International Youth Day Vigil & Protest in Tegucigalpa/ Protesta y Vigilia Para El Dia Internacional de los Juveniles

Report from the
Honduras Accompaniment Project:

Here are English and Spanish versions of a press release by the
Plataforma de Acción en Pro de los Derechos Juveniles de Honduras
released yesterday. A coalition of youth groups marched silently from
the National Theatre to Central Park in Tegucigalpa, where they held a
vigil to remember and demand action with respect to the alarming rate of
violence against young people in Honduras, especially in the wake of the
coup d'état last year and under subsequent political regimes.

There were at least a couple of hundred young people there, from middle
school to high-school aged. Some were bussed in from the Amareteca
Valley and other colonias outside the city centre, others came on their
own, and there was representation various schools and communities,
including significant presence from LGBTI youth groups, who have
suffered particularly in the increased rates of violence since the coup.
There were a handful of adult support-people present, some from
youth-focused organizations and others who were family members, but most
walked to the side or behind the group, accompanying the young people in
their vigil. Organizers ensured participants all had a safe way home.

Some young street performers on stilts and performing fire tricks helped
lead the vigil quietly towards the park. Banners read "Together for a
Youth free from violence in 2011," "No more deaths in impunity," "Those
who don't punish the evil deeds are the same ones who order them," "No
More Violence," and "LGBT Youth: Present in the struggle for our rights
and non-violence."

There was no media present, though organizers told me they had called
all major papers and stations. The FNRP radio program on Radio Globo
from 8-9 PM announced the event while it was still in progress,
commending the youth and reading a part of their media release.


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PLATFORM FOR ACTION FOR YOUTH RIGHTS IN HONDURAS

October 15, 2010, Tegucigalpa, M.D.C.




DECLARATION


The Platform for Action for Youth Rights in Honduras is a space for
youth participation with clear ideological principles; among them the
struggle for youth rights in Honduras. On this occasion of International
Youth Day it is clear to us that this day, beyond a celebration, is an
opportunity to denounce and declare ourselves against the constant human
rights violations that young people are subject to.

For these reasons, today, Friday October the 15th, 2010, we are carrying
out an activity called TOGETHER FOR A YOUTH FREE FROM VIOLENCE IN 2011.

We declare ourselves with respect to the following:

We denounce the constant human rights violations that we are subject to
daily as youth and we are making an urgent call to the appropriate
authorities that they take action and stop being passive, because as
long as they stand with their arms crossed our youth are being further
victimized by the system.

We demand explanations for all extra-judicial murders and declare
ourselves against the sensationalist media of our country that every day
displays the deaths of young people as deaths within a violent
population, leaving the impression that youth are the most violent
people in our country.

We strongly condemn student repression, which many of our colleagues
from different schools across the country have been the victims of ,just
for exercising their right to free association and public protest; a
right which is ratified by the constitution of our republic.

We demand that the government respect the lives of young people or we
will doubt the possibilities for justice as well as the interest of our
government in the serious issues facing youth people and proceed to
appeal to international levels of jurisdiction.

We call upon all Honduran youth to refound our beloved Honduras and not
to forget that the direction of this country is in our hands, but we
must also continue firmly in the struggle and not give in, and make it
clear that YOUTH are not the problem; we are the SOLUTION.


Corruption plus lies is the same as politics.




PLATAFORMA DE ACCION EN PRO DE LOS DERECHOS JUVENILES DE HONDURAS

Tegucigalpa M.D.C. 15 DE OCTUBRE DEL 2010


PRONUNCIAMIENTO

La Plataforma de Acción en Pro de los derechos juveniles de Honduras es
un espacio de participación juvenil la cual surgió con sus pilares
ideológicos claros; estando dentro de estos la lucha por los derechos de
los y las jóvenes de Honduras, en el marco de la conmemoración del día
Internacional de la Juventud, nos queda mas que claro que este día mas
que una celebración es una oportuna ocasión para denunciar y
pronunciarnos en contra de la constante violación de derechos de la que
somos objetos los y las jóvenes.

