Saturday, October 10, 2009

U.S., OAS, and the coup government of Honduras have already agreed their "solution"

 Video Reuters: Yesterday's Repression http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVwvcv5Fpbc



U.S., OAS, and the coup government of Honduras have already agreed their "solution"
Justice for the people





To think that our friend Piedad Cordoba could win the Nobel Peace Prize is like thinking that Washington was behind the coup in Honduras. "Good faith? Hope? Pity deserves this award, and more, for their commitment, sacrifice and dedication to the peace process in Colombia, but receive global recognition of the establishment would break down the barriers that we are seeking to contain imperial inside a false reality, where he man which gives the order to increase the bombing in Afghanistan, no matter how many children are killed him arbitrarily to install 7 military bases in Colombia and 2 in Panama to combat "terrorism" in the region, supporting a brutal coup in Honduras and a dictatorial regime, threatening to attack Pakistan and Iran to bomb the moon in search of water, is the man of peace, winning the noble.
This "hope" has made us spend months waiting for the diplomacy of the OAS to resolve the crisis in Honduras.
Why waste time with these diplomatic meetings if just a few days ago, there was a secret meeting in the Pentagon's military base in Honduras (Soto Cano) between the OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, and Micheletti dictator?
It is a mockery of the other countries of the region who have been with sweat and heart for resolving the situation in Honduras.
Where is the claim? Do you accept that there was this meeting between Insulza, the State Department, Pentagon and Micheletti? ALBA Countries, levántanse the word! Since we must not allow Washington to fix everything for the Latin American people behind closed doors.
The "solution" that Washington seeks to impose is to legitimize the presidential elections on 29 November. A new president, amnesty for coup plotters and all already forgotten the constituent forgotten repression against the people of Honduras, forgotten the murdered, tortured, persecuted and violated.
Washington says justice is never justice of the people.
And there is no peace in a world empire.
Rebellion has posted this article at the express request of the author, respecting their freedom to publish it elsewhere.

A Promise to Restore Civil Liberties Is Slow to Become Reality in Honduras

By ELISABETH MALKIN
Published: October 2, 2009

MEXICO CITY — The de facto president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, appeared to have bowed to pressure at home and from abroad on Monday, saying that he would lift his order suspending civil liberties.

Since then, he has been in no hurry to keep his promise.

Mr. Micheletti spent the week consulting with the Supreme Court and other parts of the government about the decree, which his government announced on Sunday night. But while he has been discussing lifting the order, his security forces have been busy enforcing it ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/world/americas/03hond...

They're just stalling to run out the clock 



Editorial

Wrong Advice




Published: October 9, 2009
The de facto Honduran government of Roberto Micheletti is listening to the wrong people. Since the military deposed the president, Manuel Zelaya, in June, Mr. Micheletti and his aides have received two American Congressional delegations — all Republicans — and they are getting additional free advice from former Republican officials who are clearly nostalgic for the cold war.
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Times Topics: Honduras

Those days are over. Mr. Micheletti should instead pay attention to what he is being told by every democratically elected government in the hemisphere: President Zelaya must be reinstated to office. Nothing else will do.
Mr. Micheletti and his backers argued that they did everybody a favor by removing an erratic populist who was all too cozy with Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela. Now they think they can stall through next month’s presidential election, hoping that the arrival of a new president will mean an end to sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
“You don’t know the truth, or you don’t want to know it,” Mr. Micheletti angrily told a group of envoys from the Organization of American States, the United States, Canada and several Latin American governments who were in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’s capital, this week on an unsuccessful mission to solve the impasse.
But it is Mr. Micheletti who refuses to understand. Coups against democratically elected leaders, once the norm in Latin America, are no longer acceptable.
There are signs that continued pressure may convince the de facto government to reinstate Mr. Zelaya under terms negotiated by the Costa Rican president, Óscar Arias. The deal would grant an amnesty to both sides and guarantee that Mr. Zelaya would do nothing to tinker with the Constitution or try to hang on to power.
The leading candidates for president — including the one from Mr. Micheletti’s party — have held talks with Mr. Zelaya, who sneaked back into Honduras and is holed up in the Brazilian Embassy.
Business leaders are getting especially antsy about the country’s increasing isolation. The leader of the Honduran Manufacturers Association has called for restoring the deposed leader with limited powers while granting Mr. Micheletti a lifetime seat in Congress. A former finance minister who backed the coup is saying that he would support Mr. Zelaya’s reinstatement, after the election, so he could finish out his term that ends in January.
Time is running out. If Mr. Micheletti and his backers expect the next Honduran government to be recognized as legitimate by the international community, it must restore Mr. Zelaya to office now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/opinion/10sat2.html



