Human rights in Honduras
This article appears to be slanted towards recent events. (May 2013) |
Serious issues involving human rights in Honduras through the end of 2013 include unlawful and arbitrary killings by police and others, corruption and institutional weakness of the justice system, and harsh and at times life-threatening prison conditions.[1]
Other human rights problems include violence against detainees; lengthy pretrial detentions and failure to provide
The government has taken steps to prosecute and punish officials who commit abuses [citation needed]. However, corruption and impunity remain serious problems that impede the effectiveness of the National Police.[1]
Pre-twentieth century
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Pre-1979
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During much of the twentieth century, Honduras did not have civilian governments. Military leaders frequently became presidents, either through elections or by coups d'état. General Tiburcio Carías Andino was elected in 1932, he later on called a constituent assembly that allowed him to be reelected, and his rule became more authoritarian until an election in 1948. During the following decades, coups d'état occurred in October 1955 by a group of military officers, in October 1963 (1963 Honduran coup d'état) and December 1972 by General Oswaldo López Arellano, in 1975 by Juan Alberto Melgar Castro (1975 Honduran coup d'état) and in 1978 by Policarpo Paz García.
1980s
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Following the
In 1982, in response to these human rights violations, 12 families of
Other human rights NGOs, including the Center for the Investigation and Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (
Zelaya presidency (2006-2009)
Seven former members of Battalion 3-16 (
Roberto Micheletti de facto presidency
Background
Following the 2009 coup d'état, in which Zelaya was detained and exiled by Honduran military units, de facto President Roberto Micheletti appointed former Battalion 3-16 member Billy Joya as his security advisor,[10] former Battalion 3-16 member Nelson Willy Mejía Mejía became Director of Immigration, and former Battalion 3-16 member Napoleón Nassar Herrera, who had already become a high Commissioner of Police, also became a spokesperson "for dialogue" for the Secretary of Security.[11][12][13][14] Zelaya claimed that Billy Joya had reactivated the death squad.[10]
A
The ambassadors of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua said that on the 29th they were detained and beaten by Honduran troops before being released.[17] Several government officials were taken into custody by the military.[17] A dozen former ministers from the Zelaya government went into hiding, some in foreign embassies, fearing arrest.[18] Local media reported that at least eight ministers besides Patricia Rodas had been detained.[19]
During the first few weeks of the Micheletti period, hundreds of political arrests were made. COFADEH reported that 609 people, of whom at least 61 minors, were detained for "political scandal" (participation in political demonstrations), and 158 were detained for violating curfew, between 28 June and 12 July.[20] Amnesty International (AI) stated that during the Micheletti period, "increasingly disproportionate and excessive use of force [was] being used by the police and military to repress legitimate and peaceful protests across the country". AI also said that "some women and girls taking part in the demonstrations are reportedly suffering gender based violence and abuse at the hands of police officers" and that at the same time that "protests increase and spread throughout the country, violent methods of repressing dissent intensify and Honduran citizens are increasingly exposed to violations of their fundamental rights."[16]
On 31 July, Zelaya claimed that Battalion 3-16 was again operating, with a different name, and being led by Billy Joya. Zelaya stated (translation), "With a different name, [Battalion 3-16 is] already operating. The crimes being committed is torture to create fear among the population, and that's being directed by Mr. Joya."[10]
Forced disappearances
On 5 July, in San Juan Pueblo, Atlántida, four people wearing police vests forcefully disappeared Anastasio Barrera, 55 years old, of the National Union of Rural Workers.[21]
On 12 July, in San Pedro Sula, Manuel Sevilla, 19 years old, was disappeared after returning from a demonstration.[21]
Samuel David Flores Murillo, 24 years old was
Extrajudicial executions
The death of Vicky Hernández Castillo (born Sonny Emelson Hernández), a member of the LGBT community who was killed by a bullet in the eye during the curfew of the night of 29 to 30 June and displayed signs of strangulation,[21][24] is attributed to the coup d'état by COFADEH.[25]
On 3 July in
Also on 3 July, journalist
On 5 July, when soldiers prevented a plane carrying Zelaya from landing at
Roger Iván Bados (sometimes written Báez
The death of 40-year-old campesino leader Ramón García, also a member of the Democratic Unification Party, on 12 July, after he was forced by unknown people to get off a bus,[20] is also attributed to Micheletti's de facto government by Luther Castillo.[22][30]
On 24 July, near the border town El Paraíso, conflict occurred between hundreds of protesters against the coup d'état and security forces.[31] Many people saw protester Pedro Magdiel Muñoz Salvador, 23 years old, being detained by police[32] and driven to a police station in El Paraíso.[33] The following morning, his body was found in a deserted field at 6:30 in the morning, with 42 wounds from stabbing. Demonstrators and the National Front Against the Coup d'État stated that the murder had all the characteristics of 1980s actions of Battalion 3-16, as a method of "terrorising the masses of people participating in the struggle against the coup regime."[32]
