MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -- The Mexican army has filed sedition and
                  conspiracy charges against five dissident officers and their fugitive leader for
                  launching an unprecedented protest denouncing alleged human rights abuses
                  in the army.

                  The Defence Ministry announced the action on Monday night in the latest
                  crackdown on the dissident officers, who have focused public attention on
                  an institution accustomed to the shadows.

                  The dissidents, who complain of repression in the military justice system, are
                  led by army doctor Lt. Col. Hildegardo Bacilio Gomez, leader of the
                  so-called Patriotic Command to Raise the Consciousness of the People.

                  Bacilio Gomez burst onto the scene last month when he staged a protest
                  march in uniform with about 50 other soldiers of various ranks down Mexico
                  City's Reforma boulevard, calling on Defence Minister Gen. Enrique
                  Cervantes to step down. He went into hiding soon afterward.

                  Last week five lieutenants loyal to Bacilio Gomez were arrested in Mexico
                  City after attempting to deliver a letter of protest to President Ernesto
                  Zedillo.

                  "They (military high command) are trying to send a very strong message that
                  they don't want these issues discussed publicly and they especially don't
                  want them being discussed by active duty officers," Roderic Camp, a leading
                  expert on the Mexican military and a professor at California's Claremont
                  McKenna College, told Reuters.

                  But he added: "I think it's a mistake if the high command doesn't respond to
                  the internal change which these demands imply. I think there is some
                  sympathy for these issues within the military."

                  Camp said the military justice system was unfair to some extent, with
                  courts-martial taking place for minor offenses and commanding officers
                  meting out justice subjectively.

                  Bacilio Gomez has remained at large, but the other five were shipped off to a
                  military prison in the Pacific Coast city of Mazatlan, about 550 miles (900
                  km) northwest of Mexico City, the defence ministry said.

                  "All of them are presumed responsible for the following offenses: sedition,
                  conspiracy to commit sedition, insubordination and violation of common
                  duties that they are obligated to perform, according to the Code of Military
                  Justice," the ministry statement said.

                  "Lt. Col. Bacilio also is considered responsible for the offenses of slander
                  and defamation against the army and its institutions," the statement said.

                  Media reports suggested the men could get at least 10 to 12 years in prison
                  if convicted.

                  Investigations were continuing against other military men who marched with
                  Bacilio Gomez on Dec. 18. The dissident movement, which claims to be
                  standing up for 1,500 soldiers accused by an unfair military justice system,
                  also has support from retired military officers.

                    Copyright 1999 Reuters.