EQUIPO NIZKOR |
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30jun09
The army kidnaps youths in communities in Honduras.
We, the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), inform the national and international communities of the gravity of the situation over the last hours in which the army and the police are increasing the level of violence against defenceless people in different places in Honduras, and we summarise below the most recent events:
1. Today, Tuesday 30th June, since two o’clock in the morning, the Honduran army has been raiding homes AND KIDNAPPING YOUTHS in the rural communities of the region of Olancho - from where José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, the Constitutional President of the Republic of Honduras, originates. Many of the youths have fled to hide in the scrubland and the mountains, where they are suffering persecution at the hands of those in uniform, and where there are military movements to pursue them.
2. In flagrant violation of human rights, the military have raided house after house, according to the information sent by the communities of Guacoca, San Francisco de la Paz, Guarizama and Salamá, who report that human rights violations are extending throughout the whole region.
3. On Monday afternoon, one person was killed, another is in a coma, and hundreds have been wounded and detained by the police and the army in the capital of the Republic, as a result of a violent evacuation perpetrated by the security forces against the people who gathered in peaceful protest in the vicinity of the Presidential House demanding the restitution of their president Manuel Zelaya Rosales.
4. Neither the Armed Forces nor the police are acting on their own behalf, but clearly must be following orders. In accordance with the chain of command, such orders are issued by the presidency of the Republic, which was taken over the previous Sunday by the president of the National Congress Roberto Micheletti, who was appointed illegally by Parliament after President Manuel Zelaya Rosales was forcibly removed in violation of the institutional structure of the country.
5. We denounce the usurping government, the Armed Forces and the police for the repression they have unleashed against the Honduran people and we hold them responsible for all the violations that they are committing against the social leaders - for whom arrest warrants have been issued - settlers, rural communities, students, and manual and agricultural workers.
6. We call on the international community and especially on the human rights community to take measures to stop this usurping government’s commission of violations against the Honduran public, and to remain alert to the reports we will be sending.
NOT FORGETTING NOR FORGIVING THE ACTIONS AND THE PERPETRATORS
Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras - COFADEH
Tegucigalpa 30th June 2009
 | This document has been published on 29Jul09 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |