HONDURAS MUST ALLOW JOURNALISTS TO BROADCAST FREELY
Supporters of ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya sit in front of Honduran army soldiers, 3 July 2009
© AP/PA Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills
9 October 2009
The de facto Honduran authorities must allow opposition journalists to broadcast as negotiations over the country's political future continue, Amnesty International has said.
Radio Globo and the Canal 36 TV station have been closed since 28 September, after the imposition of a Presidential decree which severely limited freedom of expression, amongst other human rights. The order was verbally revoked on 5 October but Honduran security forces continue to hold equipment from both media outlets.
"There's no legal reason for Radio Globo and Canal 36 to remain closed," said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
“Ensuring journalists can inform the public, and that freedom of expression is protected, are fundamental issues which must be addressed as part of the ongoing talks.
"Further we also urge Mr Micheletti to entirely rescind the decree by publishing the order in the official Gazette and issue clear instructions to the police and military that they must respect and protect human rights."
Police have told legal representatives of the radio and TV station that the confiscated equipment was required for an investigation. No further information regarding the investigation was provided to them and the media outlets remain closed.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/honduras-must-allow-journalists-broadcast-freely-20091009
HONDURAS MUST ALLOW JOURNALISTS TO BROADCAST FREELY
Supporters of ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya sit in front of Honduran army soldiers, 3 July 2009
© AP/PA Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills
9 October 2009
The de facto Honduran authorities must allow opposition journalists to broadcast as negotiations over the country's political future continue, Amnesty International has said.
Radio Globo and the Canal 36 TV station have been closed since 28 September, after the imposition of a Presidential decree which severely limited freedom of expression, amongst other human rights. The order was verbally revoked on 5 October but Honduran security forces continue to hold equipment from both media outlets.
"There's no legal reason for Radio Globo and Canal 36 to remain closed," said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
“Ensuring journalists can inform the public, and that freedom of expression is protected, are fundamental issues which must be addressed as part of the ongoing talks.
"Further we also urge Mr Micheletti to entirely rescind the decree by publishing the order in the official Gazette and issue clear instructions to the police and military that they must respect and protect human rights."
Police have told legal representatives of the radio and TV station that the confiscated equipment was required for an investigation. No further information regarding the investigation was provided to them and the media outlets remain closed.
Radio Globo and the Canal 36 TV station have been closed since 28 September, after the imposition of a Presidential decree which severely limited freedom of expression, amongst other human rights. The order was verbally revoked on 5 October but Honduran security forces continue to hold equipment from both media outlets.
"There's no legal reason for Radio Globo and Canal 36 to remain closed," said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
“Ensuring journalists can inform the public, and that freedom of expression is protected, are fundamental issues which must be addressed as part of the ongoing talks.
"Further we also urge Mr Micheletti to entirely rescind the decree by publishing the order in the official Gazette and issue clear instructions to the police and military that they must respect and protect human rights."
Police have told legal representatives of the radio and TV station that the confiscated equipment was required for an investigation. No further information regarding the investigation was provided to them and the media outlets remain closed.
|
Talks between the rival factions entered a three-day pause on Saturday, prolonging uncertainty over a possible resolution to the almost four-month old crisis.
The new legislation gives Micheletti's government the power to close down radio and television stations that incite "social anarchy" or "national hatred".
Oscar Matute, the interior minister, denied the measures amounted to controlling the media, saying the government was was applying rules allowed under international law.
"It doesn't represent any kind of control of the media," he was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.
"No journalist, no media outlet, can act as an apologist for hatred and violence in society."
Media crackdown
The government has not fulfilled an earlier promise to lift emergency measures that closed Radio Globo and Canal 36 last month, which had supported Zelaya.
The two stations were among the only media in Honduras that reported on the protests in favour of restoring Zelaya to power.
Michelletti's government accused the stations of encouraging vandalism and insurrection for announcing demonstrations.