Use of mercenaries in Honduras on the rise, U.N. panel says

  • Story Highlights
  • U.N. panel: 40 ex-Colombian paramilitaries hired since June 28 coup
  • International Convention prohibits use of mercenaries, panel of experts notes
  • Rights group demands opposition journalists be allowed to broadcas
(CNN) -- A group of independent U.N. experts expressed concern Friday over the increased use of mercenaries in Honduras, where a de facto president has been in power since a military-led coup in June.
Roberto Micheletti has insisted the June ouster was accomplished through constitutional means.
Roberto Micheletti has insisted the June ouster was accomplished through constitutional means.

The U.N. panel said it received reports that 40 former Colombian paramilitaries had been hired to protect properties and individuals in Honduras since the June 28 coup that ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya. The panel also heard reports that 120 mercenaries from various Latin American countries had been contracted to support the government of Roberto Micheletti, who was installed as president hours after Zelaya's removal.
"We urge the Honduran authorities to take all practical measures to prevent the use of mercenaries within its territory and to fully investigate allegations concerning their presence and activities," the U.N. panel said in a news release.
The U.N. experts accused the Honduran government of indiscriminately using sound-generating devices against Zelaya and his supporters at the embassy.
The experts noted that the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries is prohibited under the International Convention on the issue, which Honduras has signed. The panel was established in 2005 by the Commission on Human Rights, which has since been succeeded by the Human Rights Council.
It consists of five members: Shaista Shameem of Fiji, Najat al-Hajjaji of Libya, Amada Benavides de Perez of Colombia, Jose Luis Gomez del Prado of Spain and Alexander Nikitin of Russia.
The United Nations and the European Union have condemned the coup and have refused to recognize Micheletti, who has insisted that Zelaya, who was elected president in January 2006, was not overthrown but was replaced through constitutional means.
The political crisis stems from Zelaya's desire to hold a referendum that could have led to extending term limits by changing the constitution, even though the country's congress had outlawed the vote and the Honduran Supreme Court had ruled it illegal.
Zelaya, who was flown out of the country the day of the coup, secretly returned to Honduras on September 21 and has taken refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the nation's capital.
In another development Friday, the Amnesty International human rights group said Honduras must allow opposition journalists to broadcast during negotiations over the country's political future.
Radio Globo and the Canal 36 TV station have been closed since September 28, when Micheletti suspended many of the nation's civil liberties.
Micheletti said Monday he was lifting the emergency measures, but Amnesty International says 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, the Americas director at Amnesty International.
Police have told legal representatives of the radio and TV station that the confiscated equipment was required for an investigation, Amnesty International said in a news release.
A delegation from the Organization of American States arrived in Honduras on Wednesday and met separately with Zelaya and Micheletti. The OAS group left Thursday without any agreement being reached.
An accord forged by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias calls for Zelaya to be reinstated, but Micheletti has vowed that the ousted president will never return to power.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA
PRESS RELEASE

