[HNA] HONDURAS: Repression Continues Unabated

Tue Aug 31 08:20:13 PDT 2010

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Rights ActionHONDURAS: Repression Continues Unabated 
August 31, 2010
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HONDURAS:  WIDESPREAD REPRESSION CONTINUES UNABATED

Funds and activist support are needed for the Honduran people's pro-democracy, anti-military coup movement.

BELOW:

Article, with photos, by Karen Spring, in Honduras
Background information, from the Honduras Solidarity Network
Sample letter to your politician
Contact info: US gov't and officials
Contact info: Cdn gov't and officials

Thank-you.

Annie Bird, annie at rightsaction.org
Grahame Russell, info at rightsaction.org
Karen Spring, spring.kj at gmail.com

TO SUPPORT & GET INVOLVED: see below
Join our listserv: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?m=1103480765269
Please redistribute this information

* * * 

REPRESSION IN HONDURAS CONTINUES, UNABATED
By Karen Spring, August 31, 2010 (spring.kj at gmail.com)

Last Thursday and Friday (Aug 26-27), police and military violently repressed public school teachers that have taken to the streets for almost 3 weeks to demand, amongst other things, that the Pepe Lobo regime return 4 billion lempiras (or some 200 million dollars) that were taken from National Institute of IMPREMA, an institution that manages teacher's pension funds, after the military-oligarchic coup against President Zelaya on June 28, 2009.

The 6 teachers unions that form the umbrella organization FOMH - that represents 63,000 teachers nation-wide - believe that the funds taken from this institution were used to fund the military regime, after the June 2009 coup headed by Roberto Micheletti and General Romeo Vasquez Valesquez, that repressed and terrorized the pro-democracy movement critical of the coup and it's perpetrators.

The education system in Honduras has been in crisis for the last 4 months particularly the month of August starting when the university students occupied the National Autonomous University (UNAH, Spanish acronym) demanding the reinstatement of 180 workers fired from their positions and the resignation of university director, Julieta Castrellano. Five fired workers still remain on hunger strike on the university grounds, some now reaching over 126 days without eating.

During the university occupation, police showed up during the occupation and attempted to enter the university where they were then run off university grounds by the protesters. The stand off between the students and police occurred at the time that State Department's Maria Otero was visiting Honduras to investigate the human rights situation, an attempt once again by the United States government to paint the picture that the Lobo government is working hard to better the human rights situation in the country, a necessary condition to having Honduras readmitted into the Organization of American States (OAS).

(IMG_2096: In front of occupied National Autonomous University (UNAH by students & supporting members of the national resistance movement. White sign reads "Maria Otero, go home". All photos: Karen Spring.)

Although the university student and the public school teachers have different immediate focuses and demands, they both claim that the form in which the Pepe Lobo's regime is managing the teacher's struggle and education system in general is one of the many attempts by the oligarchy and the government to privatize the public education system in Honduras.

Recognizing this threat, this massive teachers strike converges with and compliments the on-going struggle of the National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP) as well as the preparatory stages of a mass general strike involving the three major umbrella unions (Unitary Confederacy of Workers of Honduras (CUTH, by its Spanish acronym); the Confederacy of Workers of Honduras (CTH); the General Head office of Workers (CGT) to which all unionized Honduran workers belong.

3 DAYS OF HARSH REPRESSION AGAINST THE TEACHERS
Last Friday August 27th, teachers were violently evicted twice from the area around the National Pedagogical University; first, when they had occupied the boulevard and second, when teachers were regrouping and meeting inside the University.

At the University, located close to a major boulevard and across from a business shopping centre, police arrived with 2 water tanks, firing more than a 100 tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at the teachers and members of the resistance movement in and outside the university grounds, beating up those they chased and captured without regard for the presence of children and the public in the busy area of the city and the peaceful form in which the teachers were protesting.

(IMG_2191: August 27, 2010. In front of National Pedogogical University, police show up firing tear gas to evict teachers.)

(IMG_2192: Young child suffering from tear gas shot by the police, fleeing from the University grounds.)

>From a black Toyota four-runner parked on the street in front of the University, a man opened fired at the protesters with a 9-millimeter gun. Although no one was shot, the car was later identified as belonging to the National Congress.

Over 100 people were captured and 'guarded' by police against a fence outside the University. They were later released after human rights representatives arrived and negotiated with the police. Many teachers and resistance members, fleeing the tear gas, were trapped inside the classrooms in the university where they suffered from severe exposure to tear gas. Over 7 people were injured from the gas and from police beatings including a journalist from Globo TV/Radio Globo.

(IMG_2197: Police 'guarding' teachers and individuals they captured during violent eviction.)

