Honduras Accompaniment Project works to accompany the nonviolent social movement in Honduras in the face of the repression begun by the coup.
We thank everyone for their prayers for the Honduran people, and for our delegation this week. Our delegation will issue a more formal report after we return home, but informal notes follow in order to share a glimpse of what we are experiencing. While we are the sixth delegation in a series of international human rights missions since the coup on June 28th, we are the first religious delegation.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras, August 21, 2009 — The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) today concluded its on-site visit to Honduras, which began on August 17, 2009. The purpose of the visit was to observe the human rights situation in the context of the coup d’état of June 28, 2009. The delegation was composed of the IACHR President, Luz Patricia Mejía; the First Vice President, Víctor Abramovich; the Second Vice President and Rapporteur for Honduras, Felipe González; Commissioner Paolo Carozza; and Executive Secretary Santiago A. Canton. The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Catalina Botero, was also part of the delegation.
I returned on Saturday from an intense two weeks of accompanying International delegations in Honduras.
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Human Rights Observation Delegation to Honduras
Since a military coup removed President Zelaya on June 28th, the situation in Honduras has become increasingly tense. Honduran human rights and civil society groups continue to report serious violations of civil and human rights against activists, journalists and other social leaders expressing opposition to the coup.
Wednesday’s Events in Tegucigalpa
We had breathed a collective sigh of relief that the mass mobilizations of Tuesday had passed without major incident. In the morning on Wednesday, part of our delegation went to join that day’s march which, after an extended assembly at the University headed off towards downtown Tegucigalpa. Three of us who have been coordinating spent the morning writing a framework for an ongoing presence of delegations.
Thank you for your calls to the US State Department and Ambassador Llorens to denounce the brutal repression unleashed on peaceful protestors yesterday in Honduras. Today, people are stunned , injured and reeling from the impact of yesterday’s attacks by Honduran police and military.
The fifth delegation of international human rights observers maintaining presence in Honduras since the coup of 28 June denounces the many and grave human rights violations perpetrated by the state security forces, including the national police, the Command of Special Operations COBRA, and the national army.
Attack on Peaceful Protestors Escalates
Please take action again to stop the repression!
Thank you for your calls to the U.S. State Department – please call again! The repression is escalating. Crackdowns are occurring in San Pedro Sula as well as Tegucigalpa.
Please call the State Dept immediately at 202-647-4000 and tell them U.S. citizens are in the midst of a peaceful march in Tegucigalpa, Honduras that is under attack by the Honduran military and to instruct the Honduran military not to fire on protesters.
