MEXICO CITY (AP) -- A bill has been submitted to Mexico's congress to let Mexico declare temporary states of emergency and expand army power in the fight against drug cartels.
But the legislation has drawn immediate fire from human rights activists who say soldiers shouldn't be doing the job of police.
President Felipe Calderon's proposal centers on the idea of declaring drug trafficking hotspots "domestic security" zones.
It would give the army access to civilian court and police files.
Calderon's government has already dispatched 45,000 troops to drug-plagued areas, mostly along the U.S. border.
Cartel battles have cost more than 10,700 lives since Calderon took office in December 2006.
But soldiers have been implicated in human rights abuses such as shooting civilians at checkpoints and conducting illegal searches.
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