Mexico&#39;s police and armed forces routinely torture and mistreat women, sometimes resorting to sexual violence during arrest and interrogation, Amnesty International wrote in a damning report released on Tuesday. 
 
The rights group interviewed 100 women who reported violence during arrest, all of whom described having been the victim of some form of sexual harassment or psychological abuse. Seven in ten of the women reported sexual violence during arrest or in the hours that followed. 
 
The types of mistreatment the women were subjected to included blows to the stomach and head, threats of rape directed either at them or their families, near-asphyxiation, electric shocks to the genitals, groping and rape. &nbsp; 
 
&quot;Police appear to be using them as easy targets for arrest to boost figures and show society that the government&rsquo;s security efforts are yielding results,&quot; said an Amnesty International statement. 
 
&quot;The women subjected to such violence are mostly young and from low income backgrounds. The multiple and intersecting discrimination these women face because of their gender, age and socio-economic situation increases their risk of being arbitrarily arrested and tortured or ill-treated,&quot; the statement said. 
 
The report found that many women arrested and imprisoned are single parents and face discrimination simply for not conforming to widely accepted gender expectations, such as having a male partner. 
 
Sex workers in Mexico also often find themselves at risk of torture and ill-treatment during arrest or in detention, the report said, as do women who are bisexual or lesbian. 
 
(AFP)&nbsp; 
 
 
 
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Seven in ten of the women reported sexual violence during arrest or in the hours that followed, says an Amnesty International report

Mexico's police and armed forces routinely torture and mistreat women, sometimes resorting to sexual violence during arrest and interrogation, Amnesty International wrote in a damning report released on Tuesday. The rights group interviewed 100 women who reported violence during arrest, all of whom described having been the victim of some form of sexual harassment or psychological abuse. Seven in ten of the women reported sexual violence during arrest or in the hours that followed. The types of mistreatment the women were subjected to included blows to the stomach and head, threats of rape directed either at them or their families, near-asphyxiation, electric shocks to the genitals, groping and rape. "Police appear to be using them as easy targets for arrest to boost figures and show society that the government’s security efforts are yielding results," said an Amnesty International statement. "The women subjected to such violence are mostly young and from low income backgrounds. The multiple and intersecting discrimination these women face because of their gender, age and socio-economic situation increases their risk of being arbitrarily arrested and tortured or ill-treated," the statement said. The report found that many women arrested and imprisoned are single parents and face discrimination simply for not conforming to widely accepted gender expectations, such as having a male partner. Sex workers in Mexico also often find themselves at risk of torture and ill-treatment during arrest or in detention, the report said, as do women who are bisexual or lesbian. (AFP)

'Mexico's police, armed forces routinely torture women during arrest, interrogation'

Mexico&#39;s finance minister Luis Videgaray announced on Friday a $1.68 billion budget cut to deal with the consequences of Britain&#39;s vote to leave the European Union. 
 
&quot;The British people have surprised the world,&quot; Videgaray said at a news conference. 
 
(AFP)

'The British people have surprised the world,' says Mexico finance minister Luis Videgaray

Mexico's finance minister Luis Videgaray announced on Friday a $1.68 billion budget cut to deal with the consequences of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. "The British people have surprised the world," Videgaray said at a news conference. (AFP)

Mexico announces $1.68 billion budget cut after Brexit

The President of Mexico&#39;s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, announced his resignation on Monday, two weeks after the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections. 
 
Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a former governor and veteran federal lawmaker, announced his decision to step down after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote. It previously held nine of them. 
 
The results were far worse for the centrist party than most polls had forecast. 
 
The PRI&#39;s losses included two oil-rich strongholds in the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz and neighboring Tamaulipas, both of which have been plagued by gang violence for years, as well as Quintana Roo, home to Mexico&#39;s top tourist destination Cancun. All three states have been run by the PRI for over eight decades. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s time for a necessary pause,&quot; Beltrones told a news conference at the PRI&#39;s Mexico City headquarters. 
 
&quot;This is a responsible decision that opens space for an internal debate and allows our party to freely decide the best path forward,&quot; he said. 
 
Beltrones, 63, is still seen as a possible presidential contender for the PRI in 2018. Pena Nieto is not allowed by law to seek a second six-year term. 
 
In a poll published Monday by daily newspaper El Financiero, Beltrones was tied for second with 10 per cent among PRI voters, trailing Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who had 32 per cent support. 
(Reuters)

Manlio Fabio Beltrones announced his decision after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote

The President of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, announced his resignation on Monday, two weeks after the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections. Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a former governor and veteran federal lawmaker, announced his decision to step down after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote. It previously held nine of them. The results were far worse for the centrist party than most polls had forecast. The PRI's losses included two oil-rich strongholds in the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz and neighboring Tamaulipas, both of which have been plagued by gang violence for years, as well as Quintana Roo, home to Mexico's top tourist destination Cancun. All three states have been run by the PRI for over eight decades. "It's time for a necessary pause," Beltrones told a news conference at the PRI's Mexico City headquarters. "This is a responsible decision that opens space for an internal debate and allows our party to freely decide the best path forward," he said. Beltrones, 63, is still seen as a possible presidential contender for the PRI in 2018. Pena Nieto is not allowed by law to seek a second six-year term. In a poll published Monday by daily newspaper El Financiero, Beltrones was tied for second with 10 per cent among PRI voters, trailing Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who had 32 per cent support. (Reuters)

Head of Mexico's ruling party resigns after electoral drubbing

Gunmen marched into a remote mountain village in Mexico on Friday and killed 11 members of a family, including two children, apparently over &quot;personal conflicts&quot;, authorities said. 
 
