Executive Decree gives green light to increased abuses in Honduras

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Amnesty International - USA

September, 29 2009
Executive Decree gives green light to increased abuses in Honduras


Honduran de facto president Roberto Micheletti must rescind a decree that provides sweeping new powers of detention to the police, bans all public meetings and imposes a 45 day curfew, Amnesty International said today.

“Honduras risks spiralling into a state of lawlessness, where police and military act with no regard for human rights or the rule of law,” said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International. “Roberto Micheletti must urgently rescind the decree and send clear instructions to the security forces to respect human rights in all circumstances and at all times.”

Attacks on opponents of the de facto government by the police and military have escalated dramatically since the publication of the Presidential decree. Radio Globo and Canal 36, a local radio station and TV channel, were forcibly and violently shut down in joint police and military operations, which disregarded legal procedures and human rights.

On Monday at around 5.20am a joint military and police operation broke down the front door of the offices of Radio Globo shooting live ammunition into the air while taking over the building.


Read more: http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE200909291332&lang=e

[L. Coyote]

1. Coup Regime to Reverse Civil Liberties Crackdown ?? FACT: Repression Continues

Like MAYBE by the end of the week, says Michelletti regarding restoring human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, rights of detainees, MAYBE later ....

This is just HOT AIR so far, and the decree is still in effect it seems. At this point, the decree is also serving the political ends of the Conservative Presidential candidate, who is publically opposing suspension of constitutional rights. This has been a carefully thought out political scenario designed to rig the election. Not only are opposition media now dismantled, but the person being painted as the good guy by the other media is the right wing candidate who is intended to inherit the coup in the farce election.

=============
Democracy Now:
Internal Pressure Forces Honduran Coup Regime to Reverse Civil Liberties Crackdown, But Repression Continues
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/29/internal_pressure_forces_honduran_coup_regime


The Honduran coup regime has been forced to reverse a harsh crackdown on civil liberties amidst growing protests for the restoration of the ousted President Manuel Zelaya. But Honduran forces still blocked a large protest march and shut down two media outlets that have criticized the coup regime. Meanwhile, a top US diplomat criticized the coup regime’s decision but then turned around to issue a harsh condemnation of ousted Zelaya. We go to Honduras to speak with Andrés Conteris from inside the embassy where Zelaya is hiding and speak to Luther Castillo, a Honduran doctor who is in Washington to speak with US lawmakers.

The coup regime in Honduras appears to be backing off its attempt to shut down protests and limit free speech amidst growing protests for the restoration of the ousted President Manuel Zelaya. ?On Sunday, the coup government of Roberto Micheletti announced a 45-day decree that imposed sweeping restrictions on civil liberties, including banning unauthorized public meetings, allowing the government to shut down broadcasters and giving police the authority to make arrests without warrants.

After congressional leaders warned they would not approve the decree, Micheletti gave a televised news conference Monday evening asking for “forgiveness from the Honduran people” and said he would lift the decree “as quickly as possible.” ?Earlier that day, masked police officers and soldiers shut down two media outlets that have criticized the coup regime. Government forces also cordoned off a street to prevent a march of several hundred supporters of ousted president Zelaya.

Zelaya has remained in the Brazilian embassy since defiantly returning to Honduras one week ago. The Micheletti government has now given Brazil a ten-day deadline to hand over Zelaya or face the embassy’s closure. The coup regime issued the threat as its soldiers continued to surround the embassy and limit the delivery of supplies. Brazil has rejected the ultimatum and says Zelaya will stay as long as he needs. Brazil’s representative to the Organization of American States, Ruy De Lima Casaes E Silva, warned of the severity of the crisis.

The coup regime on Monday refused entry to a delegation from the Organization of American States ..............

=========================
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The coup-installed president of Honduras backed down Monday from an escalating standoff with protesters and suggested he would restore civil liberties and reopen dissident television and radio stations by the end of the week.

http://blog.taragana.com/n/coup-installed-president-of-honduras-backs-down-and-agrees-to-restore-civil-liberties-181822/

Micheletti said Monday afternoon ... he would discuss lifting the measures with court officials “as soon as possible,” adding: “By the end of this week we’ll have this resolved.”

....... The emergency decree issued Sunday bans unauthorized gatherings and lets police arrest people without warrants, rights guaranteed in the Honduran Constitution. It also allows authorities to shut news media for “statements that attack peace and the public order, or which offend the human dignity of public officials, or attack the law.”

... Micheletti argued ... the international community will have no choice but to recognize a Nov. 29 vote — “the ultimate civil exercise of any democracy — a free and open presidential election.”

Zelaya supporters noted that the emergency decree effectively outlawed any campaigning until two weeks before election day.

“If they can’t campaign … what happens then to the electoral solution?” asked protest leader Rafael Alegria.

[L. Coyote]

2. Opposition Round-up Continues: Coup security forces raid National Institute of Agrarian Reform,

"We're going to take them to the prosecutor's office to assess if they have committed crimes,"

Dozens of Zelaya supporters held
Breaking News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8283142.stm


Honduran security forces have raided a building and arrested dozens of supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya, a police spokesman said.

