With the chaos following the June 28th coup and the shuttering of media outlets, it has been hard to learn about the state of human rights in Honduras. That’s why it’s so important to read the report that the Honduran Association of the Detained and Disappeared, COFADEH, released July 15t on the human rights situation in Honduras since the coup on June 28, 2009.
LAWG calls for the restoration of democratic order in Honduras,
including return of democratically-elected leader Manuel Zelaya and the
restoration of full civil liberties and freedom of the press.
Today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Honduran President
Zelaya and announced, following the meeting, that Costa Rican President
Oscar Arias has agreed to act as a mediator and has been accepted by
both President Zelaya and the leader of the de facto government,
Roberto Micheletti.
“But it has been my view for several days that the most useful role
we could play is to convince all that are directly concerned, not only
President Zelaya, but also the de facto regime, the OAS, the UN,
everyone, that we needed to have a process where the Hondurans
themselves sat down and talked to each other,” said Secretary of State
Hillary Rodham Clinton at the daily press briefing. “And that is –
that’s been my goal, and I believe that we are on the brink of that
happening. I’m hoping that it actually occurs soon. So we have tried
through our good offices to get people to this point. And we’re very
grateful for the willingness of President Arias to serve in this
position, and we’re also appreciative of the efforts of the OAS as
well.”
As President Uribe visits the White House, the scandal regarding the Colombian intelligence agency Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS) is widening daily. According to Colombia’s Attorney General, over the last seven years the DAS systematically and without warrants tapped the phones and email of Colombia’s major human rights groups, prominent journalists, members of the Supreme Court (including the chief justice and the judge in charge of the parapolitics investigation), opposition politicians, and the main labor federation. Not only did DAS personnel spy on their targets, they spied on their families. This includes taking photos of their children, investigating their homes, their finances, and their daily routines. DAS even wrote a detailed manual of spying methods for personnel to follow.
The situation in Honduras has only worsened since the coup on June 28th when the Honduran military rousted President Manuel Zelaya from his bed, and flew him to Costa Rica in his pajamas.
Since 2007, the Latin America Working Group has been demanding action
to end the killings of civilians by the Colombian Army. While the
Colombian government has taken some steps to address these systematic
abuses, the nightmare is not yet over. Two important resources have
just come out that show that much more needs to be done.
Military vehicles with machine guns rolled through the streets of
Tegucigalpa, Honduras as the Honduran military ousted President Jose
Manuel Zelaya yesterday, June 28. This marks the first military coup
in Honduras in thirty years and brings back ugly memories of darker
times for democracy in Latin America.
It’s hard to believe—the Latin America Working Group has completed a quarter-century of campaigning for a just U.S. policy towards Latin America. Right now we’re celebrating this history: our collective work to shift U.S. support from war to peace in Central America; to increase U.S. aid for victims of hurricanes, earthquakes and war; to build U.S. counternarcotics policies that are more humane and effective; to promote border policies that respect the rights of border communities and migrants; and to end, once and for all, the Cuba travel ban.
If you’ve called your member of Congress on these issues, if you’ve
contributed to our cause, if you’ve sent our messages on to your
friends, if you’re a member or supporter of any of the groups in our
coalition—then this is your history, too.
Action Center
