At 1:40pm today heavily armed members of the national police and military raided COMAL (Alternative Community Marketing Network) in Siguatepeque, in Comayagua. COMAL is a newtork of 42 small-scale peasant and women’s organizations from throughout Honduras. QC delegation members arrived at COMAL while the raid was still underway.
Photos here: www.flickr.com/photos/45071696@N05/sets/72157622774135215/
Security forces broke down the doors of COMAL with their guns and ransacked the main office in Siguatepeque. The military seized 4 computers, digital cameras, banners, documents, files, human rights reports that COMAL presented to the Inter American Human Rights Commission, accounting records and literature about the current political crisis and the non-violent resistance movement.
Military and police also raided COMAL’s training center, the School for Solidarity Economy, breaking down doors and handcuffing the guard who was threatened with 10 years in jail if he did not confirm that seditious acts were being committed on site. Computers, the internet system and furniture was destroyed in the search for “subversive material.” The raid continued until after 5:30 pm.
According to Miguel Alonzo de Red Comal, a Public Ministry official arrived two hours after the raid to present a warrant, stating that the electoral law prohibited the dissemination of the materials that had been seized from the offices of COMAL.
Quixote Center delegation members arrived at COMAL with human rights defenders from COFADEH while the raid was still in progress. Photos will be posted asap. COMAL is preparing a full report on the raid for human rights organizations