The day before, on Thursday, after occupying a street close to the Presidential Palace in Tegucigalpa, police and military violently evicted the teachers. Six teachers were reported injured from the tear gas and wounds inflicted by the police.

These two days, last week, were the icing on the cake to the violence inflicted against the teachers movement on August 20th, when again, police/military evicted the movement and brutally beat up 3 union leaders and one teacher that all were supposedly identified on the spot to the police by individuals infiltrated in the marches.

Before and particularly since August 20th, the major media outlets owned by the oligarchy continue a media campaign against the teacher's movement to portray them as instruments of violence with no regard for children's education and the educational system in Honduras.

At the writing of this article, the teachers are gathered in their daily assembly to discuss an agreement recently negotiated between the Government negotiation team and the leaders of the teacher's movement. Today, the teachers will announce whether they accept the proposal or not.

* * * 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
By the Honduras Solidarity Network
Contact: Vicki Cervantes, vickicervantes at yahoo.com

A coalition of North American organizations today denounced the exercise of violent repression by Honduran military and police forces against members of a striking teacher's union at a university in Tegucigalpa.

The Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) declared that "the recent brutal attacks by government forces against non-violent protests show that there has been no reconciliation after last year's coup d'etat, and the U.S. government's policy of support for the current government must be changed. We call for an immediate end to the repression and human rights violations against the opposition movement".

The group referred to military and police attacks against members of the teacher's union, COPEMH (Colegio de Profesores de Educación Media de Honduras (Association of Secondary Teachers of Honduras)), and their supporters, which took place at The National Pedagogical University Francisco Morazan in Tegucigalpa on August 26 and 27. The union has been on strike since May, and is generally viewed as opposing the regime of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo. The HSN based its action on reports received from the human rights group COFADEH and the General Workers' Central Federation (CGT) labor organization, and corroborated by local news from Radio Globo and eyewitness accounts that report the following:

On Friday, Aug. 27, police and military troops surrounded the National Pedagogical University, responding to thousands of teachers and members of trade unions, peasant organizations and other organizations supportive of the teachers gathered on the university grounds. The police and military forces sprayed tear gas from trucks and beat protesters with truncheons before firing canisters of tear gas into the University grounds. As people were overcome by the gas and tried to leave, they were beaten and many detained. Among the injured were two well-known reporters from Radio Globo, one of the few independent radio stations in the country. Among those seriously affected by the gas were a number of children and pregnant women.

On Thursday, the police and military attacked the same group at a massive protest near the presidential residency in the capital city. Television stations aired video showing soldiers firing their rifles during the repressive action and police beating protesters. Four teachers from the teachers' union were seriously injured and, according to human rights organizations in Honduras, they were denied medical care at the main public hospital in Tegucigalpa. The teachers' union then took the men to a private medical facility.

On Aug. 20, four leaders of the teachers' union were badly injured when police attacked them during a union march. The men were detained at a police station for 12 hours during which time they were denied medical care and human rights observers were refused entry to the jail to verify their condition.

Throughout the month of August the level of conflict and the human rights crisis in Honduras has deepened. Non-violent protesters in Choloma were beaten, and three members of peasant organizations in Aguan were killed. Another journalist, critical of the regime, was murdered bringing to ten the total of journalists murdered since Lobo took over in January.

Vicki Cervantes, a spokesperson for the Honduras Solidarity Network said, "The United States government continues its support for the oligarchy and Lobo in the form of aid and pressure on other governments in the hemisphere to accept the illegitimate Lobo administration."

Meanwhile, on the ground in Honduras the opposition of the majority of Hondurans to the coup and the subsequent regimes, including Lobo's, is growing. For the first time since 1954, Honduran trade union federations have all agreed to prepare for a general strike and nearly a million Honduran eligible voters have signed letters demanding the convocation of a constituent constitutional assembly with the peoples' participation and leadership.

The Honduras Solidarity Network, a nationwide coalition of non-profit, human rights and educational organizations, and the Honduran Front for National Resistance (FRNP) call for:

an end to police and military repression of the teachers and the protesters at the university;
resumption of negotiations between the government and the Teacher's Union;
payment of back wages and an investigation into the violation of the teachers' human rights. 

* * *

SAMPLE LETTER 
Dear ???,

Non-violent protests by striking teachers and democracy supporters in Honduras have been attacked in recent days by the military and police causing many injuries and detentions.

On Aug. 26 and Aug. 27 the Honduran military and police attacked demonstrators gathered at the National Pedagogical University Francisco Morazan in Tegucigalpa firing many rounds of tear gas and live bullets. When those trapped in the university tried to escape the tear gas, they were beaten, including pregnant women and at least two journalists.

