Honduras: Accusations by Military Endanger Activist
Honduras: Accusations by Military Endanger Activist
Friday, 20 December 2013, 11:58 am
Press Release: Human Rights Watch
Government Should Repudiate Colonel’s Claims
December 19, 2013
(Washington, DC) – The Honduran government is putting human rights activists at risk by failing to repudiate dangerous remarks by a senior military officer, Human Rights Watch said today. An army colonel recently claimed that Annie Bird, co-director of the US-based nongovernmental organization Rights Action, was working to destabilize the Bajo Aguán region, where land disputes have led to violence.
The commander of Operation Xatruch III, a military-police task force based in the Colón province, which includes Bajo Aguán, publicly accused Bird of destabilizing the area by “questioning the methods of the Honduran justice system” and making false claims about security forces operations. On December 12, 2013, the newspaper La Tribuna quoted Col. German Alfaro Escalante as saying: “We are in the process of investigating a complaint against a supposed American named Annie Bird, who is going around doing destabilizing work here in the Aguán sector, meeting with various campesino leaders.” Alfaro’s comments have been reproduced in national media, accompanied by photos of Bird, a US citizen.
“In Honduras, where rights advocates and community leaders have been assaulted and even killed for their work, the colonel’s accusations show a reckless disregard for a longtime activist’s safety,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “President Porfirio Lobo and the defense minister need to make clear that the military has no business investigating complaints against activists, let alone smearing them in the media.”
La Tribuna reported that Col. Alfaro said that Bird had pressured campesinos (small-scale farmers)in the region to rebel against security forces.
More:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1312/S00369/honduras-accusations-by-military-endanger-activist.htm