The Committee of the Families of the Disapeared Detainees in Honduras, COFADEH, urgently alert the national and international community of the serious events which occurred this afternoon against the Union of Workers in the Beverage Industry (STYBS).
1. COFADEH received the report of this at 4:30 pm, Tuesday, May 25, 2010: armed men dressed in white shirts, with black pants and caps violently entered STIBYS, and immediately fired on Douglas Gomez who is now in surgery at the Social Security Hospital in San Pedro Sula.
2. The action occurred in a synchronized manner with the blocking of the telephone lines, which did not work when the four persons, including Douglas, inside the union facility tried to sound the alert and get help from outside. The unknown assailants did not take anything from STIBYS.
3. COFADEH is concerned with this new repressive action against STIBYS and its leaders Carlos H. Reyes and Profirio Ponce, who since the coup d’etat have been the victims of constant aggresion, surveillence and militarization against the organization by the repressive bodies of the State.
On July 26, 2009, at 12 noon a fragmentation grenade exploded inthe interios of the installations. A member of the Resistance who came out of the offices that same day was attacked with rubber bullets. In August, unknown individuals fired against the physician installations. Three shots hit the windows of the assembly hall.
On August 11, the main entrances of the Union were militarized; a contingent of soldiers in Comandos and tanks were posted there from 4 in the afternoon until the next day Agust 12th impeding the arrival of resistance caravans, that were gathering in Tegucigalpa, to the facility which was being used as a housing center. Three people who entered the installations were detained and accused of theft and aggravated arson.
On November 28 the army returned to militarize the installation and a military tank with a long range canon was posted at the main entrance.
4. We dennounce the irresponsibility of the Public Ministry for not carrying out the necesary investigation of the repression noted above despite the corresponding formal complaints (acciones de denuncia) having been made; and we hold these authorities responsible for any attack that risks the lives of the leaders of STIBYS.
5. This act against this workers’ organization occurrs almost a month before the one year anniversary of the coup d’etat, a date on which many importan activities will be held, such as the installation of the Truth Commission initiative of the Human Rights Platform, and the culmination of the signature-gathering process for the Soverignty Declaration demanding a National Constituent Assembly and the return of president Manuel Zelaya Rosales. In addtition to the atmosphere of terror recreated since the arrival of the present regime.
6. We condemn this new action that has the aim of silencing the voices of the organized workers and all of the Honduran people who are on the path towards a National Constiuent Assembly despite all of the failed attempts of the oligarachy responsble for the coup and the repressive bodies using the peoples’ money for repression.
7. COFADEH urgently calls on the natioanl and international community to declare itself against this act, to call for the end of repression against the organized people by the regime, as well as demanding no impunity for this contemptible act.
The acts and the actors
Neither forgotten nor forgiven
Committee of the Families of the Disappeared Detainees in Honduras
COFADEH
Tegucigalpa M:D.C. May 25, 2010
Translation by La Voz de los de Abajo.