Source:
Human Rights WatchHonduras: Evidence Suggests Soldiers Shot Into Unarmed Crowd
De Facto Government Should Let Inter-American Commission Investigate
July 8, 2009
Evidence obtained by Human Rights Watch suggests that Honduran soldiers may have used excessive force against supporters of the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, outside the Tegucigalpa airport on July 5, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. At least one teenage boy was killed, and more than 10 other people are reported to have been injured during the confrontation between soldiers and demonstrators. Reports of a second death remain unconfirmed.
Honduran officials have publicly claimed that the army was not responsible for the reported casualties. But testimony from witnesses, along with photographs and video footage taken at the time of the shooting, indicate that soldiers may have shot live ammunition at unarmed demonstrators.
"The evidence we've seen suggests that soldiers shot at unarmed demonstrators," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "Because someone is dead, the de facto government is obliged to make sure an independent investigation is carried out instead of issuing blanket denials."
On July 6, the de facto government's foreign minister claimed that the security forces had "no responsibility" for the casualties and that the two reported deaths were the result of shooting by demonstrators. The national human rights ombudsman stated that the army had used only rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Human Rights Watch said these statements are inconsistent with the evidence it has reviewed. Two foreign journalists (a photojournalist and a videojournalist), reported to Human Rights Watch that they did not see the demonstrators carrying lethal weapons when the confrontation began, though one witness said some of the demonstrators had started throwing rocks at the soldiers from a distance. Some of the soldiers opened fire after demonstrators began to take down a fence (one of the witnesses said it was the outer one of two fences on the perimeter of the airport runway). The witnesses reported that, throughout the confrontation, the sound of gunshots came exclusively from the direction of the soldiers.
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http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/07/08/honduras-evidence-suggests-soldiers-shot-unarmed-crowd
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