The Commission of Truth met with representatives of the G-16.
“To forget is not good for the people; all people have the right to truth, justice and reparation. We cannot speak of reconciliation in a vacuum; forgetting leads us to commit serious mistakes and to difficulties” stated the Commissioner of the Commission of Truth of Honduras who arrived in the country on Tues, April 5th.
Pérez Esquivel, 1980 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient, is also a member of the Executive Committee of the United Nations Permanent Human Rights Assembly.
In an interview with defensoresenlinea.com he expressed that “the Honduran people are living a situation of extreme human rights violations. In order to sustain a coup d’état, the state resorts to violence and regrettably, the victim is the people.”
For Esquivel, coup de tats in Latin America do not happen without the support of the United States which acts to defend its interests and the question is why so many military bases are being installed in the American continent.
“Social protests are the logical and just response of the people, and they may not treated as delinquents” he commented in response to a document sent by Jeremy Spector, US Embassy official for labor and human rights in which he stated that protests are led by unions and teachers and “include a large number of delinquents whose objective is to incite violence and chaos.”
The Commission of Truth presented the situation of violation of human rights and crimes against humanity.
The Nobel Prize recipient said during the coup d’état in Argentina there were many disappeared and this is why his message for the people of Honduras is “to have great strength, hope and never give up.” He said that in his country they have brought those who committed crimes to trial and they have been given life sentences.
He announced that once the Commission of Truth has gathered all of the information, it will be presented to the world, the International Criminal Court, the Organization of American States OAS, the United Nations and other arenas.
Nora Cortiñas Morales, co-founder of the Movement of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentica, mother of Carlos Gustavo Cortiñas, detained and disappeared in Argentina, said that her experience in Honduras is an intense one because the state terrorism and military dictatorship which she lived in her country is the pain that the people of Honduras are living now.
“The persecution of the teachers shows us that this aggression is directed by the very government. What is happening to an entire sector as strong as the teachers who demand what is just, is coming from those in charge of the country” assured Cortiñas.
According to Cortiñas, the Armed Forces are always indifferent to the pain of the people. They are inhuman when they carry out the repression – they don’t care if they beat pregnant women, children or elderly.
Cortiñas said that in the meeting with the Commissioners, the G16 listened to all of the denunciations that have been received and that there may be a response to the repression that Hondurans are suffering.
The Commission of Truth met with the G16 to present to the heads of state, the situation of human rights violations and crimes against humanity that have increased since the military coup on June 28th, 2009.
Those forming this coalition are, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, Spain, the European Union, Japan, Holland, Sweden and international organizations including the International Monetary Fund, the Bank for Central American Economic Integration, the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations.
The G16 is the Coordination of Cooperants of the Stocolm Declaration formed after the devastation of hurricane Mitch in order to support the reconstruction and in the framework of the defacto government of Profirio Lobo Sosa, they have pressured to strengthen state institutions weakened in the aftermath of the coup.
The Commission of Truth is comprised of Elsy Monge of Ecuador, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel- Argentina, Mirna Perla Jiménez-El Salvador, Luis Carlos Nieto-España, Francisco José Aguilar Urbina-Costa Rica, Nora Cortiña-Argentina, Fausto Milla-Honduras, Helen Umaña-Honduras, Craig Scott-Canada and Thomas Loudon, is the Executive Secretary of the Commission.
April 7, 2011 Defensores en Linea -Tomy Morales-Corresponsalías
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