Five women, four men and two girls were killed in the pre-dawn attack in El Mirador, a community in central Puebla state, near Oaxaca. 
 
Two other girls were wounded in the attack and were taken to a hospital. 
 
Witnesses identified two assailants and recognised one of them as a man who allegedly sexually abused one of the dead women nine years ago, resulting in the birth a boy, according to the state prosecutor&#39;s office. 
 
The woman&#39;s current partner, who was killed, was stabbed several times and had &quot;more wounds than the other&quot; victims, the office said in a statement. 
 
The two assailants fled toward neighboring Oaxaca state. Authorities in both states are searching for them but the hamlet is so remote that it is only accessible on foot. 
 
&quot;It was an act of revenge,&quot; said Vicente Lopez de la Vega, mayor of Coxcatlan, the municipality that oversees El Mirador. 
 
&quot;To kill 11 people like that, you don&#39;t have feelings. It&#39;s alarming,&quot; Lopez de la Vega said. 
 
The prosecutor&#39;s office said the gunmen &quot;arrived on foot where the family was located, fired several times and left on foot.&quot; 
 
Pistol and rifle bullet casings were found at the scene. 
 
Government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they was not authorized to speak publicly, said the attack took place inside one home. 
 
Two witnesses have been placed under state protection. 
 
An official at the prosecutor&#39;s office had earlier said that authorities were investigating whether the crime was related to organized crime or a family dispute. 
 
The village is inhabited by Evangelicals who broke away from another community of Catholics, El Potrero. But the mayor said the two villages respected each other. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s a community in harmony, but things change. There&#39;s immigration. Many go north of the country and to the United States. Sometimes when people come back the harmony is lost,&quot; Lopez de la Vega said. 
 
Recent violence 
 
It is the latest murder to rock Puebla, a region that has been relatively spared the drug violence that has plagued other parts of Mexico. 
 
In March, an undetermined number of human remains were found in various acid containers in a rural area. 
 
In April, four bodies were found inside a burnt car near Veracruz, an eastern state beset by murders and disappearances linked to drug cartels. Two of the bodies belonged to sisters of a jailed Zetas drug cartel member, Veracruz authorities said. 
 
That same day, three other bodies were found in the same area near a facility of state-run oil firm Pemex. 
 
Late last month, four people died when gunmen linked to fuel thefts opened fire in the village of La Purisima, a region where rival gangs seek to control such illegal pipeline taps. 
 
Puebla has also seen a spate of mob lynchings of crime suspects.

The two assailants fled towards neighbouring Oaxaca state after killing 11 of a family including two children in a pre-dawn attack

Gunmen marched into a remote mountain village in Mexico on Friday and killed 11 members of a family, including two children, apparently over "personal conflicts", authorities said. Five women, four men and two girls were killed in the pre-dawn attack in El Mirador, a community in central Puebla state, near Oaxaca. Two other girls were wounded in the attack and were taken to a hospital. Witnesses identified two assailants and recognised one of them as a man who allegedly sexually abused one of the dead women nine years ago, resulting in the birth a boy, according to the state prosecutor's office. The woman's current partner, who was killed, was stabbed several times and had "more wounds than the other" victims, the office said in a statement. The two assailants fled toward neighboring Oaxaca state. Authorities in both states are searching for them but the hamlet is so remote that it is only accessible on foot. "It was an act of revenge," said Vicente Lopez de la Vega, mayor of Coxcatlan, the municipality that oversees El Mirador. "To kill 11 people like that, you don't have feelings. It's alarming," Lopez de la Vega said. The prosecutor's office said the gunmen "arrived on foot where the family was located, fired several times and left on foot." Pistol and rifle bullet casings were found at the scene. Government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they was not authorized to speak publicly, said the attack took place inside one home. Two witnesses have been placed under state protection. An official at the prosecutor's office had earlier said that authorities were investigating whether the crime was related to organized crime or a family dispute. The village is inhabited by Evangelicals who broke away from another community of Catholics, El Potrero. But the mayor said the two villages respected each other. "It's a community in harmony, but things change. There's immigration. Many go north of the country and to the United States. Sometimes when people come back the harmony is lost," Lopez de la Vega said. Recent violence It is the latest murder to rock Puebla, a region that has been relatively spared the drug violence that has plagued other parts of Mexico. In March, an undetermined number of human remains were found in various acid containers in a rural area. In April, four bodies were found inside a burnt car near Veracruz, an eastern state beset by murders and disappearances linked to drug cartels. Two of the bodies belonged to sisters of a jailed Zetas drug cartel member, Veracruz authorities said. That same day, three other bodies were found in the same area near a facility of state-run oil firm Pemex. Late last month, four people died when gunmen linked to fuel thefts opened fire in the village of La Purisima, a region where rival gangs seek to control such illegal pipeline taps. Puebla has also seen a spate of mob lynchings of crime suspects.

Gunmen attack family in Mexico, kill 11

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