MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A major human rights group is urging new
                 President Vicente Fox to take stronger measures against torture in
                 Mexico, saying the practice remains widespread.

                 "It can be found at all levels of Mexico's federal, state and municipal system of
                 administration," Amnesty International said in a report made public Tuesday.

                  Fox took office on December 1, ending 71 years of single-party rule in Mexico.
                 He immediately vowed to clean up Mexico's long-notorious human rights
                 record.

                 Former presidents and attorneys general repeatedly admitted the use of torture
                 by Mexican law enforcement agents and troops and vowed to stamp it out.
                 Several pushed through laws to attack the problem.

                 Even so, the report said, "Confronting torture and abolishing the practice in
                 Mexico is an objective which no government has yet achieved."

                 It said that during a visit to Mexico in March, Amnesty leaders gave Fox a list
                 of unresolved cases of torture and ill-treatment, but "four months on, we are yet
                 to see progress in any of these cases."

                 "What is worse, evidence shows that torture is still used to extract confessions
                 and secure convictions in the context of poorly developed and ineffective
                 criminal and forensic investigation services," it said in a news release acco
                 mpanying the report.

                 "Torture exists. That is undeniable. But important actions are being taken" to
                 stop it, said Mario Alvarez, director-general for protection of human rights at
                 the federal attorney general's office.

                 The attorney general's office oversees the Federal Judicial Police, which in past
                 years was notorious for abusing suspects.

                 Alvarez said that in the first half of this year, the National Human Rights
                 Commission had asked it to investigate 354 complaints of human rights
                 violations. He said only two of those involved allegations of torture.

                 He said the office was putting its agents through mandatory classes in observing
                 human rights and was working to improve and standardize reporting of alleged
                 torture cases.

                 Mexican law forbids use of testimony extracted under torture, but Amnesty said
                 many judges continue to accept such evidence.

                 The organization also complained about the continuing use of soldiers in police
                 operations and the refusal to try soldiers accused of human rights violations in
                 civilian courts.

                 Amnesty proposed a lengthy list of reforms, including naming independent
                 prosecutors, giving those arrested an explanation of their rights, ensuring that
                 they can have an attorney present when questioned and cracking down on
                 arrests without warrants.

                 Alvarez said Mexico was already looking at steps such as permitting injunctions
                 based on international law or giving international human rights courts standing
                 within Mexico.

                 (Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

                  Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.