Posted on 03/30/2004 5:57:59 PM PST by blam
Cavers 'were denied sleep' while detained in Mexico
By Chris Boffey
(Filed: 31/03/2004)
The British potholers arrested in Mexico after being rescued from a cave arrived home yesterday, claiming they had been deprived of sleep during their detention.
The six men said that on their first night behind bars, after spending nine days trapped by flood water 120ft underground, they were woken at 3am to be told they would be questioned later that morning.
The six British cavers who were trapped underground in caves in Mexico pose for photographs at Heathrow
"It was obviously done to deprive us of sleep," said Jonathan Sims, a retired Army major. "There was one particular individual who knew what he was doing."
Major Sims, 42, said they had also been kept awake by the continual banging of a hammer. "We received a number of apologies from different people for the way we were treated. We got the impression there was a hidden agenda from higher up and our detention was because they had internal problems to mask."
Major Stephen Whitlock, the leader of the 13-man expedition to the Cuetzalan caves 90 miles north-east of Mexico City, said complaints had been made about the denial of human rights during the group's five days in detention and "they were currently being investigated".
He said they would also appeal against the expulsion order that bars them from the country for two years.
"On the whole treatment was fine but for those various occasions," he said.
Major Whitlock said that, contrary to Mexican claims, the team had never refused help from local divers.
"When we were offered help from the divers, that wasn't a problem but when we actually showed them the cave... they didn't believe they could actually help us," he said.
"The special forces colonel who was offering that help certainly agreed that we were in a better position to use cave divers from the UK."
Armando Salinas, Mexico's assistant interior secretary, said the Britons had violated two sections of the country's immigration laws.
"It is because they didn't say it was a cave exploration, and because they didn't say they were military personnel that they have been expelled," he said.
He claimed that they had concealed the true purpose of their visit, breaching Mexican laws concerning the admission of foreign forces and the misuse of tourist visas. The team was cleared by Mexico's attorney general of illegally prospecting for uranium.
Major Whitlock said: "The only thing we were doing was enjoying the sport of caving. Now they have classified the sport of caving as a science."
The six men trapped underground were: Sgt John Roe, RAF; Warrant Officer Charles Milton and Sgt Chris Mitchell, Royal Navy; Capt Toby Harnett and retired Major Jonathan Sims, Army; and a civilian, Simon Cornhill. All nine military personnel on the trip were members of the Combined Services Caving Association.
Yessiree...
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