Militarizing Honduras: Honduran parliament ignores the recommendation of the IACHR on military performing security tasks

The military are not going to the streets, they're taking over the countryside.

A new process of military saturation of the territory has begun  to start the harassment in the framework of June 28th all over again
Source: http://fabricioestrada.blogspot.com/2010/06/no-no-se-van-las-calles-se-van-para-las.html

By Diana Canales



Tegucigalpa. June 11, 2010. The Honduran parliament approved yesterday a decree ordering the army to assist the police to "stop the violence in the country," despite the concern expressed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), because in Honduras, the military perform security tasks.


The new decree stipulates that armed forces should put "the necessary qualified personnel available to the police," so that it fulfills in an "efficient" manner the maintenance of public order.


The "greater military presence will be in the countryside" because they claim that is where the Secretariat has "less human and logistic resources" as was reported by a police spokesman to the media.


Although to create the decree, they argue the increase in violence observed by human rights organizations, the Parliament ignored the regional lead agency in this matter, which "reiterates its concern about the involvement of the armed forces in tasks of public safety ... "as noted in the recent visit to the country.

According to them "these must be implemented by civilian security forces," according to a report published on Monday June 7, on their last visit to Honduras, from May 15 to May 18, 2010.


The new legislative decree is equal to the Executive Decree PCM-014-2010, published in La Gaceta on May 14, 2010, on which the IACHR notes "with special concern", has it been approved instructing the Secretary of Defense to cooperate with the "strictly necessary staff and facilities of the Armed Forces."

In order that the National Police "meets timely and efficiently the functions for the restoration of peace, prevention, control and combating crime", says the report.

"In this regard, the Commission urges the authorities of Honduras to review the content of that decree, and adapt it according to international standards ruling such matters," specifies what was observed by the IACHR http://cidh.org/countryrep / Honduras10sp/Honduras10.Cap.III.htm # I .>.

What causes concern is that precisely in the countryside, in the Aguán region, the peasants who have carried out several land recoveries defend themselves from landlords who harass them with military intervention, and " the conflict escalated over the militarization of the area, "according to the report of that Commission.


The Honduran Constitution, broken by a coup, whose validity has been forced by the coup group in power, does not provide for such tasks to the military.
Source: Red Morazánica de Información, http://hondurasenlucha.blogspot.com/2010/06/legislativo-hondureno-ignora.html