Es por esto y todo lo antes mencionado que este Día viernes 15 de
Octubre del año en curso, estamos realizando esta actividad denominada
JUNTOS POR UNA JUVENTUD LIBRE DE VIOLENCIA 2011.

Por lo siguiente nos pronunciamos en contra de los siguientes puntos:

Denunciamos la constante violación de derechos humanos de la que somos
objetos a diario los y las jóvenes y hacemos un llamado urgente a las
autoridades pertinentes a que se pronuncien y dejen su espacio de
pasividad, ya que mientras ellos cruzan los brazos nuestros jóvenes
están siendo cada vez mas víctimas de un sistema.

Exigimos Aclaración de cada una de las muertes extrajudiciales y en
contra de los medios de comunicación amarillistas de nuestro país que
cada día exhiben las muertes de los jóvenes como una población violenta
dejando el nombre la juventud como como la población mas violenta de
nuestro país.

Condenamos enérgicamente la Represión estudiantil de la que han sido
víctimas los y las compañeros de los diferentes institutos del país solo
por el simple hecho de ejercer su derecho de asociarse y manifestarse
libremente, como un derecho ratificado por la constitución de la república.

Demandamos del gobierno se respete la vida de los jóvenes o procederemos
a recurrir a las instancias internacionales, dejando entre dicho la
justicia y el poco interés gubernamental en la problemática juvenil.

Llamamos a todos y todas las jóvenes Hondureñ@s a refundar nuestra
querida Honduras y a no olvidar que en nuestras manos está el rumbo de
este país, pero también a seguir constantes en la lucha y a no claudicar
y dejamos claro que la JUVENTUD no somos el problema sino que la SOLUCIÓN.

Corrupción mas mentira es igual a política.

Violence Against Honduras Resistance Movement, Unionists Continue

Story by Kari Lydersen

The drum beat of violence and assassinations targeting union members and others in the National Resistance Front continues in Honduras, as human rights defender Berta Oliva described during a Chicago visit before receiving the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) in Washington D.C. Wednesday on behalf of a coalition of Honduran human rights groups including her group, COFADEH. (The award is named for Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier and IPS staffer Ronni Karpen Moffitt, murdered by agents of then-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1976.)

Just in the last month, numerous acts of violence and intimidation have occurred: a social security unionist and a member of the campesino group MUCA were killed; 22 university union employees were illegally ordered arrested; and an opposition journalist survived an attempted murder. Oliva noted that 83 members of the resistance movement have been murdered or disappeared since current president Pepe Lobo Sosa took office in January.

And on Sept. 17 – National Teachers Day – union secondary school teacher and prominent resistance activist Felix Murillo Lopez was killed in a hit and run many believe to be a murder. He was a member of the COPEMH union.

The organization Education International, of which COPEMH is an affiliate, describes the situation:

His worried family members had reported his disappearance to the police but, because his personal documents were missing, Murillo's body remained unidentified until 24 hours later when his brother visited the morgue. The police have launched an investigation upon suspicion that the crash may well have been intentional. COPEMH President Eulogio Chávez told the press that Murillo had received threats as a consequence of his involvement in protest actions since the military coup in August.

Indeed, Murillo was active in the Resistance and, as a member of the Committee for Security and Discipline, he often led demonstrations. Murillo was also a key witness to the murder of fellow teacher Roger Vallejo, who was shot in the head during violent repression by police forces in July. At the wake held to honour Vallejo's memory, teacher Martín Florencio Rivera was stabbed to death.

Also on September 17, the president of Section 2 of the Union of Workers of the Honduran Social Security Union was gunned down on the way home from a meeting at union headquarters. “They were in the midst of negotiations,” Oliva said of the social security unionist.

The blog Honduras Resiste, drawing on local reports, describes the assassination:

Juana Bustillo was driving a car with other union members in it after attending a meeting at the IHSS headquarters. Witnesses reported that a gunman walked up to the window of the vehicle and shot Ms. Bustillo and then got into a beige colored car and escaped the scene.

Juana Bustillo was 49 years old, she was a nurse in the IHSS hospital system for 20 years and a union activist for 11 years.