Sept. 29, 2009
Amnesty International Calls on De Facto President of Honduras to Urgently Rescind Sweeping Decree that Restricts Civil Liberties
Executive Decree Gives Green Light to Increased Police Abuses While Banning Public Meetings and Imposing a Curfew
(New York) -- One day after two news organizations were violently and forcibly closed by police and military in Honduras, Amnesty International called on Honduran de facto president Roberto Micheletti to rescind a decree that provides sweeping new powers of detention to the police, bans all public meetings and imposes a 45-day curfew. Amnesty International warned that Honduras risks spiraling into a state of lawlessness under the decree, where police and military act with no regard for human rights or the rule of law. “Roberto Micheletti must urgently rescind the decree and send clear instructions to the security forces to respect human rights in all circumstances and at all times,” said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Attacks on opponents of the de facto government by the police and military have escalated dramatically since the publication of the Presidential decree. Radio Globo and Canal 36, a local radio station and TV channel, were forcibly and violently shut down in joint police and military operations, which disregarded legal procedures and human rights.
Early Monday morning, a joint military and police operation broke down the front door of the offices of Radio Globo shooting live ammunition into the air and taking over the building.
The police and military had given no notice or provided any official reason for the operation.
The Radio Globo employees who were in the building were forced to flee, and some, in their panic, jumped from third-floor windows. The director reportedly suffered a fractured arm and other injuries as he fled the building.
Radio Globo equipment and vehicles were also confiscated. The same violent and arbitrary methods were employed by the military and police when they simultaneously took over Canal 36. The closure of two of the key media outlets which deliver an alternative view to that of the de facto government undermines the right of Honduran citizens to access information and also demonstrates the clamp down by the authorities on freedom of expression and association.
A journalist interviewed by Amnesty International said there has been a marked increased in aggression toward human rights defenders and journalists by the de facto authorities. With the arbitrary closure of key media outlets by the police and military the atmosphere is one of “high tension and real fear," the journalist said.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and woArks to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
Please visit www.amnestyusa.org for more information.




De facto President of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti, categorically rejected the request of the Organization of American States (OAS), to guarantee the nation's legitimate president, Manuel Zelaya, better living conditions.The OAS concern arises over the attacks that Zelaya has received since 21 September, when he stayed at the Brazilian embassy in your country. 


"I took him in, he is voluntarily, may stay there as long as he wants, he decided, there is with his wife (Xiomara Castro), with his family, with their best friends," Micheletti noted as an excuse not comply with the request of the OAS. 


The OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza, and a dozen foreign ministers and deputy ministers who set up a dialogue between conflicting parties, demanded the de facto regime to allow transfer of Zelaya to a site that ensures comfort. 


The OAS mission demanded he be guaranteed Zelaya "living and working conditions commensurate with their high dignity." 


The minister-counselor of the OAS mission, Lineu de Paula, reported last Thursday by telephone that the Honduran military platforms placed high in comparison to the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa to have visibility into the interior. 


"I feel that since the foreign ministers are gone (OAS) have repressed us more, they are more against us," complained, for his part, President Zelaya. 

The Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, lodges along with about 50 people in the Brazilian embassy since Sept. 21 when he entered the country after evading checkpoints facto government, ready to prevent her return from the June 28, when was overthrown by military coup. 

The dialogue with the de facto regime should strike an agreement before 15 October, otherwise intervene United Nations Organization (UNO) in the case. 

No Colombian paramilitaries 

Furthermore, Roberto Micheletti, also denied that former Colombian paramilitaries are recruiting for the protection of individuals or property in Honduras following the political crisis in the country. 

However, experts from the United Nations Organization (UNO) insist on asking Honduras facto authorities "to take all practical steps to avoid the use of mercenaries in their territory and to investigate their alleged activities." 


teleSUR Afp - Efe / ld - MM




The multistate teleSUR reported Friday that the departure of his media team that was covering the stay of the legitimate president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, in the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa since last Sept. 21, was forced to leave this office diplomacy for the progressive deterioration of his health "due to the systematic plan implemented by the government de facto authorities. 


He further contends that the illegal authorities chaired by Roberto Micheletti denied access to a new group of media professionals. 


"This multi-communication tried to enter a new team of journalists inside the embassy, a request that was denied by the de facto government, that fact becoming a new violation of press freedom," the writing. 


The following is the full statement of this house journalism. 


