Mexico City, December 14 (teleSUR-RHC)-- The northern Mexican state of Jalisco has suffered a 500 percent increase in torture complaints against security forces this year, Mexico’s Reforma newspaper reported on Sunday.

The exponential increase is based on the number of torture complaints documented by Jalisco’s state human rights commission CEDHJ, which reports a total of 144 torture reports in 2015, compared with 24 complaints registered in 2014.

Most of 2015 torture complaints make reference to security forces and other state bodies linked to the Attorney General’s office or PGR as alleged perpetrators of cruel and unusual treatment against detainees. The remaining cases allege that national defense forces or local police were involved in carrying out torture.
  
Jalisco went under a red alert earlier this year amid a spike in cartel-related violence in the state. 

The reported incidence of murder, torture, forced disappearances, femicide, and other human rights abuses has soared in Mexico under President Enrique Peña Nieto, with widespread impunity enjoyed by perpetrators fueling abuses.
     
At a national level, 2014 torture complaints against the Mexican government and security forces already doubled in 2014, reaching a total of 2,403. It is estimated that the actual number of torture cases is much higher, since crimes are underreported due to fear and intimidation against victims and their families.

Activists say Peña Nieto’s government has grossly downplayed the grave human rights situation in the country, particularly regarding the rate of torture.