By Miguel Angel Gutierrez

MEXICO CITY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Mexico's Supreme Court ordered the armed forces on Tuesday to readmit HIV-infected soldiers to the ranks, in a groundbreaking ruling that will set a precedent for similar cases filed by military personnel.

In a case brought by 11 members of the military, the court declared unconstitutional a law requiring naval officers and soldiers with HIV/AIDS to leave the armed forces.

Following the decision, Mexico's armed forces will have to prove HIV-infected soldiers and naval officers are unfit for service with certified medical reports in order to fire them.

"Everyone who viewed this law as unconstitutional has shown that it violates the rules of equality" enshrined in the Mexican Constitution, Guillermo Ortiz Mayagoitia, the court's president, said during the proceedings.

The court's decision will be taken into account by judges throughout Mexico, where some 300 HIV-infected military personnel have been fired over the past years.

Of the 11 who brought the Supreme Court case, four will be immediately readmitted. A fifth person has died, but the family will receive compensation. Six more cases will be reviewed on Thursday.

The gender of the military personnel was not made public.

Two-thirds of the estimated 1.7 million people living with HIV in Latin America live in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina, according to the United Nations.

Doctors and health experts say carefully treated HIV patients do not put other people at risk to the deadly AIDS virus. Drug use and unsafe sex are the main reasons for new infections.

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