Soldiers and police surrounded the building in Tegucigalpa where the protesters had camped out for weeks.

The dawn raid took place under a controversial decree by the interim government to suspend civil liberties.

Mr Zelaya is still in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa following his surprise return to Honduras last week.

A police spokesman told the French news agency AFP that some 55 people had been arrested, after security forces raided .....

[L. Coyote]

3. Honduran police evict Zelaya supporters in crackdown

Honduran police evict Zelaya supporters in crackdown
Wed Sep 30, 2009 9:24am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN30200653


By Esteban Israel

TEGUCIGALPA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Honduran police on Wednesday began evicting supporters of toppled President Manuel Zelaya from government office buildings where they had holed up for three months to protest his ouster in a military coup.

..........

Riot police surrounded the National Agrarian Institute in Tegucigalpa early on Wednesday and cleared out 57 Zelaya supporters from the two-story building, where farm workers had protested since the June military coup.

"This is part of the decree, clear out government buildings," police spokesman Orlin Cerrato said. "We are looking at other institutions that were taken over."

A Reuters reporter at the site saw police leading about 10 people from the building. .........

[L. Coyote]

4. Will maquilas survive the coup?

Honduras: will maquilas survive the coup?
Submitted by WW4 Report on Wed, 09/30/2009 - 10:43 - http://www.ww4report.com/node/7778

As of the morning of Sept. 28, a 45-day state of siege decreed by the de facto Honduran government was in effect ...

The economy "stopped" after Zelaya's return as a result of protests by coup opponents and a Sept. 22-23 round-the-clock curfew by the de facto regime, according to Sandra Midence, de facto president of the central bank, the Banco Central de Honduras (BCH). Jesús Canahuati, former president of the Honduran Maquiladora Association (AHM), said the two-day curfew alone had cost the country $50 million a day. Honduras, with a $14.1 billion annual gross domestic product (GDP), has lost as much as $200 million in investment since the coup, he said. (Bloomberg News, Sept. 24; El Nuevo Herald, Miami, Sept. 27 from Bloomberg)

Even before the June coup, the Honduran maquiladora sector was suffering because of competition from China and declining demand from the US, the country's main export market, now in its worst recession in decades. "In 2008 there were $3.5 billion in exports, while the projection for the end of 2009 would be around $2.7 billion, less than the amount expected a few months ago," Guillermo Matamoros, an AHM regional director, told the Costa Rican newspaper El Financiero in early September. The year's decline for the apparel export sector might be as much as 22.8%.

The Honduran maquiladora sector now employs about 114,000 workers directly; the industry claims that each maquiladora job generates four other jobs, so that the sector's total contribution to the country's GDP would be around 26%. The sector lost 15,000 jobs in 2008 and about 8,000 more so far this year. Jesús Canahuati said another 4,000 workers would probably be laid off in the last three months of 2009. ........

.... maquiladora workers have been forced to work overtime, in clear violation of labor law, to make up for time lost during the curfews ......

[L. Coyote]

5. The Minimum Wage and the Coup in Honduras

The Minimum Wage and the Coup in Honduras
by Robert Naiman - http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/08


The coup in Honduras - and the at best grudging and vacillating support in Washington for the restoration of President Zelaya - has thrown into stark relief a fundamental fault line in Latin America and a moral black hole in U.S. policy toward the region.

What is the minimum wage which a worker shall be paid for a day's labor?

Supporters of the coup have tried to trick Americans into believing that President Zelaya was ousted by the Honduran military because he broke the law. But this is nonsense. A Honduran bishop told Catholic News Service,

"Some say Manuel Zelaya threatened democracy by proposing a constitutional assembly. But the poor of Honduras know that Zelaya raised the minimum salary. That's what they understand. They know he defended the poor by sharing money with mayors and small towns. That's why they are out in the streets closing highways and protesting (to demand Zelaya's return)"

This is why the greedy, self-absorbed Honduran elite turned against President Zelaya: because he was pursuing policies in the interests of the majority. ...............

[L. Coyote]

6. VIDEO: Honduras: Coup Troops Dismantle Liberal Media Outlets

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x380272

[L. Coyote]

7. VIDEO: Honduras: Protesters Defy Dictator Suspending Rights

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x380278

[L. Coyote]

8. News video: Soldiers using fascist decree arrest scores of Zelaya supporters

Soldiers arrest scores of Zelaya supporters
http://www.france24.com/en/20090930-soldiers-arrest-zaleya-supporters-honduras-civil-rights-brazil-south-america

Wednesday 30 September 2009
Honduran security forces have detained 55 supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya in a dawn raid on a farm workers building. The security forces acted under a highly controversial decree restricting civil rights.

[L. Coyote]

9. Venezuela News, President Zelaya interview in Spanish: Death toll is 100

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1OvSDf6mzU

Over 100 killed and disappeared, not one bullet fired at the coup troops.

