Nov 25 - Dec 2, 2009
Honduras Human Rights Observers Daily Reports
A bi-national delegation of Canadian and US representatives from labour, human rights, and faith-based organizations is in Honduras to conduct human rights accompaniment and observation at the time of the country’s controversial elections on November 29. The bi-national delegation has been co-organized along with the Quixote Centre in the U.S. (that has organized 7 previous delegations since the June 28 military-backed coup). The delegation’s members hope that their presence will mitigate human rights violations by the Honduran military and police, and that they will be able to document any violations that occur. The team is posting regular reports which appear below, with the most recent report on the top.
Daily Report #1 - Jackie's Report
The Canadian Government is officially waiting to see what happens!
Please consider calling your MPs TOMORROW, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27 to let them know you do not support the elections in Honduras this weekend. There are no conditions for a free and fair election in Honduras and we have heard over and over again that they are illegitimate. State sponsored military and police repression is overwhelming, with mass detentions (over 5000), rape and sexual abuse, and extrajudicial murders reported (confirmed numbers to be around 30, though many more suspected). There have been over 100 candidates who have withdrawn from the elections and President Mel Zelaya is still not free, nor willing to leave the Brazilian Embassy to put a legitimate face on the de facto regime's "political act" on Sunday.
Alternative journalists (that, is anyone who doesn't go along with the Micheleti line) have been terrorized, equipment burned and sabotaged, journalists threatened and followed. Two days ago, the last television channel reporting anything other than the party line, Channel 36, was forced to shut down. Previously, their frequency was disrupted and pornography was played over the air. Christian radio stations (Catholic and Evangelical) who have over 100 frequencies throughout the country are also touting the regime's line: "Not voting is a sin." Radio Globo has been forced to go live from clandestine sites, to ensure that if there are problems in one place, they can go on in another. Though there are a few exceptions, the church and corporate media are helping keep the coup propped up.
Tomorrow, I am part of a group of five heading to the north east part of the country to a region that has been particularly targeted and repressed. WE ARE NOT GOING AS ELECTIONS OBSERVERS! As a group in solidarity with the Popular Front in Resistance and the general population, which is estimated to be 60% against the coup (20% in favour, 20% not giving opinion), who clearly and loudly DO NOT SUPPORT the ELECTIONS, we are not here in any way to legitimize this process. We are human rights witnesses. The Popular Front in Resistance is not calling for protests the day of the elections, and many believe many Hondurans will stay home. This, of course, is not the hope of the de facto regime: the more people who vote, the more the international community will see what is happening in Honduras as a legitimate election. Interestingly, the figure for eligible voters is 4.6 million, the CIA and other groups with strong interests in the country, put that number at 3.6 million, perhaps hoping to increase the voters percentage.
Time will tell. One thing for certain is that the Honduran people are inspired. Some are even thankful for the coup, which opened the eyes of many people to see the reality that the country is facing: 5% of the population controlling 75% of the GDP, which represents about 10 families of the oligarchy. Systemic poverty that has paralysed people thanks to international investment treatments and free trade agreements, not to mention devastate land and resources thanks to megaprojects that have been ushered in to "develop" the country.
Another point many in the international community are missing: the so-called elections are not the end to the long and historic struggle for constitutional reform in Honduras. This is not a small group of Zelaya supporters ("Zelayistas"), these are people who want true democracy in Honduras, thousands of professionals, doctors, lawyers, professors, women, academics, students, teachers, workers, campesinos and indigenous peoples of Honduras who have decided to stand together and hope for change. This coup did not happen because Manuel Zelaya was trying to change the constitution to extend his time as President (which could not have happened through what he was proposing, at least not anytime within his own Presidency): it happened because those in power were challenged by a people who are not willing to give up, but rather demand their rights to a fair wage, access for all to decent education and health care. This is a process that has taken over five years to develop, with participation from a broad section of society. There was a proposal for a future Constitutional Assembly, that is, the possibility for the average citizen to have more say in the decisions that affect his or her life. Zelaya was overthrown because he refused to privatize water (which has been done by decree by the defacto government), ports and electricity, to name a few.
The evening I arrived in Honduras, my taxi driver asked, "Why should it be fair for a multinational fast food chain like McDonalds or Burger King to be in Honduras and not pay taxes [they are registered as for Tourists, which exempts them from paying taxes] while someone who wants to open up a small pupusa stand has to pay 12000 Lempiras in taxes?" Without taxes, the State, and its people become even more vulnerable and weak, opening itself up to private investment, companies whose "Corporate Social Responsibility" programs pay for teachers, while destroying the land. My only answer to this question is, it isn't.
Please feel to write with questions or if you want specific information about what is happening. I may be out of connection for a few days, but will respond as soon as possible.
jackie