Mexico investigates military actions over video of ‘execution’ of five people

Mexican prosecutors are investigating what the country’s president on Wednesday called an “execution” after soldiers beat and then shot five men they pulled from a wrecked pickup truck.

The investigation, confirmed by the Department of Defense, follows the media release on Tuesday of video footage from the northern state of Tamaulipas, dated May 18, showing about a dozen military personnel surrounding a truck after it crashed into a wall at high speed.

The video shows soldiers kicking and punching the five passengers out of the car before pinning them against the wall. One soldier can be seen pulling a long-barreled gun from the truck. The troops then appear to take cover and fire into the distance at unseen targets before shooting at the people.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at a press conference on Wednesday that the killings appeared to be an “execution”.

The Ministry of Defense said prosecutors from the military justice department were investigating.

“There is no impunity in the conduct of military personnel and no conduct will be tolerated that is against the law,” the ministry said in a statement late Tuesday.

The ministry said the Attorney General’s Office has a mandate to investigate and that the Defense Department is cooperating.

The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it had launched an investigation.

The incident took place in the city of Nuevo Laredo, the same location where Mexican soldiers killed five people in February, according to human rights groups.

© Thomson Reuters 2023.