum mentioned, as she promised wage will increase for troopers and sailors.
The shootings Tuesday occurred close to the town of Tapachula, close to the border with Guatemala.
The Protection Division initially mentioned that troopers claimed to have heard pictures as a convoy of three vehicles handed the troopers’ place.
The Lawyer Basic’s Workplace later mentioned all three vehicles ignored orders to cease and tried to flee. The troopers pursued them and reported coming beneath hearth from the convoy, and returned hearth.
One of many vehicles ultimately stopped, the driving force reportedly fled, and a complete of 33 migrants have been discovered aboard, from the three nations already talked about, in addition to Nepal, Cuba, India and Pakistan.
The Protection Division mentioned 4 of the migrants have been discovered useless, and 12 wounded. Two of the wounded later died of their accidents. Sheinbaum refused to say whether or not any weapons have been discovered within the migrants’ truck.
The realm is a typical route for smuggling migrants, who are sometimes packed into crowded freight vehicles. It has additionally been the scene of drug cartel turf battles, and the division mentioned the vehicles “have been just like these utilized by legal teams within the area.”
Irineo Mujica, a migrant rights activist, mentioned he doubted the migrants or their smugglers opened hearth.
“It’s actually not possible that these individuals would have been capturing on the military,” Mujica mentioned. “More often than not, they get by way of by paying bribes.”
If the deaths have been the results of military hearth, as seems doubtless, it may show a significant embarrassment for Sheinbaum.
The brand new president has adopted the lead of former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador in giving the armed forces extraordinary powers in regulation enforcement, state-run firms , airports, trains and building initiatives.
It’s not the primary time Mexican forces have opened hearth on automobiles carrying migrants within the space, which can be the thing of cartel turf battles.
In 2021, the quasi-military Nationwide Guard opened hearth on a pickup truck carrying migrants, killing one and wounding 4. The Guard officers initially claimed a few of these within the migrants’ truck have been armed and had fired pictures, however the governmental Nationwide Human Rights Fee later discovered that was not true.
And in 2021, state police in Tamaulipas killed 17 migrants and two Mexican residents. These officers additionally initially claimed to have come beneath hearth from the migrants’ automobiles.
They argued they have been responding to pictures fired and believed they have been chasing the automobiles of one in every of the nation’s drug cartels, which often take part in migrant smuggling. However that later turned out to be false, and the police in truth burned the victims’ our bodies in an try to cowl up the crime.
Eleven of the policemen have been convicted of murder and sentenced to over 50 years in jail.
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Related Press reporter Fabiola Sánchez contributed from Mexico Metropolis.
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Comply with AP’s protection of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
