AZMEX I3 13-7-14

AZMEX I3 13 JUL 2014


Note: Most of local Sonora media seems to have missed this story. Perhaps waiting for guidance from DNC/PRI?


Nogales, Son.

Rights group says Mexican police raided shelter, robbed migrants
Posted: Saturday, July 12, 2014 6:13 pm | Updated: 6:40 pm, Sat Jul 12, 2014.
Nogales International

http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/rights-group-says-mexican-police-raided-shelter-robbed-migrants/article_ec78c43e-0a2a-11e4-949b-0019bb2963f4.html

A gang of state and municipal police officers barged into a shelter in Nogales, Sonora, where they robbed and terrorized a group of mostly Central Americans, a migrant rights organization said.

In a letter to local, state and federal officials in Mexico that was also sent to media outlets, the Nogales-based Kino Border Initiative said a group of migrants came to the comedor (soup kitchen) it operates in Nogales, Sonora on Friday morning and reported an assault that began at approximately 11 p.m. on Thursday at the Albuergue Cristiano la Roca where they were staying.

According to the KBI, a group of 20 people – 19 masked men and a large blonde woman – arrived in police pickups and began banging on the door to the shelter. Once inside, the intruders, who did not have a search warrant, ordered everyone to kneel.

Those staying at the shelter at the time included 20 migrants: 18 from Central America and two Mexicans, the KBI said. The invaders reportedly pointed pistols at their heads and ordered them to put their hands on their heads and look at the floor. Then, the men allegedly robbed the migrants of their belongings, including money and cell phones, which they gave to the blonde woman. They also threatened to turn them in to Mexican immigration authorities.

The migrants were then locked up for an hour and a half in the dark until the assailants left, the KBI said.
One of the migrants took note of the numbers on the patrol trucks and called 066 – the Mexican equivalent of 911 – for help. However, 40 minutes later, the same group of officers returned, saying they wanted to detain the person who had made the call. They also took photos of the faces of the migrants and threatened retribution if they complained, the KBI said.

Meanwhile, the intruders removed the shelter's El Salvadoran host family from their residence above the migrant dormitory, and upon realizing they weren't Mexicans, demanded their immigration papers, which they produced. The couple's six children were also present, the KBI said.

The shelter has a phony security camera posted outside, and when the assailants saw it, they destroyed it and went in search of its video monitor, the KBI said.

The following morning after the migrants arrived at the comedor and told their story, KBI staffers filed complaints with the municipal police in Nogales, Sonora, as well as the state and federal human rights commissions.

Spokeswomen for the Nogales, Sonora municipal police and Sonora state police did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.

Migrants and their advocates have long complained that corrupt cops in Mexico prey on those traveling through the country to the U.S. border. Criminals in Mexico are also known to impersonate police in order to commit robbery and extortion.

END



Mexican police raid immigrant shelter in Nogales, group says
Photo by Greg Bryan/Arizona Daily Star
5 hours ago • Arizona Daily Star

http://tucson.com/news/local/border/mexican-police-raid-immigrant-shelter-in-nogales-group-says/article_05a70600-0a03-11e4-96d2-001a4bcf887a.html

An immigrant rights group said a shelter in Nogales, Sonora, was raided by local and state police Thursday night, with officers allegedly threatening residents and robbing them at gunpoint.

Twenty migrants, mostly from Central America, were asleep at La Roca Christian Shelter when at least eight marked patrol units swarmed the building. Officers broke down the door and ordered the immigrants to get on the ground, said members of the Kino Border Initiative, a binational organization that works with migrants in Ambos Nogales.

The family that runs the shelter was asleep on the second floor when they were also rousted by police. The armed group included 19 men in ski masks and a woman who appeared to be leading the operation, a news release said.

The officers went through the immigrants' belongings, allegedly taking their money and cell phones, before locking them in a room and threatening to deport them. After approximately 90 minutes the group left.

Shelter residents called the city's emergency number for help, but instead of aid the original group returned.

The officers demanded that the person who made the call be turned over to them. When shelter residents refused, they took a picture of every migrant at the shelter and said they would be beaten or killed if any of them talked, the release said.

Rights groups have filed complaints with Mexican state and federal authorities, as well as with state and federal human rights commissions.

A call to the Nogales municipal police went unanswered Saturday.

Story developing. Check back for more updates.

END