Mexico Condemns Police Killings of 3 Citizens, Says 'Incidents Cannot Be Seen in an Isolated Fashion'

Mexico's foreign ministry on Tuesday forcefully condemned the death of Ernesto Javier Canepa Díaz, a Mexican citizen shot to death by police in Santa Ana, California, on Friday, according to a statement released on its Web site and carried by the OEM newswire.

The Mexican government called on the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Díaz's death along with those of two other of its citizens -- Antonio Zambrano-Montes and Rubén García Villalpando -- who were fatally shot last month by authorities in Pasco, Washington, and Euless, Texas, respectively.

"These incidents cannot be seen in an isolated fashion," the government's statement insisted. The U.S. Justice Department has to "make sure that (the investigation) be marked by transparency and that, if necessary, the appropriate criminal or civil responsibility take place."

Mexico said it joined a variety of organizations of civil society in their urgent call on police to revise authorities' use-of-force policies and practices.

Police in Santa Ana have not confirmed the identity of Canepa Díaz, but the Mexican foreign ministry said the country's consul in the Californian city had met with members of the man's family on Sunday to offer diplomatic assistance, according to Animal Político.

Consul Alejandra García Williams apparently spoke with the Santa Ana Police Chief Carlos Rojas and Orange County prosecutors to convey her "profound concern" over Canepa Díaz's death. The diplomat asked to be kept abreast of the investigation and urged authorities to take measures to prevent similar incidents, the Mexican Web site detailed.

U.S. authorities, meanwhile, have released details surrounding the deaths of the other two Mexican nationals killed by police in recent weeks, the Associated Press noted.

Thirty-five-year-old Antonio Zambrano-Montes was fatally shot by police in Pasco, Washington, on Feb. 10; authorities accused him of having thrown rocks. Ten days later, police killed 31-year-old Ruben García Villalpando on the roadside in Grapevine, Texas. He was unarmed.