Investigators find signs of 'Dirty War' abuses at Mexico army camp

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A truth commission investigating Mexico's so-called "Dirty War" of the 1960s-1980s said Friday there were indications that serious human rights violations were committed at a military base in the capital.

The announcement came after victims visited the army camp in Mexico City for the first time along with investigators probing decades-old alleged abuses against leftist movements.

"We found credible signs that Military Camp No. 1 was the scene of crimes against humanity and very serious human rights violations," commission member David Fernandez told a news conference.

Investigators, survivors and relatives were allowed to spend three days at the army base on the instructions of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

What they saw supported the testimony of survivors and will facilitate a more in-depth investigation, Fernandez said.

Erasmo Cabanas, who was detained in the military camp twice between 1976 and 1977, said that some of the people who disappeared during the dark chapter in Mexican history were "tortured and killed" at the base.

"Tell us where the clandestine graves are because it's important to know where our relatives are," said Cabanas, a relative of a 1970s guerrilla leader.

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which for decades ruled Mexico as a one-party state, was accused of using torture, forced disappearances and killing to suppress guerrilla, student and labor movements of the time.

Lopez Obrador vowed "zero impunity" for abuses at the inauguration of the truth commission in June, saying that his government had given orders "not to hide anything."

Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval acknowledged that some military actions at the time had fallen short of "the principles of legality and humanity."