Vast luxuries, such as saunas, a bar, food stands and appliances, were discovered by authorities entering a prison in northern Mexico to investigate a riot that killed 49 inmates.
Nuevo Leon state authorities on Sunday said in a statement that the cells inside Monterrey’s Topo Chico prison were outfitted with mini fridges, air conditioners, digital cable and aquariums, with 280 food and grocery stands where inmates could buy goods.
A riot broke out on Thursday last week between two rival factions of the Zetas drug cartel.
Heavy machinery was brought in to haul away tonnes of contraband furniture and other goods that authorities had piled in the prison yard, the statement said.
It added that police destroyed hundreds of altars to Santa Muerte, or Saint Death — some of them life-size. The folk figure is revered by drug traffickers and some people among the downtrodden.
Authorities did not say how long the abuses had occurred or who allowed them.
Nuevo Leon Governor Jaime Rodriguez last week said that 60 hammers, 86 knives and 120 shivs were used in the riot.
The prison’s director, superintendent and a guard have been arrested on murder charges.
On Monday, UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Mendezcalled on Mexico’s government to conduct an exhaustive investigation of the riot.
Mendez said that the government must guarantee that the victims’ families know what happened during the riot at the prison in the northern city of Monterrey.
The investigation should identify those responsible and include reparations for the victims’ relatives, Mendez said.
Mendez toured the prison in 2014. He said he witnessed horrible conditions and lax rules that allowed prisoners to govern themselves and led to violence.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese