Cerigua.- The Rapporteur to Liberty of Expression of the Organization of American States (OAS) has called the de facto authorities in Honduras to ensure that all media in that country, regardless of their editorial line, to operate freely, referring to the censorship of the media opposed to the regime.
According to the Rapporteur , From 21 September, a series of outages have affected intermittently transmissions of Channel 36 and Radio Globo, the department received information that a group of soldiers occupied the same day the power station in Tegucigalpa where control power transmission in the region where is located the Honduran capital.
Esdras Amado Lopez, director of Channel 36, reported that on September 23 the TV channel suffered blockages in the satellite relays the signal to the rest of Honduras.
Radio Progreso Moreover, in the department of Yoro, decided not to transmit during the curfew hours imposed by the government de facto, for reasons associated with the security of its members.
A radio reporter said the 22 and Sept. 24 military troops moved into radio, whose editorial line is contrary to the de facto regime, in order to intimidate journalists and operatives.
The instance of OAS requires respect for the right to freedom of expression and urges the de facto authorities to grant all the guarantees for media and journalists can do their job to report freely and safely.
OAS convenes a special meeting on situation in Honduras
 The secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) Jose Miguel Insulza, called this morning to a "special session" of the Permanent Council by the "situation in Honduras." The call comes after the de facto government of Honduras, which includes Roberto Micheletti, yesterday banned from entering the Central American country of three representatives of the OAS. Also, in a context where he warned the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa would lose their diplomatic status within 10 days of not defining what the situation is in that place, the deposed Manuel Zelaya, who entered the country clandestinely. The special session will be held this morning at 10:00 hours at the Simón Bolívar Room, at OAS headquarters in Washington. |
Soldiers raid Honduran media outlets
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras' coup-installed government silenced two key dissident broadcasters on Monday just hours after it suspended civil liberties to prevent an uprising by backers of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.Dozens of soldiers raided the offices of Radio Globo. Officials also shut down Channel 36 television station, leaving it broadcasting only a test pattern.
Rene Zepeda, a spokesman for the interim government, said the two outlets had been taken off the air in accordance with a government emergency decree announced late Sunday that limits civil liberties and allows authorities to close news media that "attack peace and public order."
Supporters of the deposed leftist president vowed to march in the streets Monday in defiance of the emergency order and carry out what Zelaya calls a "final offensive" against his ouster on the three-month anniversary of the coup.
"They took away all the equipment. This is the death of the station," said Radio Globo owner Alejandro Villatoro, describing the dawn raid on the station.
Station employees scrambled out of an emergency exit to escape the raid that Villatoro said involved as many as 200 soldiers.
He said the office remained surrounded by soldiers. It was the second time soldiers have barged into the station — the first was June 28, the same day Zelaya was ousted.
The interim government has long argued it is trying to preserve democracy in Honduras, and even cited the fact that pro-Zelaya media such as Channel 36 were operating freely as proof.
But the emergency decree showed a tough new stance domestically and internationally, a reversal from last week, when interim President Roberto Micheletti indicated his administration was willing to hold talks with Zelaya, who has taken shelter at the Brazilian Embassy after sneaking into the country a week ago.
The Organization of American States in Washington called a high-level emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the Honduras crisis after the interim government expelled at most members of an OAS advance team that had arrived Sunday to try to restart negotiations.
Micheletti's Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez said the team had not given advance warning of its arrival and said it did not come "at the right time ... because we are in the middle of internal conversations."
Officials also issued an ultimatum to Brazil on Sunday, giving the South American country 10 days to turn Zelaya over for arrest or grant him asylum and, presumably, take him out of Honduras.
Lopez said Brazil had broken relations by withdrawing its ambassador and said if it does not restore ties, the diplomatic mission would become a private office — implying it could be raided by police.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva responded, saying that his government "doesn't accept ultimatums from coup-plotters."
Micheletti has pledged not to raid the embassy where Zelaya has been holed up with more than 60 supporters.
The building is surrounded by armed police and soldiers, who have been there since baton-wielding troops used tear gas and water cannons to chase away thousands of his backers when he returned to the country Sept. 21.
Protesters say at least 10 people have been killed since the coup, while the government puts the toll at three.
The government's suspension of civil liberties limits rights guaranteed in the Honduran Constitution: The decree prohibits unauthorized gatherings and allows police to arrest without a warrant "any person who poses a danger to his own life or those of others." It also allows officials to shut down media outlets for "statements that attack peace and the public order, or which offend the human dignity of public officials, or attack the law."
The Honduran Constitution forbids arrests without warrants except when a criminal is caught in the act.
In a nationally broadcast announcement, the government explained it took the steps it did "due to the calls for insurrection that Mr. Zelaya has publicly made."
Zelaya is demanding to be reinstated and has said that Micheletti's government "has to fall."
While many nations have announced they would send diplomatic representatives back to Honduras to support negotiations, the interim government said Sunday that it would not automatically accept ambassadors back from some nations that withdrew their envoys.
Last freedoms suspended leaving media at mercy of total shutdown
Published on 28 September 2009
Reporters Without Borders said today that the last vestiges of independent news were under threat after the de facto government signed a decree yesterday banning “unauthorised” public meetings and giving itself the power to close media “damaging public order”
“Three months to the day after the 28 June 2009 coup, basic rights and public freedoms are just empty words in Honduras”, the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
The coup government was trying to justify these steps in response to “calls to insurrection” from ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, who has called on his supporters to “march on the capital”.
“There is nothing now missing from the dictatorial arsenal of a government that took power by force and is deaf to the appeals of the international community”, the organisation said. “What little news there was outside of the control of the Micheletti administration is in danger of disappearing from one moment to the next, after three months of suspensions and constant intimidation of all media critical of the coup.”
The emergency decree, which should theoretically be approved by the Congress, is supposed to last for 45 days, but the organisation fears that the situation will degenerate into further repression and even greater threats to the safety of journalists. The director of Radio Progreso, the priest Ismael Moreno, said yesterday he had received death threats through texts sent to the mobile phones of radio staff, suggesting that a price had been put on his head.
“We hold the de facto government fully responsible for the least assault, including on Father Ismael Moreno and his staff”, added Reporters Without Borders’ Secretary General, Jean-François Julliard. Employees on Radio Progreso said that police were posted around the premises staking out the building ahead of a total closure of the media.
The incomplete list of media threatened with closure includes Radio Globo, Canal 36, Radio Uno, El Libertador, Cholusta SUR, as well as the website of Red de Desarrollo Sostenible RDS – Network for Sustainable Development). The National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) has notified the RDS that it is has the power to inspect and suspend all activity registered under the domain name (.hn). This step could allow Conatel to control all news sent over the Internet, not just by the media but by any other civil organisation based in Honduras.
Meanwhile, amidst continuing chaos in the country, journalists have been illegally detained. Agustina Flores, of Radio Libertad, has been held by the security forces since 22 September and has been maltreated. She had provided live coverage of violent crackdowns on several demonstrations.
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