Video shows Mexican soldiers helping torture woman with plastic bag held over her head

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This screengrab from a cellphone video shows a woman being tortured by having a plastic bag held tight over her face by an unidentified federal police officer. Mexico's Defence Department says the events occurred on February 4, 2015 in a small mountain town in southern Guerrero state. Photo: AP

Published: 12:52pm, 15 Apr 2016Updated: 12:52pm, 15 Apr 2016

Two Mexican soldiers face military charges after a video surfaced of them helping a federal police officer torture a female suspect, the army said Thursday.

A female military police officer is seen in the video interrogating the woman. She pulls the woman’s hair and puts the muzzle of a rifle against her head. Later, a blue-uniformed federal police officer puts the woman’s head inside a plastic bag until she almost passes out.

The Defense Department said the events occurred February 4, 2015, in Ajuchitan, a small mountain town in southern Guerrero state. Opium poppy plantations are common in the area, where drug cartels operate.

Two soldiers stand over a woman with her head covered in a video said to show them helping a federal police officer torture the female suspect. Photo: AP

The National Security Commission, which oversees federal police, said its internal affairs unit had launched an investigation, and the Attorney General’s Office said it has been investigating the events since January.

Mexico’s army said the two soldiers were in a military prison facing charges of failure to obey orders.

Under Mexican law, civilian prosecutors are supposed to investigate army abuses against civilians, but soldiers can also face simultaneous charges in military tribunals.