Mexico City.- Following reports of hazing and abuse that cost the lives of cadets, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador decreed this Monday, August 5, a series of modifications to tighten the Regulations of the Military Education Law of the Mexican Army and Air Force.
According to the new provisions, physical, verbal, de facto or psychological abuse of other students, as well as any actions that put the physical integrity or health of such persons at risk, will be grounds for dismissal from training schools.
It will also proceed when injuries are caused that endanger the lives of other cadets or cause their death, and when there are circumstances that lead to the presumption of their intention to cause injury or that they participate with third parties.
“If these circumstances are fully proven, it does not matter what type of injury occurs,” he said.
The leave will apply even when the person responsible is on leave, on vacation, on leave or off duty.
“If one or more of the following conditions are present: 1. Causes injuries that endanger the life of another student or causes his death; 2. Is under the influence of alcoholic beverages or narcotics,” it details.
“3. The injuries of the affected person call into question the discipline or image and prestige of the Educational Institution, the Secretariat of National Defense or the Mexican Army and Air Force, or 4. The fact has merited the attention of the media.”
On February 20 of this year, an alleged hazing incident rocked the Army, leaving seven cadets dead.
In a routine exercise in Ensenada, Baja California, young people were forced to enter the rough sea with four-meter waves.
The issue was not brought up in the President’s morning press conference until March, when the Secretary of National Defense, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, offered a report on what had happened.
Of the group of cadets who were forced to go into the sea, 11 were swept away by the waves and 4 managed to get out or were rescued alive.
Lieutenant Colonel David López Ordaz, director of the El Ciprés Training Center, was arrested and prosecuted for the events.
That same month, the head of the Sedena ordered military commanders not to allow anything outside the training plans in training centers, including situations “of that nature.”
“The truth is that he (General Sandoval) called all the regional and zone commanders and the issue (of the alleged hazing in Baja California) was discussed. And they were asked to take care of everything related to training,” revealed the president.
According to the Organic Law of the Army, they may be discharged for observing bad conduct determined by the Honor Council of the Unit, Dependency or Military Education Establishment to which they belong, or for placing themselves in a situation of not being able to fulfill their military obligations, for reasons not attributable to the Sedena.
In the case of troops, auxiliary class soldiers and students of the Military Education System, they will be guaranteed a hearing in their defense.
According to the decree published in the Official Gazette of the Federation on Monday, the changes to the regulations also seek to ensure that the conduct of cadets does not put the image of military institutions at risk.
According to the amendments, it is established that an element will be discharged if he or she has engaged in conduct that calls into question the image and prestige of the educational institution, the Army and the Air Force.
Exhibition on networks
Now, the Regulation states that discharge will result for publishing, displaying, exhibiting, distributing, recording or disclosing photographs or images on social networks of military personnel, inside or outside military installations, in uniform, in civilian clothes or with uniform clothing or accessories that contain unequivocal signs or marks about their military identity.
But also with corporal, sexual content, real or simulated, that affects, in addition to military discipline, the prestige or image of the Educational Institution or the Secretariat of National Defense.
As for tattoos, they may not be in places visible when wearing the uniform, they may not be larger than 10 x 10 centimeters, images that are “offensive to morality or that glorify crime” are not permitted, and, in the case of having more than one tattoo, when these are larger than 10 percent of the body surface.
“The following are grounds for discharge (…) from officer training schools (…) for having piercings in any part of the body, with the exception of earlobe piercings permitted for female personnel,” he added.
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