[HNA] CODEH: Campesinos in Aguán are open to dialogue

[Sofia JarrinT]

The Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH), in the face of the current conflict in the Colon Department derived from 
the land ownership struggle and high levels of violence, declares with a particular focus on the Aguan Valley that:

1 .- On Friday, April 09 and Saturday April 10, 2010, a 
commission with our organization headed by the Chairman of the 
Committee, Andrés Pavón Murillo, visited the agrarian conflict area in 
the Aguan Valley and met with leading members of the Unified Peasant 
Movement of Aguan (MUCA) and with officials of the National Agrarian 
Institute (INA) in a fraternal dialogue.

2 .- We confirmed that there is an asserted interest and willingness 
from the peasant leadership to reach an agreement that could restore 
their rights as beneficiaries of the Agrarian Reform Law; that they have not renounced to the continuation of a dialogue to reach an agreement 
that could restore rights that have been historically neglected to them. We bore witness that they have not abandoned their work for a way out 
the conflict, as in scheduled talks this coming Tuesday 13 with members 
of the highest levels of the government.

3 .- CODEH talked to government officials about the mobilization of 
police and military forces in the area and obtained a response that the 
fundamental purpose of the movement of troops is meant to start a 
general disarmament scheduled as a result of the high rate of violent 
deaths in the country. The four years of the last administration left an indicator of 63 violent deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants, and as a 
result of the political crisis arising from the coup last year (2009), 
more than 66 deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants were registered.  The 
highest index of violence in Latin America was held by Colombia with 81 
violent deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants, but is currently logged as 
an average of 33 violent deaths per 100 thousand inhabitants. The 
security situation in Honduras is currently critical.

4 .- We were told that there are no plans for evicting farmers who 
are presently claiming their right to land. The department of Colon is 
currently one of the most violent departments of Honduras, violence that instilled fear on the people and even journalists who are being killed 
or threatened. CODEH could verify the mobilization of police and 
military troops in the area. This action took the general population by 
surprise but perhaps not the peasant population in the struggle for 
their land rights, who look with fear at this security operation since 
they have been warned that this action is oriented towards them.

WHAT WE HOPE FOR:
a. – To not lose sight of the struggle in claiming rights in favor of the families who are currently making such demands under the Agrarian 
Reform Law, and to reach an agreement that could prevent a conflict in 
the near future,
b. – That these actions do not disengage the continuation of a 
dialogue and debate strategy between the farmers and the government. We 
should focus on achievements that can provide for a continuity in the 
struggle for other denied rights.
c. – Let us not fall into a trap of deterrence generated by the 
incorporation of another element of tension into the Aguan crisis. Let 
us not lose sight of the struggle towards a compliance with the Agrarian Reform Law. If the area´s militarization is not mean to reduce the 
potential of crime in the area but to attack the peasants who are not 
guerrilla members, it will mark forever any attempt from this government to implement a human rights policy.

WE VOW TO:
1 .- Make efforts oriented towards opening a regional office of the 
Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (CODEH) in the 
city of Tocoa, from which we will constantly monitor the compliance of 
agreements to be reached by the negotiating commission.
2 .- Follow up on the militarization of the area and report on 
practices contrary to human rights and whether such provisions respond 
to a state policy aimed at criminalizing poverty, organizing efforts, 
opinion, and the mobility of a selective population such as the MUCA.
3 .- Support MUCA members in their potential for ownership and 
particularly in their ability to affect their current political 
situation which sets them as protagonists of their own history.
4 .- Determine the legitimacy and possible implications of the 
militarization of the Colon department. 

SOURCE: CODEH

http://hondurashumanrights.wordpress.com/



      
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