MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities arrested five policemen on Monday on suspicion of torture after a video was made public showing police officers submerging a detainee's head in a bucket of water.
An official at the attorney general's office said five Mexico City police officers were taken into custody over the alleged torture, which took place in the capital's tough inner city neighborhood of Tepito last month.
Soon after the incident, a video was posted on the Internet showing a man with his shirt pulled over his head being dunked in a bucket of water while in the custody of a unit of well-armed policemen.
President Felipe Calderon's term in office has been dominated by an army-led crackdown on drug trafficking cartels, which sparked a wave of criminal violence that has claimed more than 45,000 lives in the past five years.
Human rights groups have accused the police and army of abuses, including torture and killings, though very few officials have been convicted. Last month activists asked the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate Calderon and top officials over the allegations.
An official at the attorney general's office said five Mexico City police officers were taken into custody over the alleged torture, which took place in the capital's tough inner city neighborhood of Tepito last month.
Soon after the incident, a video was posted on the Internet showing a man with his shirt pulled over his head being dunked in a bucket of water while in the custody of a unit of well-armed policemen.
President Felipe Calderon's term in office has been dominated by an army-led crackdown on drug trafficking cartels, which sparked a wave of criminal violence that has claimed more than 45,000 lives in the past five years.
Human rights groups have accused the police and army of abuses, including torture and killings, though very few officials have been convicted. Last month activists asked the International Criminal Court in The Hague to investigate Calderon and top officials over the allegations.