A court in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas has sentenced two army officers to 30 years in prison for femicide over the killing a female soldier, the state attorney general's office said on Friday.
Femicide is defined under Mexican law as murder of a woman stemming from gender-based violence. After climbing sharply during the last few years of the previous administration, femicides have crept even higher under President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Convictions of soldiers are rare in Mexico, where the armed forces are regarded as a pillar of the establishment.
"It's very unusual to have verdicts issued against the military for human rights issues," said Raul Benitez, a security expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). "And even more unusual for femicide."
The army has taken on more responsibilities under Lopez Obrador since he took office in December 2018 pledging to pacify Mexico after years of rising violence.
Critics argue the military have been shielded from facing justice over human rights abuses[.]
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