Press 


teleSUR informed world public opinion that: 


TeleSUR journalistic team that was in the interior of the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa was forced to withdraw from the embassy during the day. 


The health of our staff was sapped due to the systematic plan implemented by the government de facto authorities from the moment he arrived the president, Manuel Zelaya. 


This communication multistate tried to enter a new team of journalists inside the embassy, a request that was denied by the de facto government, that fact becoming a new violation of press freedom. 


Despite this new harassment of our work, telesur reaffirms its commitment to transparent reporting and uncensored reality that has been living the Latin American people. 


Caracas, October 9, 2009. 




teleSUR - MM


sharpens the persecution of judges and judges

The National Board of the Association of Judges for Democracy, public opinion and national agencies and international human rights complaint new facts of political persecution against judges and judges in Honduras.
During the events of June 28 that produced the breakdown of constitutional order in our country, the Supreme Court, I believe publicly that what happened was a "constitutional succession", in return our partnership appreciated that what happened had the characteristics of a coup and, therefore, these events-now date from 100 days represent an affront to the institutional and the nature of a Democratic State.
The uncomfortable position of our association to the judges of the Supreme Court, and has led to disciplinary proceedings against at least seven judges and judges and other judicial officers, allegedly for supporting actions (protests and marches) requirement related to the restoration of constitutional order, being notorious in these proceedings the partiality with which the courts have acted before these judges and officials who have expressed support for the coup.
Coupled with these facts, are the processes of intimidation and threats of forced removals of judges, as in San Pedro Sula, where there is fear to proceed with the removal of adjudicators who perform administrative duties, such is the case, Advocate of Matthew Mauricio Garcia, Coordinator of the Unified Criminal Court and the Attorney Ondina Elvia Varela, Coordinator of the trial court, against both there is action to separate them from their positions, all with the purpose of appointing judges instead or judges related to the authorities, thereby assuming a hierarchical control of the two most important criminal court in the country, after similar existing in the capital Tegucigalpa. Besides that such removals would be a clear retaliation for its stance against the coup d'etat in our country.
As a continuation of those actions are contrary to the guarantee of security of tenure, appointments are outside the processes of opposition or competition, three judges (as) Court of Appeals, which currently drives the Supreme Court, in this jurisdiction of San Pedro Sula, mocking the expectations of hundreds of applicants who, for years waited compete for access to these objections, just as it is proceeding with the appointment of a regular number of judges and judges throughout the country. The appointments made or to be performed, constitute a serious violation of the Judicial Career Law, and the characteristics of the appointments are indicative of a partisan political division is currently produced in the Supreme Court, which it threatens the Independence of the Judiciary.
The judges and judges in disciplinary proceedings are now: Adan Guillermo Lopez Lone, trial judge, Ondina Elvia Varela, trial judge and trial court coordinator, Luis Alonso Chévez de la Rocha, Judge Against Domestic Violence; Tirza Flores, Judge Court of Appeals, Juan Carlos Zelaya, Juez de Letras;, Ramon Enrique Barrios, trial judge, and Matthew Mauricio Garcia Coordinator Unified Criminal Court.
To this list must be added to Judge Maritza Arita transferred arbitrarily from a criminal court to civil court, Morel Fajardo Osman, Public Defender, and other judges and officials who have been subjected to sanctions and actions of intimidation by the authorities Supreme Court Justice, but are afraid to make complaints. These reprisals have occurred because of actions of enforcing fundamental rights or positioning for the rule of law and against the coup.
In addition, disciplinary proceedings against at least seven judges, appointment in contravention of the judicial career law, and all actions of harassment and intimidation taking place in the institutional precarious situation because of the coup are in practice acts or deeds that seek to undermine rights and liberties of those who dissent from the fracture to constitutional order, and on the other hand, are measures to intensify the political and partisan control of the judiciary, weakening their independence for control function of the legality of enforcing rights, and emphasizing its character as a body subject to the interests of political and economic groups involved in the consummation of the coup of June 28.
San Pedro Sula, Cortes, 7 October 2009.
NATIONAL BOARD OF JUDGES ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRACY




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