Miriam Miranda Detained! PLEASE CALL NOW!

Leader of National Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) Miriam Miranda DETAINED

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

At 6:30 am, Miriam Miranda, general coordinator of the National Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) and an important leader in the National Front of Popular Resistance, was detained by police during a road occupation in a Garifuna community Triunfo de la Cruz in Tela Bay, Honduras. Miriam is currently being detained in the police post in Tela. Reports from OFRANEH office say that she has been burned on her stomach from the tear gas that the police used to disperse the crowd during the eviction.

Police at the post in Tela say that she is being charged with sedition and obstruction of a public road.

Miriam, OFRANEH & the Garifuna communities of the Tela Bay have lived for more than two decades of violent & systematic threats of expulsion as a result of the interests of the national & international tourist industry, international financial institutions (including the World Bank and the IDB), Honduran elite & businessmen, the military and police that are all associated with the construction of the mega tourist projects.

Since the June 28, 2009 coup d'etat, the repression against OFRANEH, community leaders & the Honduran pro-democracy movement has worsened & there has been a strong push since then to continue the mega tourist projects that the communities of Tela Bay have strongly resisted for decades.

Calls are needed to secure Miriam Miranda's immediate and unconditional release.

HONDURAN PHONE & FAX NUMBERS:

Police post in Tela: 011-504-2448-2079

Fiscal (attorney) in charge of Miriam's case in Tela:

Coritza Vega

011-504-2448-1349 and 011-504-2248-1752

Oscar Álvarez

Security Secretary

Fax: 011-504-2232-0226

Jorge Alberto Rivera Avilés

President of the Supreme Court

Tel 011-(504) 2269-3000, 2269-3069

Fax: 011-504-2269-3114/3060

cedij@poderjudicial.gob.hn

Luís Alberto Rubí

Attorney General of Honduras

Tel 011-(504) 2221-5670 2221-3099

Fax: 011-504-2221-5667

lrubi@mp.hn o suazog@mp.hn

US GOV'T OFFICES AND POLITICIANS

WHITE HOUSE: http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/, 202-456-1111, Comment Line: 202-456-1414

CONGRESS: Go to http://www.house.gov/ to get info for your member of Congress, and call: 202-224-3121

SENATE: Go to http://www.senate.gov/ to get contact for your Senator, and call: 202-224-3121

STATE DEPARTMENT: 202 647-8947

STATE DEPARTMENT - Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs: 202 647-0834, WHAAsstSecty@State.Gov

AMBASSADOR CRAIG KELLY, Principal Deputy Asst. Secretary, Western Office of Hemisphere Affairs: KellyC@state.gov

MARIA OTERO, Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs; c/o Laura Pena, Assistant: PenaL@state.gov

BENJAMIN GEDAN, Honduras Desk Officer, (202) 647-3482

DR. ARTURO VALENZUELA: ValenzuelaAA@state.gov

PAUL MONTEIRO, Office of Public Engagement, Darron_P._Monteiro@who.eop.gov

AMBASSADOR HUGO LLORENS, U.S. Embassy in Honduras

LlorensH@state.gov, 011 [504] 2236-9320 ext. 4268, 2236-9037

Silvia Eiriz, Eirizs@state.gov

AMBASSADOR to the OAS, H.E. Carmen Lomellin

Phone: (202) 647-9430

Fax: (202) 647-0911 or (202) 647-6973

The most recent information is that Miriam has been taken from the police station to receive medical attention after calls began pouring in from around the world. We must keep up the pressure.

For more background information on Miriam and OFRANEH please see Toussaint Losier's article in the Bay Street Banner Permanent Resistance or the report of this blog from one of our many visits with Miriam.

(Photos Below: La Voz de los de Abajo delegation meeting with Miriam during January 2011 dlegation)