Union teachers and staff in primary and secondary schools and universities have been a mainstay of the resistance movement, and Oliva said in recent weeks the repression against teachers has been especially intense. “Things are very hard for teachers and it’s going to get worse,” she said. She added that divisions within the country’s various teachers unions also make the situation more dangerous.

In September, arrest orders were issued for 22 union employees of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (SITRAUNAH), and police occupied the campus for more than a week. Honduras Resiste described the situation:

At the head of the long list are the top leaders of the union organization, Rene Andino and Marco Antonio Moreno. The capture of the secretary of section number one of the union, Cristian Duron, who has immunity due to his union position, already occurred despite his legal guarantee (of immunity).

Violence against journalists also continues, as on Sept. 16 gunmen attempted to kill Radio Globo reporter Luis Galdámez Álvarez. Radio Globo, a mainstream radio station, was one of few that reported accurately on events unfolding during the coup. It was shut down for a month last fall and Radio Globo reporters have since been targets of harassment and violence.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports:

Radio Globo has also been the target of serious attacks and multiple broadcasting disruptions. On September 28, 2009, during the interim government of Roberto Micheletti, the station was forced off the air after security forces raided their offices and confiscated equipment. It returned to the air on October 20.

The Washington-based Inter-American Commission of Human Rights ordered the Honduran government to provide Galdámez protection in July 2009 after repeated threats. Honduran authorities never enforced the order, the reporter said. "Those orders coming from Inter-American Commission don't mean anything in Honduras," he said.

Oliva said human rights leaders consider it crucial for people outside Honduras – elected officials and even regular citizens – to contact Honduran officials to voice their awareness of and opposition to the ongoing repression and violence. “This is a dictatorship of silence,” she said. “The government has convinced the international community that everything is in order. It’s a matter of language. Order does not mean normalcy.”

Oliva, head of the Honduran human rights group COFADEH, noted that the ongoing government- and United Nations-sponsored “truth commission” is an affront and in fact represents a danger to the large and diverse resistance movement, in that it legitimizes government actors who human rights leaders say are behind a concerted campaign of assassination and repression ongoing since the coup.

The resistance movement has launched its own truth commission, which is investigating ongoing attacks on union members and others; as opposed to the official commission’s mandate to investigate only events immediately surrounding the coup.

She said U.S. and international unions have expressed solidarity with their Honduran cohorts, and Hondurans hope such support will continue even as Honduras drops off the international radar screen and most people think things have returned to “normal.”

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6528/honduras_violence_against_resistance_movement_unionists_continues1/

Honduras Solidarity Groups Protest Lobo at the United Nations September 23

Compañeros y compeñeras:
The mobilization in New York was beautiful and well attended. We mobilized along the Solidarity, of New York, people from different nationalities, representatives of different Human Rights organizations and of course the Honduran Resistance. We walked from Times Square to the Head Quarters of United Nations. People from Chicago and directly from Honduras joined us on the way, including a compañera who came to New York a couple of weeks ago, who heard about the event and came to walk and chanted along with us. It was impressive and really motivating to see the number of people who would stop and read the messages in our placards, against the political percussion, the repression, the crimes and the impunity in Honduras, and in solidarity, they immediately showed us signs of approval. While walking, we distributed many flyers explaining the key points of our demonstration.
In front to the United Nations, we read the "Public Letter for the presence of Porfirio Lobo Sosa in the General Assembly of the United Nations" sent by, El Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular, to The UN Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon.
This letter provoked applauses but at the same time sadness, because it reveals the brutality and the violations of Human Rights suffered by the people of Honduras since the ill-fated military coup of June 28th, 2009, and the impunity of the crimes against Humanity in Honduras. A little before the mobilization we had heard that Lobo Sosa was not going to speak before the General Assembly but, we had not confirmed this information. However, a feeling of triumph invaded us, the triumph of the Resistance, the triumph of the Honduran People. Thanks for all of your support. Viva Honduras y viva La Resistencia! Hasta la victoria siempre!
Lucy Pagoada-Quesada.