Honduras has experienced near daily protests since the military-backed coup in June, which came after Zelaya pressed ahead with plans for a referendum on changing the constitution despite a Supreme Court order ruling the vote illegal.
The interim government accuses Zelaya of trying to amend the constitution to annul one-term presidential limit.
Zelaya denies the allegation.
Negotiations suspended
Since sneaking back into Honduras late last month, Zelaya has been taking refuge, with dozens of supporters, in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.
The international community has been pressuring the interim government to allow Zelaya's return to power ahead of the November 29 presidential election, which was scheduled before the coup.
Representatives from the rival factions said that recent face-to-face talks have yielded agreement on 60 per cent of the issues under an international plan to resolve the crisis.
But Juan Barahona, Zelaya's negotiator, said no agreement had been reached on the fundamental issue of whether the ousted leader could return to serve out the remaining months of his term.
They planned to discuss the issues within their own factions over the three-day pause and resume negotiations on Tuesday, two days before the October 15 deadline given by the Zelaya camp for his unconditional restitution.
IAPA calls for lifting the ban on broadcast media in Honduras
Miami (USA), 8 oct (EFE) .- The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today urged the reopening and restoration of the rights to the media "closed" in Honduras in late September to consider a dialogue for democracy must take into consideration the freedom of press and expression.Continue reading the printed article
PHOTO AND VIDEO RELATED
The IAPA President Enrique Santos Calderon, the Colombian daily El Tiempo, called for lifting the ban on broadcast media in the Central American country affected.
He said although there are hopes for a negotiated way out of political crisis, "there can be a real dialogue for democracy" without the "necessary freedom of press and expression as essential values."
On 28 September the National Commission ofTelecommunications (Conatel) "closed" to Channel 36 and Radio Globo operating from Tegucigalpa and La Catracha radio repeater, to "implement a government decree Roberto Micheletti, that suspended constitutional guarantees" said the SIP.
The media is identified with Manuel Zelaya, president ousted after the coup of 28 June, the organization said in a statement.
For his part, chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information of the IAPA, Robert Rivard, the U.S. newspaper San Antonio Express-News, reaffirmed the call for restitution of rights to those affected.
"The freedom to express and disseminate opinions dissimilar, to criticize or promote certain concepts or positions is a fundamental right of all human beings and should not be hampered by political expediency," said Rivard.
The decree that restricted the rights and guarantees of citizens for 45 days in Honduras, was lifted on Tuesday as inherent as the political dialogue that began this week in Tegucigalpa.
"However, the government said the media should shut go to court to invalidate the measure Conatel, which since yesterday has been calling the Attorney for Human Rights in Honduras," said IAPA.
Honduran police repress Zelaya's followers, as negotiations go on
TEGUCIGALPA, Oct. 9 (Xinhua www.chinaview.cn) - Police and soldiers clashed with supporters of ousted president Manuel Zelaya Friday during in Honduran capital Tegucigalpa, where Zelaya's representatives are talking with that of de facto President Roberto Micheletti in a bid to find a solution to the country's crisis after the June 28 coup.
Tear gas and water canons were fired to disperse followers of Zelaya, who gathered outside the Intercontinental Hotel in the northeast of Tegucigalpa, where the negotiations have been going on since Wednesday, thanks to the intervention of the Organization of American States (OAS).
"We are against this (the repression). What a barbarity! I do not know who they say they want to dialogue and they are beaten us up," a Zelaya's follower told local radio station Radio Globo.
"They beat us up, but who said is afraid?" many women shouted during the clash.
A group of human rights officials from the Committee of Relatives of the Detainees and Missing people arrived at the site.Zelaya, whose term ends in January 2010, was ousted in the June28 coup. He popped up in Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa on Sept.21, after failed attempts earlier to return from exile.
Zelaya's delegation has proposed to reach a solution before Oct.15, by restoring him as Constitutional president of Honduras.
No comments:
Post a Comment