Mexican lawmakers on Wednesday approved legislation that would allow soldiers accused of committing crimes against non-military personnel to be tried in civilian courts.
Lower house lawmakers voted 428 to zero to approve the bill, which was passed by the Senate last week and will now be sent to President Enrique Pena Nieto to be signed into law.
Human rights groups have been lobbying for the changes for years and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2009 had asked Mexico to reform its laws to end military jurisdiction for cases involving crimes against civilians.
Demand for reform grew . . .
