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Mexico City's police chief ousted following botched night club raid |
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Written by Jaime Zea, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
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MEXICO CITY - Mexico City's police chief was forced out of office on Tuesday following a botched nightclub raid that resulted in the deaths of 12 people.
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the resignation of police Chief Joel Ortega was the first step in a plan to "reconstruct" the police force. Ortega had held the post since 2004, when he replaced Ebrard, who was fired in a different police scandal.
The mayor made the announcement shortly after Mexico City's Human Rights Commission presented a report alleging rampant misconduct by officials in the June 20 raid on the News Divine nightclub that it said "created a death trap."
A criminal investigation did not find evidence that Ortega had committed any crime, but he has been the target of harsh criticism.
Ebrard said that he wants to "make major institutional changes" to the city's police department to avoid such tragedies in the future.
"We have to build a different kind of police force," he said.
Officers responding to reports of drugs and underage drinking blocked the club's lone exit, creating a deadly stampede in which nine patrons and three police were asphyxiated or crushed to death.
Thirty-nine police and borough officials, as well as the club's owner, have been charged in the case. The precinct police chief who led the raid, Guillermo Zayas, faces 12 counts of homicide. Zayas said in a television interview Tuesday that he's being made a scapegoat.
The raid showed "systematic abuse, mistreatment and negligence by police," said Emilio Alvarez, president of the city's human rights commission.
"These acts cannot be seen as isolated events," Alvarez said. "They constitute systematic and institutionalized practices, which must be eradicated."
The human rights commission said police only had one bus to load up the detained youths.
"The lack of buses motivated the decision to block the exit with a large group of police," causing the youths to pile up in a narrow hallway where many died, the report stated.
The report said 10 women - eight of them minors - were forced to strip for a medical exam, despite the fact they weren't accused of any crime, and their parents weren't notified or asked for consent.
Alvarez quoted one of the women as saying "not even my mother sees me nude. Why should other people see me?" A male police officer was allegedly present during the exams.
The commission also accused city police and prosecutors of trying to obstruct its investigation into the raid.
City prosecutor Rodolfo Felix Cardenas also offered his resignation on Tuesday, but Ebrard did not say if he would accept it.
The club's owner faces charges of involuntary homicide for allegedly overcrowding the club and blocking emergency exits. He also is charged with corruption of minors for allegedly allowing youths to drink.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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