On 31 July, during a peaceful protest that blocked a highway on the first day of a public service national strike against the coup d'état, high school teacher Roger Abraham Vallejo Soriano, 38 years old, was shot in the head by security forces.[34][35] He died the following day.[36]
Another assassination in the region near the Nicaraguan border near El Paraíso took place on 2 August when a soldier at a military roadblock fatally shot Pedro Pablo Hernández in the head.[25][37] COFADEH attributes his assassination to the coup d'état.[25] The Office of the Public Prosecutor stated to IACHR during the latter's 17–21 August visit that the case was being investigated.[37]
On 8 August in Choloma,[25] Juan Gabriel Figueroa Tomé, 30 yrs old, who was an active member of resistance to the coup d'état, was taken by armed men who said that they didn't want his motorbike, they wanted him.[38] He was found dead, shot in the head, the following day, 9 August.[25] COFADEH attributes his assassination to the coup d'état.[25]
Zelaya return
Zelaya returned to Honduras on 21 September 2009, and stayed in the Brazilian Embassy, while Micheletti remained the de facto president.[39] Security forces under the responsibility of de facto president Micheletti carried out systematic human rights violations, including a "sharp rise in police beatings," hundreds of arrests of political demonstrators and intimidation of human rights defenders throughout Honduras.[40] On 22 September, 15 police fired tear gas canisters at the building of the human rights NGO Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), at a moment when about 100 people were in the COFADEH office.[40] Dozens of protesters were detained in unauthorised detention sites in Tegucigalpa on 22 September.[40]
On 16 October 2009, Human Rights Watch stated that "the small human rights unit of the Office of the Attorney General has begun investigations into numerous cases of killings, alleged excessive use of force by security officials, and illegal and arbitrary detentions" but that the unit's superiors in the Attorney General's office and armed forces members were obstructing the investigations.[41]
The Micheletti de facto government issued Decree PCM-M-016-2009 which officially signed on 22 September 2009
In December 2009 the head of Honduras' anti-drug smuggling operations, Gen Julian Aristides Gonzalez, was assassinated in
Porfirio Lobo Sosa
Journalist
Human Rights Watch has reported attacks on the independence of the judiciary and public prosecutors. "The May dismissal of four lower-court judges who challenged the legality of the 2009 coup has severely damaged the credibility of the Honduran judiciary." One of the dismissed judges "told Human Rights Watch that, since his dismissal, several judges have confided in him that the fear of dismissal by the government influences their judicial decision-making. A prosecutor from the human rights prosecutor's office said fellow prosecutors had expressed the same concern." Human Rights Watch concluded that "Honduras has made little progress toward restoring the rule of law since the coup."[48]
See also
- Human trafficking in Honduras
- Internet censorship and surveillance in Honduras
- List of journalists killed in Honduras
- LGBT rights in Honduras
- Gender inequality in Honduras
- Honduras portal
References
- ^ a b c "Honduras", Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 28 March 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
- Baltimore Sun. Archived from the originalon 2011-05-22. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- ^ Equipo Nizkor, LA APARICION DE OSAMENTAS EN UNA ANTIGUA BASE MILITAR DE LA CIA EN HONDURAS REABRE LA PARTICIPACION ARGENTINO-NORTEAMERICANA EN ESE PAIS., Margen (in Spanish)
- ^ "Honduras: Still waiting for justice". Amnesty International. 1998. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
- Huffington Post. Archived from the originalon 2009-07-26. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ "Historia". COFADEH. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ COFADEH, (in Spanish) Quienes Somos, accessed 26 July 2009
- ^ Holland, Clifton L. (June 2006). "Honduras - Human Rights Workers Denounce Battalion 3-16 Participation in Zelaya Government" (PDF). Mesoamérica Institute for Central American Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (February 2007). "Hnd - Solicitan al Presidente Zelaya la destitución de integrantes del Batallón 3-16 nombrados en el Ministerio del Interior". Nizkor. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-09-24. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ Z Communications. Archived from the originalon 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ "Zelaya sale de Ocotal". El Nuevo Diario (Nicaragua). 2009-08-02. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- ^ "Reanudan venta de citas para emisión de pasaportes" (in Spanish). La Tribuna. 2009-07-07. Archived from the original on 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
- AFP. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ Mejía, Lilian; Mauricio Pérez; Carlos Girón (2009-07-18). "Pobladores Exigen Nueva Ley De Minería: 71 Detenidos Y 12 Heridos En Batalla Campal" (in Spanish). MAC: Mines and Communities. Archived from the original on 2009-09-17. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ "High Noon in Honduras" Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, Lara Carlsen, Alternet, 4 July 2009.
