<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<b>Quixote Center</b>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For
Immediate Release<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">June
24, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p>Contact:
Jenny Atlee 301-699-0042/301-614-0545</span></b><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;"
align="center"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><br>
<b style=""><span
style="font-size: 15pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">International
Delegation to Conduct Human Rights
Accompaniment and Observation in Lead-Up to the 1-year Anniversary of
the Coup
d’État in Honduras<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; line-height: normal;"
align="center"><span
style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span><i
style=""><u><span
style="font-size: 13pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Representatives
of U.S. Accompaniment Delegation available for Interviews from
Honduras, June
24-July 1<o:p></o:p></span></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tegucigalpa,
Honduras</span></b><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> – 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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“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. <o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">International
organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and
the
Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, </span><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">have
documented grave human
rights violations that have occurred since the coup on June 28,
2009—particularly against human rights defenders and journalists.</span><a
style="" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span
style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; color: rgb(64, 64, 64);">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
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<sup> </sup>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<a style="" href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2"
title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
Amnesty
International denounced police detentions <span class="pageintro">under
a decree
prohibiting gatherings of more than four people.</span><a style=""
href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" title=""><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">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.<a style=""
href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" title=""><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">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).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
following
delegation members are available via cell phone in Honduras from June
24-July
1:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b style=""><i
style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Tom
Loudon</span></i></b><i style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">,
+504-9801-5913 or +504-8797-3546(cell phone in
Honduras) <a href="mailto:toml@quixote.org"><span
style="font-style: normal;">toml@quixote.org</span></a>,<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">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.<span style="">
</span>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.<span style="">
<br>
</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><br>
<b style=""><i style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Caitlin
Power Hancey</span></i></b><i style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">, <a
href="mailto:capoha@gmail.com"><span style="font-style: normal;">capoha@gmail.com</span></a>,
+504-8797-3546 (cell phone in Honduras)<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<br>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span
style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For
additional
information, please contact:<o:p></o:p></span></b><i style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><i style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Rick
Arnold,</span></i><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
Common Frontiers Canada, 905-352-2430, <a href="mailto:comfront@web.ca"><i
style=""><span style="">comfront@web.ca</span></i></a><o:p></o:p></span><br>
<i style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Jenny
Atlee</span></i><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">,
Quixote Centre, 301-699-0042 or 301-614-9549, <a
href="mailto:jennya@quixote.org"><i style=""><span style="">jennya@quixote.org</span></i></a><o:p></o:p></span><br>
<b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt;">Quixote Center: <a
href="http://www.quixote.org/"><i style=""><span
style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">www.quixote.org</span></i></a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt;">Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network: <a
href="http://arsncanada.blogspot.com/"><i style=""><span
style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">http://arsncanada.blogspot.com</span></i></a><span
style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt;">Common Frontiers: <a
href="http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/"><i style=""><span
style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">www.commonfrontiers.ca</span></i></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><b style=""><span
style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"><b
style=""><span style="font-size: 11pt;">###<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"
style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=""> </span></p>
<div style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all">
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%">
<!--[endif]-->
<div style="" id="ftn1">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"
title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span
style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
Preliminary Observations Of The Inter-American Commission On Human
Rights on
its visit to Honduras, May 15 to 18, 2010 <a
href="http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras10eng/Honduras10TOC.eng.htm"><i
style=""><span style="">http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Honduras10eng/Honduras10TOC.eng.htm</span></i></a>;
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">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</span><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">.
<a href="http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/9224379.06265259.html"><i
style=""><span style="">http://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/9224379.06265259.html</span></i></a></span><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">;<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Honduras:
Independence of the judicial
system is seriously undermined as the dismissal of justice officials is
confirmed (Amnesty International) <a
href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR37/010/2010/en/239278fd-5ce0-473a-8190-dca89f2f19a6/amr370102010en.html"><i
style=""><span style="">http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR37/010/2010/en/239278fd-5ce0-473a-8190-dca89f2f19a6/amr370102010en.html</span></i></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div style="" id="ftn2">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2"
title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span
style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
Rory Carroll, “Honduras elects Porfirio Lobo as new president,” The
Guardian
(UK), November 30, 2009.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/30/honduras-lobo-president">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/30/honduras-lobo-president</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<div style="" id="ftn3">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3"
title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span
style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
Amnesty International, “Honduras: Authorities must reveal identities
and
whereabouts of people detained today”, press release. November 30,
2009.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE200911301429&lang=e">http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE200911301429&lang=e</a></span></p>
</div>
<div style="" id="ftn4">
<p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a style="" href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4"
title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span
style=""><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span
class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span
style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></span></a><span
style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">
<a
href="http://quixote.org/sites/quixote.org/files/PLATAFORMA%20press%20release%202.18.10%20English_0.pdf"><i
style=""><span style="">http://quixote.org/sites/quixote.org/files/PLATAFORMA%20press%20release%202.18.10%20English_0.pdf</span></i></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>