Until the brutal repression of social movements in Honduras ends, I demand that the Government:

Suspend all aid to the Lobo administration
Stop the U.S. (or Canadian) government lobbying for recognition of the undemocratic government of Honduras.
Recognize the Honduran people's demand for a Constituent Assembly to establish a functioning, participatory democracy.

I look forward to hearing from you about what you and your office are doing about this.

Sincerely,

[name and address] 

* * * 

US GOV'T OFFICES & POLITICIANS

White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/, 202-456-1111, Comment Line: 202-456-1414

US Congress: go to http://www.house.gov/ to get contact info for your congress members.  202-224-3121

US Senate: go to http://www.senate.gov/ to get contact info for your senator. 202-224-3121

State Department: F: 202-647-8947, T: 202 647-8947

State Department, Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs: (202) 647-0834, WHAAsstSecty at State.Gov

Ambassador Craig Kelly, Principal Deputy Asst. Secretary, Western Office of Hemisphere Affairs: KellyC at state.gov, F: 202-647-0834

Dan Restrepo, Special Asst. to the President, Western Hemisphere Affairs, drestreop at nsc.eop.gov

Maria Otero, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs; c/o Laura Pena, Assistant: PenaL at state.gov

Ambassador Hugo Llorens, U.S. Embassy, Honduras, LlorensH at state.gov, F: 011-504-236-9037

Dr. Arturo Valenzuela: ValenzuelaAA at state.gov

Paul Monteiro, Office of Public Engagement, Darron_P._Monteiro at who.eop.gov

* * * 

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean
Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1A-0A1
info at gg.ca, (613) 993-8200, 800 465-6890
Duncan Mousseau, Director, Policy, Planning and Correspondence
Office of the Secretary to the Governor General
DMousseau at GG.CA

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, harpes at parl.gc.ca

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon
509-S Centre Block, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0A6
cannol at parl.gc.ca

Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas) Peter Kent
125 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0G2
(613) 992-0253, kent.p at parl.gc.ca

Gilles Duceppe, leader, Bloc Quebecois
1200 Papineau Av, #350, Montreal, QC, H2K 4R5
ducepg at parl.gc.ca
Jack Layton, leader, New Democratic Party
221 Broadview Ave, Suite 100, Toronto, ON, MM 2G3
laytoj at parl.gc.ca
Elizabeth May, leader, Green Party
Saanich Gulf Islands EDA, PO Box 20076, Sidney, BC, V8L 5C9
emaytowin at greenparty.ca
Michael Ignatieff, leader, Liberal Party
656 The Queensway, Etobicoke, ON, M8Y 1K7
ignatm at parl.gc.ca

Mr. Peter Julian & Mr. Henri Sader, NDP International Trade Critic, Rm 178, Confederation Bldg., Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
julian.p at parl.gc.ca
John McKay, liberal, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development
(613) 992-1447, MckayJ at parl.gc.ca, 613-947-4609
Kevin Sorenson, Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, Room 518, Justice Building, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
(613) 947-4608, SorenK at parl.gc.ca, 613-992-2971
Mr. Dean Allison, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairperson, 4994 King Street, Beamsville, Ontario, L0R 1B0
allison.d at parl.gc.ca, 905-995-2772

CONTACT YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC

CANADIAN Embassy in Costa Rica
(responsible for Honduras, as well)
Ambassador Neil Reeder
(506) 2242-4400, (506) 2242-4411 - Political, sjcra at international.gc.ca
Honduras Office of the Canadian Embassy
Centro Financiero Banexpo - Tercer Piso
Boulevard San Juan Bosco, Colonia Payaquí
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
(504) 232-4551; tglpa at international.gc.ca

* * * 

WHAT TO DO? (info at rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org)

FALL 2010 SPEAKERS:  Contact us to plan educational presentations in your community, school, place of worship, home, about the tireless and courageous Honduras pro-democracy movement.

EDUCATIONAL DELEGATIONS TO CENTRAL AMERICA:  Form your own group and/ or join one of our educational delegation-seminars to learn first hand about community development, human rights and environmental struggles.

TO MAKE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS 
for community based groups in the pro-democracy movement, make check payable to "Rights Action" and mail to:

UNITED STATES:  Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
CANADA:  552 - 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8

CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS: http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm

RIGHTS ACTION IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, with tax charitable status in Canada and the USA, that funds and works to eliminate poverty and the underlying causes of poverty, supporting community-based development, environmental, disaster relief and human rights projects and organizations in Guatemala and Honduras, as well as in Chiapas [Mexico], El Salvador and Haiti.  Rights Action educates about and is involved in other worked aimed at poverty eradication and critically understanding the related north-south, global development, environmental and human rights issues.

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