Entrevista exclusiva con Manuel Zelaya desde embajada en Brasil!

Al menos 100 personas ha asesinado el régimen dictatorial de Roberto Micheletti en Honduras, a más de 90 días de la toma abrupta del poder.
Así lo informó este martes el presidente legítimo del país centroamericano, Manuel Zelaya, en entrevista concedida a Telesur.
"Hay un centenar de muertos, personas asesinadas, ellos sólo reportan apenas 10 que conocemos. Son los desaparecidos y muertos que hay en estos 90 días", expresó.
Asimismo, Zelaya señaló que cerraron los dos únicos medios opositores al régimen, "se decomisaron sus equipos y les clausuraron su frecuencia".
El presidente constitucional de Honduras exhortó a la Organización de Naciones Unidas arreciar sus medidas contra la dictadura de Micheletti.

TeleSUR

[David__77]

10. Wow, when this is over Honduras will be a leftist bastion.

This repression has done a lot to solidify a large minority in the leftist camp. And let's remember that a plurality of people are apathetic. That means that this leftist camp will dominate.

[L. Coyote]

11. There is a farce election coming up to solidify the coup,

the liberal media are shut down, and the conservative candidate is pretending to defend the Constitution. This does not look positive to me.

[David__77]

14. It will not solidify the coup though.

It will disarticulate it. Neither candidate has the fortitude to maintain the coup; meaning they will start to sway and buckle. That's the greatest danger for the coup officials.

I'm nit picking, but the "liberal media" in Honduras support the coup. The left, progressive media have been shut down.

[Vidar]

12. Oh look, they have a "Patriot Act"!

[L. Coyote]

13. Honduras crisis hits regional trade = Micheletti closed borders and shut airports

"Micheletti also closed the country's borders and shut airports. Those restrictions have now been lifted but an emergency decree suspending civil liberties remains"


Honduras crisis hits regional trade hard
By Alberto Najar - BBC Mundo - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8281260.stm

The political crisis in Honduras is having a crippling effect on trade in Central America, with Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica losing millions of dollars of trade every day.

Because of its geographical position, practically all goods traded in the region have to pass through Honduran territory.

But their flow has been hampered, especially since the return to Honduras last week of ousted President Manuel Zelaya and the imposition of a nationwide curfew, which still has not been completely lifted.

At the height of the political turmoil last week, the interim government of Roberto Micheletti also closed the country's borders and shut airports.

Those restrictions have now been lifted but an emergency decree suspending civil liberties remains in place.

Neighbouring countries say the political instability in Honduras has caused major disruption to trade and is seriously affecting exports. .........

[EFerrari]

15. The textile industry seems to be upset -- retailers and importers.

I saw a synopsis yesterday of a subscription only article in a trade publication that said this sector was beginning to feel all the disruptions.

[L. Coyote]

16. Obama NSC advisor: Honduras must restore rights

NSC advisor: Honduras must restore rights
Associated Press - http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1259828.html


CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- President Barack Obama's point man on Latin America to the National Security Council is calling on the de facto Honduran government to immediately restore all civil and constitutional rights to the Honduran people.

Dan Restrepo spoke Wednesday at a luncheon at the annual Americas Conference, sponsored by The Miami Herald in Coral Gables.

[L. Coyote]

17. In Policy Toward Honduras, U.S. Government At Odds With Itself Daniel Stone

September 30, 2009 2:50 PM - http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/wealthofnations/archive/2009/09/30/manuel-zelaya-honduras-us-policy.aspx
In Policy Toward Honduras, U.S. Government At Odds With Itself
Daniel Stone


The political environment in Honduras remains deadlocked, with deposed president Manuel Zelaya holed up inside the Brazilian Embassy in Honduras with little food and no medical attention, still demanding his right to return to power. The situation has become so dire that the Organization for American States and other international groups have decried violations of human rights and a lack of press freedom instituted by the de facto government.

The U.S. has been a big player in parsing out the mess. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Zelaya earlier this month when he visited Washington, after which she cut off $30 million in aide to Honduras until Zelaya was restored. Her position, and thus the official U.S. position, has been that Zelaya was democratically elected and was therefore illegally removed from power. But to make matters more confusing, Congress’s nonpartisan research body has publicly contradicted Clinton’s stance, claiming that the Honduran military had a legal right to remove Zelaya.

The Congressional Research Service, which digs for answers on any major issue considered by Congress, published a report last month dissecting how Zelaya’s actions before his removal square with what the Honduran constitution stipulates for a leader at odds with much of his government. “When the National Congress issued its Decree removing President Zelaya from office, it used its powers as needed,” wrote Norma C. Gutiérrez, the author of the CRS inquiry.

What wasn’t legal about Zelaya’s arrest was the way it was carried out, says the report. The constitution mandates a peaceful process, but the way the former president was deposed – being violently kidnapped and extradited in his pajamas .........