- ^ a b c "Honduras: Human rights crisis threatens as repression increases". Amnesty International. 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
- ^ Christian Science Monitor. June 29, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2009.
- Washington Post. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
- ^ Ordaz, Pablo (June 28, 2009). "El Ejército expulsa al presidente hondureño, Manuel Zelaya". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved June 28, 2009.
- ^ Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras. 2009-07-15. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-10-29. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ a b c d "International Observation Mission for the Human Rights Situation in Honduras Preliminary Report - Confirmed systematic human rights violations in Honduras since the coup d'etat". Upside Down World. 2009-08-06. Archived from the original on 2009-08-09. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ a b c Quixote Center Emergency Delegation of Solidarity, Accompaniment and Witness (2009-08-07). "Letter to Honduran Attorney General Rubi". Quixote Center. Archived from the original on 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- Huffington Post. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
- ^ a b c d Pérez, Luis Guillermo; et al. (2009-08-06). "Gobierno de facto viola derechos humanos" (in Spanish). Agencia Latinoamerica de Información. Archived from the original on 2009-12-03. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras. August 2009. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-10-25. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ a b "A joven le pusieron camisa de la cuarta urna". El Heraldo (Honduras). 2009-07-04. Archived from the original on 2009-07-08. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ The Miami Herald. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ Rosario, Mariela (2009-07-14). "Murder of 19-Year-Old Isis Obed Murillo Sparks Youth Movement in Honduras". Latina Media Ventures. Archived from the original on 2009-07-16. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- The Miami Herald. Archivedfrom the original on 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ Daily News (New York). Archivedfrom the original on 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ "Exiled Honduran leader makes 2nd trip to border". Associated Press.
- ^ a b Emanuelsson, Dick (2009-07-28). "Atentado con bomba en sede de sindicato hondureño" (in Spanish). Tercera Informacion. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- COFADEH (2009-07-26). "Communiqué on the murder of Pedro Magdiel Muñoz Salvador". Derechos Human Rights. Archivedfrom the original on 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
- ^ "Hieren a manifestante en Tegucigalpa" (in Spanish). Diario El Tiempo. 2009-07-30. Archived from the original on 2009-08-02. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- ^ "International Mission denounces the brutal repression of pacific demonstrations". Agencia Latinoamerica de Información. 2009-07-30. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ^ "Fallece maestro seguidor de Zelaya herido durante marcha en Honduras" (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 2009-08-01. Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
- ^ a b "Preliminary Observations on the IACHR Visit to Honduras". Inter-American Court of Human Rights. 2009-08-21. Archived from the original on 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
- ^ "Noticias y la Muerte de Juan Gabriel Figueroa Tomé". Habla Honduras. 2009-08-10. Archived from the original on 2009-08-17. Retrieved 2009-08-25.
- ^ Carroll, Rory (2009-09-21). "Manuel Zelaya returns to Honduras". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 2009-09-25. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ a b c "Beatings and detentions follow Honduras demonstrations". Amnesty International. 2009-09-24. Archived from the original on 2009-09-28. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ "Honduras: Stop Blocking Human Rights Inquiries". Human Rights Watch. 2009-10-16. Archived from the original on 2009-10-16. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
- ^ a b c d e "The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression condemns the suspension of guarantees in Honduras and the violations of the right to freedom of expression". Organization of American States. 2009-09-29. Archived from the original on 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ a b Rosenberg, Mica; Gustavo Palencia (2009-10-19). "Honduras de facto leader lifts ban on media, protests". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ Ordaz, Pablo (2009-09-28). "Micheletti ordena el cierre de los medios de comunicación afines a Zelaya" (in Spanish). El País. Archived from the original on 2011-05-13. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ Giordano, Al (2009-09-27). "Honduras Coup Leader Micheletti Decrees 45-Day Suspension of Constitution". Narco News. Archived from the original on 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ a b c "Authorities Must Reveal Identities and Whereabouts of People Detained Today". Amnesty International USA. 2009-11-30. Archived from the original on 2009-12-02. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ BBC, 8 December 2009, Honduras anti-drug chief shot dead by gunmen
- ^ a b Human Rights Watch, 29 July 2010, Honduras: Ongoing Attacks Foster Climate of Intimidation
- ^ "Second Honduran journalist killed in two weeks". International Press Institute. 2010-03-15. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
External links
- One Year After Coup, Honduras Repression Continues - video report by Democracy Now!