[HNA] For Immediate Release: QC Human Rights Delegation in Honduras

Thu Jun 24 08:47:33 PDT 2010

*Quixote Center*

*For Immediate Release*

June 24, 2010

*Contact: Jenny Atlee 301-699-0042/301-614-0545*

*International Delegation to Conduct Human Rights Accompaniment and 
Observation in Lead-Up to the 1-year Anniversary of the Coup d'État in 
Honduras*

 /_Representatives of U.S. Accompaniment Delegation available for 
Interviews from Honduras, June 24-July 1_/

*Tegucigalpa, Honduras* -- An international delegation from labor, human 
rights, and faith-based organizations will be in Honduras June 24 to 
July 1 to conduct human rights accompaniment and observation around the 
one-year anniversary of the coup d'état in Honduras on June 28. The 
delegation's members hope that their presence will mitigate human rights 
violations by the Honduran military and police, and that they will be 
able to document any violations that occur.

"By providing witness in Honduras, by being there in the presence of 
people peacefully demonstrating for human rights and a return to 
democracy, we hope we can dissuade repression and violence," said Tom 
Loudon, Co-Director of the US-based Quixote Center, who will be helping 
to lead the delegation.  

International organizations, including Amnesty International, Human 
Rights Watch, and the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, have 
documented grave human rights violations that have occurred since the 
coup on June 28, 2009---particularly against human rights defenders and 
journalists.[1] <#_ftn1> These violations continued throughout the 
regime of the de facto government, and have persisted since Porfirio 
Lobo was named President in January 2010, following controversial 
elections that were held in November 2009. The Committee of Families of 
Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) has documented 710 human 
rights violations during the first few months of the Lobo regime alone 
(January 28^ through April 10), including 43 confirmed political murders 
before March 1. The U.S. government, meanwhile, has congratulated the 
Lobo government on restoring democracy in Honduras and has restored full 
economic and military cooperation.

The United States supported and recognized last year's disputed 
elections---held under the auspices of the coup regime without the 
reinstatement of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya or the 
implementation of the San José Accords, negotiated by the Organization 
of American States (OAS), which has still not recognized the current 
Honduran regime. Some un official international observers (the EU and 
the OAS declined to send observers), on the other hand, noted "low 
turnout" and a "strong military and police presence" at the polling 
stations that they visited. The election day was also marked by violence 
against demonstrators, including in the second-largest city, San Pedro 
Sula, and raided the offices of various groups opposed to the coup.[2] 
<#_ftn2> Amnesty International denounced police detentions under a 
decree prohibiting gatherings of more than four people.[3] <#_ftn3>

The United States supports the government-sponsored Truth Commission to 
investigate human rights violations that have taken place. This 
initiative is strongly criticized by the Honduran Platform for Human 
Rights, a coalition including representation from each of Honduras' key 
human rights organizations. The Platform asserts that "conditions for 
such a commission do not exist," given that, among other reasons, 
violations continue to be perpetrated against those who condemn the coup 
d'état, and state officials implicated in human rights violations 
continue to hold office and could therefore influence the investigation 
process.[4] <#_ftn4>

The international human rights accompaniment delegation will be 
observing the inauguration of an alternative "Commission of Truth," 
organized by the human rights community of Honduras. The delegation also 
plans to meet with various civil society organizations leading up to and 
following the June 28 anniversary, and to observe the public 
presentation of the results of a National Consultation process on the 
need for a Constituent Assembly, organized by the broad-based National 
Front for Popular Resistance (FNRP).

*The following delegation members are available via cell phone in 
Honduras from June 24-July 1:*

*/Tom Loudon/*/, +504-9801-5913 or +504-8797-3546(cell phone in 
Honduras) toml at quixote.org <mailto:toml at quixote.org>,/

Tom is Co-Director of the Quixote Center, based in Brentwood, Maryland; 
USA Tom has lived in Central America for fifteen of the past twenty 
years. He worked for two years with Witness for Peace, and subsequently 
worked in war zones to resettle internally displaced communities.  As a 
regional representative for the American Friends Service Committee, he 
supported regional and hemispheric-wide initiatives to resist and 
promote alternatives to neoliberal economic policies in the Americas 
through the Hemispheric Social Alliance.

*/Caitlin Power Hancey/*/, capoha at gmail.com <mailto:capoha at gmail.com>, 
+504-8797-3546 (cell phone in Honduras)/

Caitlin has been a member of the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network 
(ARSN) since 2005 and is from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is currently 
working for the second time as a volunteer international human rights 
accompanier with the Coordination for International Accompaniment in 
Guatemala (CAIG). She has studied and worked in human rights and 
community development in Nova Scotia, Guatemala, and Honduras for over 
10 years.

*For additional information, please contact:*/ /

/Rick Arnold,/ Common Frontiers Canada, 905-352-2430, /comfront at web.ca/ 
<mailto:comfront at web.ca>
/Jenny Atlee/, Quixote Centre, 301-699-0042 or 301-614-9549, 
/jennya at quixote.org/ <mailto:jennya at quixote.org>
* *

*Quixote Center: /www.quixote.org/ <http://www.quixote.org/>*

*Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network: /http://arsncanada.blogspot.com/ 
<http://arsncanada.blogspot.com/>   *

*Common Frontiers: /www.commonfrontiers.ca/ 
<http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/> *

* *

*###*

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] <#_ftnref1> Preliminary Observations Of The Inter-American 
Commission On Human Rights on its visit to Honduras, May 15 to 18, 2010 
/http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras10eng/Honduras10TOC.eng.htm/;

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the 
violations of human rights in Honduras since the coup d'état on 28 June 
2009. /http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/9224379.06265259.html/;

Honduras: Independence of the judicial system is seriously undermined as 
the dismissal of justice officials is confirmed (Amnesty International) 
/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR37/010/2010/en/239278fd-5ce0-473a-8190-dca89f2f19a6/amr370102010en.html/

[2] <#_ftnref2> Rory Carroll, "Honduras elects Porfirio Lobo as new 
president," The Guardian (UK), November 30, 2009. 
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/30/honduras-lobo-president

[3] <#_ftnref3> Amnesty International, "Honduras: Authorities must 
reveal identities and whereabouts of people detained today", press 
release. November 30, 2009. 
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE200911301429&lang=e

[4] <#_ftnref4> 
/http://quixote.org/sites/quixote.org/files/PLATAFORMA%20press%20release%202.18.10%20English_0.pdf/ 

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