Wednesday, February 17, 2010

CEJIL warns that the "truth commission" in Honduras could be a farse in view Lobo does not acknowledge what happened in June 28 as a coup d'état



 Washington, Feb 16 (EFE) .- Some recent steps of Honduran officials "suggest that a truth commission planned by the Government could be a farce," said today the Center for Justice and International Law (Cejil, for its acronym in English).
The group sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, which said that the events in Honduras indicate that "there are powerful forces opposed to any accountability for the coup (of State v. Manuel Zelaya) and its consequences. "
In this sense, Cejil referred to "a law of amnesty for participants in a coup that overthrew the elected government of President Manuel Zelaya in June."
"The appointment of Roberto Micheletti, who headed the de facto government established after the coup, a legislator for life also seems designed to protect him from prosecution," added the letter.
"President (Porfirio) Lobo has promised the creation of a truth commission to investigate the coup," he continued.
"But the fact  that Lobo has not acknowledged that the events were a coup last June gives reason to doubt that the commission will make an effort to tell the truth," he warned.
According to this human rights organization, the U.S. government "has a unique opportunity to insist that the commission restores the dignity of victims and survivors of human rights violations and to bring to light information that is supportive of prosecution of the perpetrators. "
The executive director of Cejil, Viviana Krsticevic, said that after the overthrow of Zelaya, the attorney general and Supreme Court of Honduras dismissed allegations of murder, torture, rape and arbitrary detention "without even conducting research.
"In some cases the institutions provided active support for the coup leaders," she added.
"The need to establish truth and justice for the victims of the coup is urgent in Honduras," said Krsticevic. "While continuing widespread political persecution, many Hondurans have good reason to believe their country has become more repressive and less democratic than it was before the coup.

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