Mexico torture training videos reveal US trainer

Videos showing police in Leon, Mexico practicing torture techniques on a fellow officer and dragging another through vomit at the instruction of a US adviser have created an uproar in Mexico. The videos appeared on the internet just as the country, soon to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in US anti-drug aid, is seeking to improve its human rights record. Two of the videos -- broadcast by national television networks and displayed on newspaper internet sites -- showed what Leon city Police Chief Carlos Tornero described as training for an elite unit that must face "real-life, high-stress situations," such as kidnapping and torture by organized crime groups. But many Mexicans saw a sinister side, especially at a moment when police and soldiers across the country are struggling with scandals over alleged abuses. "They are teaching police... to torture!" read the headline in the Mexico City newspaper Reforma. One of the videos, first obtained by the newspaper El Heraldo de Leon, shows police appearing to squirt water up a man's nose - a technique once notorious among Mexican police. Then they dunk his head in a hole said to be full of excrement and rats. The man gasps for air and moans repeatedly. The videos show officers from Leon's Special Tactics Group, known by its Spanish-language initials, GET. In one video, a man who appears to be in extreme pain is shown kneeling in the dirt. An instructor -- a bearded man of medium build in a black T-shirt, jeans and sunglasses -- gives orders in English. "Now get him to roll back into the puke," the instructor tells one of the trainees. The man, dressed in camouflage, can be seen rolling toward the vomit. But he does not touch it. "He missed it. Roll back," the instructor says. "This punishment works," a trainee, whose face is not shown, can be heard saying in English. "These are no more than training exercises for certain situations, but I want to stress that we are not showing people how to use these methods," Tornero said. He said the English-speaking man was part of a private US security company helping to train the agents, but he refused to give details. A third video transmitted by the Televisa network showed officers jumping on the ribs of a suspect curled into a fetal position in the bed of a pickup truck. Mexican and international human rights organizations expressed concern over the videos. "This is troubling," said Sergio Aguayo, founder of the nonprofit Mexican Academy for Human Rights. "In the past, torture was usually hidden. Now they don't even bother." Residents in several states have accused Mexican soldiers of committing hundreds of human rights violations, including rape and unjustified shootings, during a crackdown on drug cartels. Activists say Mexicans frequently do not make human rights complaints against local police for fear of retribution. In recent months, human rights concerns shaped negotiations between US and Mexican lawmakers over a $400 million US aid package designed to help Mexico fight drug cartels. Mexican officials persuaded the US Congress to remove some human rights conditions, but a provision prohibiting Mexico from using testimony derived from tortured witnesses remained in the final bill.