Grupos en Solidaridad con la Resistencia Manifiestan en Contra Pepe Lobo en las Naciones Unidos


Compañeros y compeñeras:

La Moviliazacion en Nueva York fue bella y concurrida. Nos movilizamos junto a la solidaridad Neoyorquina, Personas de distintas nacionalidades, representates de distintos sectores defensores de los Derechos Humanos, y por supuesto, La Resistencia hondureña. Caminamos desde Times Square hasta la Cede Las Naciones Unidas. Se nos unieron Resistentes de Chicago e incluso una compatriota que está aquí en Nueva York desde hace sólo unas semanas y había escuchado sobre el evento y ahí estuvo al pie de la lucha, gritando consignas con nosotros/as. Fue impresionante y muy motivador, ver a muchas personas, que en la calle, cuando leían en las pancartas que protestábamos contra la presecusión política, la represión, los crímenes y la impunidad en Honduras, se solidarizaban con nosotros/as y nos mostraban signos de aprobación. Por el trayecto repartimos muchos volantes explicando los puntos claves de la demostración.

Frente a la ONU, leímos la "Carta Abierta Por la presencia de Porfirio Lobo Sosa en La Asamblea General de la ONU", enviada por El Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular al Secretario General de ONU, Sr. Ban Ki-moon.
Esta carta despertó aplausos pero a la vez causó tristeza porque revela la brutalidad de la represión y la violación a los derechos humanos de la que ha sido víctima el pueblo hondureño desde el nefasto golpe de Estado del 28 de junio de 2009, y sobre todo por la impunidad de los crímenes de Lesa Humanidad en Honduras. Antes de la movilización escuchamos que Lobo Sosa no hablaría ante la Asamblea General pero no teníamos la infamación confirmada. No obstante, que nos invadió un sentimiento de triunfo, el triunfo de la Resistencia, el triunfo del pueblo hondureño. Gracias por todo el apoyo. Viva Honduras y Viva La Resistencia! Hasta la victoria siempre!
Lucy Pagoada-Quesada.

Honduras Solidarity Network denounces repression against striking teachers.

Press Release
August 29, 2010
A coalition of U.S. organizations today denounced the exercise of violent repression by Honduran military and police forces against members of a striking teacher’s union at a university in Tegucigalpa. The Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN) declared that “the recent brutal attacks by government forces against non-violent protests show that there has been no reconciliation after last year’s coup d’etat, and the U.S. government’s policy of support for the current government must be changed. We call for an immediate end to the repression and human rights violations against the opposition movement”.

The group referred to military and police attacks against members of the teacher’s union, COPEMH (Colegio de Profesores de Educación Media de Honduras (Association of Secondary Teachers of Honduras)), and their supporters, which took place at The National Pedagogical University Francisco Morazan in Tegucigalpa on August 26 and 27. The union has been on strike since May, and is generally viewed as opposing the regime of Honduran President Porfirio Lobo. The HSN based its action on reports received from the human rights group COFADEH and the General Workers’ Central Federation (CGT) labor organization, and corroborated by local news from Radio Globo and eyewitness accounts that report the following:

On Friday the 27th, police and military troops surrounded the National Pedagogical University, responding to thousands of teachers and members of trade unions, peasant organizations and other organizations supportive of the teachers gathered on the university grounds. The police and military forces sprayed tear gas from trucks and beat protesters with truncheons before firing canisters of tear gas into the University grounds. As people were overcome by the gas and tried to leave, they were beaten and many detained. Among the injured were two well-known reporters from Radio Globo, one of the few independent radio stations in the country. Among those seriously affected by the gas were a number of children and pregnant women.

On Thursday, the police and military attacked the same group at a massive protest near the presidential residency in the capital city. Television stations aired video showing soldiers firing their rifles during the repressive action and police beating protesters. Four teachers from the teachers’ union were seriously injured and, according to human rights organizations in Honduras, they were denied medical care at the main public hospital in Tegucigalpa. The teachers’ union then took the men to a private medical facility.

