Tag: Human Rights

Sponsor of the Berta Caceres Act speaks out on coup in Bolivia

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), sponsor of HR – 1945 The Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, was joined by 13 House Members in denouncing the military coup in Bolivia. Ten years ago, a US backed military coup broke constitutional order in Honduras, ushering in a human right catastrophe that claimed the life of the indigenous and environmental rights leader Berta Caceres. In the letter, Rep. Johnson calls on the US to demand restoration of constitutional order and to withdrawal support for a coup that will lead to the same deadly violence that has devastated Honduras.
https://hankjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-johnson-co…

Calm and Conflict a Dispatch from Nicaragua – Dr. James Phillips

Dr. James Phillips, author of Honduras in Dangerous Times, also has many years of experience in Nicaragua. In an article published in Counterpunch, he writes of the legacy of the US sponsored contra war on both countries and of new reports about armed groups forming in Honduras and Nicaragua. He underscores the concerns of Honduran human rights defenders about the predictably deadly impact of this “convergence of forces and interests among gang members, narcotraffickers, and former Contras in Honduras, together with anti-Ortega re-Contra groups in Nicaragua…. A neat distinctions between armed political opposition and criminal groups seems increasingly untenable in this context that affects both countries. That these groups are actively supported by United States agencies is uncertain but widely suspected, based on a long history of U.S. support for “regime change” in Nicaragua.” Phillips emphasizes the need to learn from the tragic mistakes of the past. ” Maybe someday, with our help, Washington will leave Nicaragua to sort out its own problems in peace.” https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/20/calm-and-con%EF%AC%82ict-a-dispa…

Ten years after the coup, repression rages in Honduras

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), sponsor of the Berta Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, denounces repression in Honduras and the complicity of U.S. security assistance.”Unfortunately, the Honduran security forces use our military support to terrorize the Honduran people, forcing them to flee their communities as those same security forces commit human rights abuses while engaging in violent criminal activity, including drug trafficking.”https://medium.com/@rep.hankjohnson/ten-years-after-the-coup-repression-…

Rep. Schakowsky calls on the US to suspend security assistance to Honduras

Ten years ago, in the aftermath of the June 28th military coup, the Committee of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) asked Rep. Jan Schakowsky to come to Honduras, to see the impact of US policy in support of the coup. Ten years later Honduras roils in conflict and people flee by the tens of thousands. Rep. Schakowsky calls on the US to re-evaluate its policy in Honduras and to suspend security assistance for a “dictatorial president who abuses power and implicates our country in the human rights abuses of his regime.”https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/450462-10-years-a…

COFADEH alert in response to government decision to deploy armed forces in response to mounting protests

COFADEH issued an alert following the decision of Honduran President to deploy 25,000 members of the armed forces across the country in response to growing protests against the continuation of military and economic violence and rampant corruption since the 2009 coup. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras expressed concern and reminded the State of Honduras that the military should not participate in matters of public order. Read the Alert: New Urgencies in the Crisis

COFADEH Office Tear Gassed

Tegucigalpa.- Police and military threw tear gas bombs at the offices of the Committee of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), which opened its doors to people protesting the privatization of education and health so that they could protect themselves from the brutal repression which they were victims of. The General Coordinator of COFADEH, Berta Oliva, issued a call to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to “come and witness the siege against us for opening our doors for the protestors, for the people that are denouncing this new coup against education and health care.” A tank with soldiers parked a few meters from the COFADEH headquarters, fired tear gas bombs at a group of protestors who took refuge inside the office of the human rights organization. “We are under siege and we will not close our doors. Our doors will be open to people seeking protection,” stated Oliva. “We ask the High Commissioner to intercede so that this organization can freely exercise our work as a human rights organization as we always do, with our doors open, offering protection to people who demand and need it, with just reasons and just determination because the people can’t take anymore,” she said. “The people are submitted to the most cruel, barbaric brutality on the part of the military and the regime. This is what we are up against. We are suffering and enduring. The air is saturated with tear gas bombs that were thrown at the COFADEH office. We are in a state of high alert, trying to continue doing the work we have done for years in support of life and freedom.” “We are not going to close our doors to all of these people who have sought refuge from the repression in the offices of COFADEH because the security forces will pick them up. We will protect them even if we have to go with them, even if we are taken with them. “This is our decision” concluded the human rights defender. Police and military began to repress the social protest announced for this day to condemn new laws privatizing health and education. There are reports of one person wounded by state agents who fired on protestors. The injured person is José Humberto Duarte, a teacher in the department of Yoro. There are also reports of at least 5 people who were detained and taken to the Manchen station, including university students: Josué Farid Aguilar (18), Júnior Omar Zelaya (19) and Kendal Eduardo Zepeda (18). The young people were detained by the preventative police during protests in the center of the city. During the detention they were beaten by agents in the arms, legs and face. The police would not release the youth to COFADEH’s attorneys, accusing them of having hit an official and inciting violence. Ariel Ricardo Moncada, a graphic design student and Javier Ávila, also a student, are detained in the basements of the National Congress. Once again, the regime of the illegal government of Juan Orlando Hernández represses people who take to the streets to defend health and education. http://defensoresenlinea.com/lanzan-bombas-lacrimogenas-en-las-oficinas-…