Journalists injured while covering protest in Honduras

[Judi Lynn]

Journalists injured while covering protest in Honduras
Date published: March 31, 2011 • Author: Newswatch Desk

(C-Libre/IFEX): Journalists Richard Cásula and Salvador Sandoval, of the Canal 36-Cholusat Sur television station, were injured while they were covering a story at the Honduras Media Education College (Colegio de Profesionales de Educación Media de Honduras, COPEMH).

The police were attempting to evict teachers who were staging a protest at the COPEMH premises. Sandoval, a photojournalist, received injuries to his face when he struck by a teargas canister, while Cásula inhaled the teargas, according to Canal 36 director Esdras Amado López.Both journalists were admitted to the Tegucigalpa Teaching Hospital for treatment.

To date, four Canal 36-Cholusat Sur journalists - Lidith Díaz, Adolfo Sierra, Cásula and Sandoval - have been targeted or caught up in the melee while reporting on the National Police's attempts to suppress the teachers' protest.

http://www.newswatch.in/newsblog/9375

[Judi Lynn]

1. Honduras: Probe Charges of Police Brutality

Honduras: Probe Charges of Police Brutality
Reports of Beatings, Other Abuses Against Teachers’ Union Protests
March 30, 2011

Washington, DC) - Honduran authorities should conduct a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into allegations of excessive use of force by police to disperse teachers union demonstrations in Honduras and prosecute anyone found responsible, Human Rights Watch said today.

Since mid-March 2011, demonstrations by teachers' unions protesting proposed changes in the public education system have ended in violent confrontations with the police. Human Rights Watch has received credible reports that members of the national police have used excessive force against protesters, firing teargas canisters indiscriminately and beating people with batons. Some protesters have reportedly attacked the police with bottles, rocks, and Molotov cocktails, injuring at least four officers.

"Human Rights Watch recognizes that Honduran police have a duty to respond to protesters who engage in violence and prosecute those who break the law," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "But they also have an obligation to respect the basic rights of demonstrators."

Sandra Ponce, the head of the human rights unit at the Attorney General's Office, told Human Rights Watch that her unit had "verified a pattern of excessive use of force" by police. News media reported that Ramón Custodio, the national human rights ombudsman, and Ana Pineda, the human rights minister, have also questioned the use of force by the police against the demonstrators.

More:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/03/30/honduras-probe-charges-police-brutality