Honduran Delegation Report: Tuesday, September 22

Our delegation in Honduras sent this report regarding yesterday’s events. Please take action by emailing President Obama and Sec. Clinton and demand they denounce the military violence and human rights violatons occuring in Honduras.

Early Tuesday morning police and military forces violently dispersed a peaceful gathering in front of the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where thousands of Hondurans had gathered yesterday to celebrate the appearance of president Manuel Zelaya in the country.

Repression at Embassy

Here is another testimony taken by a member of our International Witness Delegation.

Lilian, a 46-year old resident of Tegucigalpa, was in the region of the Brazilian Embassy yesterday, along with hundreds of others, celebrating democratically-elected president Mel Zelaya’s return. At about 5:30am, members of the police and military came to displace the assembly.

One Story of Last Night's Repression

Twenty-four year-old Eric was participating in his Tegucigalpa neighborhood’s protest last night when the nonviolent gathering was attacked by police. He was beaten with police batons before being detained for two hours along with a nineteen year-old compañero.

Police continued to beat Eric after he was detained. “They made us put our hands flat on chairs so they could beat them,” he said. He heard police talking among themselves about killing them.

Curfew Extended; 7.5 Million Effectively Under House Arrest

They’ve declared another full-day curfew today, which is disastrous for most people, who need to work every day for income, and who therefore buy food on a day-to-day basis. People are calling into television and radio stations saying they don’t have any food in their houses, and in some neighborhoods the water has been cut, too. One woman just called in and said that her mom is diabetic and hasn’t had insulin in three days. Even if these individuals decide to defy curfew, as many are doing, the stores and markets are closed.