<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:Courier New,courier,monaco,monospace,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;color:#000000;"><div><p>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:</p><p><br></p>
<p>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.</p><p><br></p>
<p>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.</p><p><br></p>
<p>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.</p><p><br></p>
<p>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.</p><p><br></p>
<p>WHAT WE HOPE FOR:</p>
<p>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,</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><br></p><p>WE VOW TO:</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>4 .- Determine the legitimacy and possible implications of the
militarization of the Colon department. </p>
<p><br></p><p>SOURCE: CODEH</p><p><br></p><p><span><a target="_blank" href="http://hondurashumanrights.wordpress.com/">http://hondurashumanrights.wordpress.com/</a></span><br></p></div>
</div><br>
</body></html>