On August 20th, four leaders of the teachers’ union were badly injured when police attacked them during a union march. The men were detained at a police station for 12 hours during which time they were denied medical care and human rights observers were refused entry to the jail to verify their condition.

Throughout the month of August the level of conflict and the human rights crisis in Honduras has deepened. Non-violent protesters in Choloma were beaten, and three members of peasant organizations in Aguan were killed. Another journalist, critical of the regime, was murdered bringing to ten the total of journalists murdered since Lobo took over in January.
Vicki Cervantes, a spokesperson for the Honduras Solidarity Network said, “The United States government continues its support for the oligarchy and Lobo in the form of aid and pressure on other governments in the hemisphere to accept the illegitimate Lobo administration. “

Meanwhile, on the ground in Honduras the opposition of the majority of Hondurans to the coup and the subsequent regimes, including Lobo’s, is growing. For the first time since 1954, Honduran trade union federations have all agreed to prepare for a general strike and nearly a million Honduran eligible voters have signed letters demanding the convocation of a constituent constitutional assembly with the peoples’ participation and leadership.

The Honduras Solidarity Network, a nationwide coalition of non-profit, human rights and educational organizations, calls for:
· an end to police and military repression of the teachers and the protesters at the university;
· the resumption of negotiations between the government and the Teacher’s Union;
· the payment of back wages and an investigation into the violation of the teachers’ human rights.

Furthermore, until the brutal repression of social movements in Honduras ends, the HSN demands that the United States Government:
a) suspend all aid to the Lobo administration
b) stop the U.S. State Department lobbying for recognition of the undemocratic government of Honduras.
c) Recognize the Honduran people’s demand for a Constituent Assembly to establish a functioning, participatory democracy.

ALERT: Increasing Repression in Aguán

REPRESSION INCREASING IN AGUÁN AGAINST PEASANTS

The following article is translated by La Voz and reproduced from El Libertador. For background information on the struggle for land in Aguán see report of recent La Voz de los de Abajo delegation to the region.

Today, coinciding with the arrival of Porfirio Lobo Sosa with various of his Ministers of the Aguán Valley, the peasants are denouncing the strong harassment they are being subjected to by the National Army, the police and the DGIC (criminal investigation unit of the Honduran police).

Since the early hours of yesterday, they report that the "San Esteban Limitada" Cooperative has been surrounded by uniformed men from the police and military of Tocoa and Trujillo.

They anticipate that in the coming hours they will execute a violent eviction of the families in the four cooperatives of MARCA: Trinidad, Despertar, San Isidro and San Esteban. The families are on the verge of despair and are making an anguished call for solidarity. They are not being allowed to work or to get their products out to market, in land where they aren't being allowed to hold up any law or right, with the only aim of economically suffocating them so they can't generate income. The peasants denounce the illegal detention yesterday July 28th of the brother Miguel Angel Canales, whose whereabouts are unknown. The brother was taken away by several unidentified people without uniforms and without Orders of Apprehension when he was in his house with his family. At the time of the capture the individuals who took him away said they were doing it on orders of Jorge Bulnes, the manager of the Agropalma company, owned by Miguel Facussè Barjum. Sources linked to the peasant groups have reported to us that several of our peasant brothers have taken refuge in the mountains since it is known that they are being constantly sought after at their houses by groups of armed individuals in vehicles with closed tinted windows and without plates.

Up till now they haven't produced denunciations of the case nationally and internationally, meaning the people of "MARCA" have lacked the necessary resources to maintain fluid telephone communication, transportation or other means that allows them to be in contact with the different sectors in solidarity with their cause such as the Human Rights organizations, the social organizations and the National Front of Popular Resistance.

In summary, there is a complete state of defenselessness which demands action. We call the attention to all the peoples sectors to lend the solidarity asked for by our peasant brothers and sisters in the face of this wave of repression, persecution, harassment, illegal detention and killings to which they are being subjected by the eternal enemies of the peasants and their repressive groups.

LET'S END THE BARBARITY AND THE IMPUNITY AGAINST OUR PEOPLE!

MARIO DIAZ, "EL LIBERTADOR"