Violent evictions today and campaign against international observers

May 11

The Human Rights Observation Mission spent most of the day traveling from the Aguan Valley back to Tegucigalpa where there will be a public forum on Thursday to discuss the Mission’s finding but we received news of more repression and new government attacks on human rights defenders and journalists.  

This morning, in Tutule, La Paz two campesinos from the campesino group 9th of July (9 de Julio) community were wounded when 12 police vehicles and 80 soldiers carried out a violent eviction, using bulldozers to destroy houses, crops  of fifty families who have lived and worked on the land for 7 years. The security forces fired live ammunition wounding Johnny Alfredo Mejia Torres and Edwin Murillo. At the same time  5 patrol cars arrived at the home of Wilman Chávez, General Secretary of the La Paz region of the Central Nacional de los Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC) to arrest him. 

Franklin Almendares
photo from conexihon

The National General Secretary of the CNTC, Franklin Almendares reported to the media that the men, women and children of the community were forced to run and attempt to hide in the mountains from the troops. He also reported that this eviction is to benefit a local political power, Carlos Arriaga. In a phone interview with Franklin Almendares  this evening he said that the two wounded men received treatment and will recover and that there is a court hearing tomorrow morning for those who were arrested. He called for human rights organizations both national and international to accompany the community and their organization. 

In Tegucigalpa, the General Secretary for the Administration of the Government, Jorge Ramón Hernández Alcerro held a press conference where he condemned international observers and press for “inciting violence” referring to the protests this week by COPINH that were repressed by the police. He said that he was instructing the Honduran immigration service to identify foreigners who are participating in the protests or inciting violence. At least one international observer, Giulia Fellin who has been accompanying COPINH was harassed and interfered with as she tried to go to her embassy today. Another National Party politician claimed that foreign journalists are inciting violence, creating images and causing problems for the government. With this the government continues the campaign of defamation against human rights defenders, journalists and international solidarity and opens the door to more repression against those groups as well as inciting violence against them. 

URGENT ACTION Honduran State Discriminates Against Victims of the DEA

COFADEH

Honduran State Discriminates Against Victims of the DEA

The Committee of the Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras, COFADEH, expresses its total repudiation and extreme concern for the abandonment on the part of the state of Honduras, of the victims of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Honduran security agents’ antidrug operation carried out on May 11, 2012 in the community of Paptalaya, Ahuas, Department of Gracias a Dios.

The attack was directed at unarmed people traveling on the Patuca River, impacting 16 families: four people dead including two pregnant women and a 14 year old boy; four wounded, one of whom is also a 14 year old boy; three homes searched; three victims of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; and 10 children orphaned.

The operation was carried out by a multinational force, which according to the Honduran Minister of Defense Marlon Pascua, did not include members of the national Armed Forces[1], and resulted in a very high cost for the population of Ahuas and for Honduran society.

Cofadeh calls on the international Human Rights community and the democratic world, to take vigorous action to prevent the rights of the victims from being violated again.

The indifference and cowardliness of state authorities to confront the consequences of their actions outside of the law has resulted in the lack of adequate medical attention for the wounded and the criminalization of their family members for denouncing this.

The child WILMER LUCAS WALTER (14) and youth  LUCIO ADAN NELSON QUEEN (22),  who were traveling in the boat that was fired on by the DEA and Honduran agents, have been hospitalized since May 11 en regional hospital centers and to date have not received the surgical attention required to treat their serious injuries.

Wilmer is at risk of losing his left hand due to negligence and lack of attention and Lucio is weakened by infection as he waits for orthopedic intervention in his right arm.

In the midst of the so called “war against drugs” the principal victims are the indigenous, Misquito villagers including children and women; the principal actor responsible for these serious actions is the State.

However the executive of the current regime, Porfirio Lobo Sosa, has not provided an official report on what happened on May 11, on the contrary he demonstrated ignorance of the events during a press conference at the Presidential headquarters on Friday, June 1 and made discriminatory comments against the Indigenous, Misquito population.  Lobo not only cast doubt on what happened and the fatal results, but also insinuated in an irresponsible manner, that the attacked villagers were drug traffickers because they were on the Patuca River at early hours of the morning when this zone lacks public transport, its population travels by water at these hours to avoid the sun and lack bridges and roads in a territory abandoned by the State. 

The United States, the second state involved, also evades responsibility.  Lisa Kubiske[2], the U.S. Ambassador in Tegucigalpa, has declared that the DEA team acting in the Mosquitia did so in self defense and because it was their duty in the war against drugs.  Even though neither her government nor Porfirio Lobo have carried out a serious and deep investigation into the events on May 11, she prejudged.

Ahuas is militarized, the population and its families are in pain and intimidated.  The racism and discrimination towards the victims of May 11^th is intentional and in this case clearly registers rejection on the part of the State towards indigenous peoples as a way to deny their capacity and rights which has resulted in social exclusion historically.

As a result, Cofadeh calls on the international and national community to:

·         Demand that the State of Honduras take the necessary measures to protect and guarantee the lives of the survivors.

 ·         Demand that Wilmer Lucas Walter (14) and the youth Lucio Adan Nelson Queen recieve swift and adequate treatment required in the State hospitals.  Their case is very serious due to the level of invisibility; it requires political will to resolve it.

 ·         Insist that both governments conduct impartial and exhaustive investigations into the acts of May 11, 2012 resulting in the sanction of those responsible; national, foreign, material and intellectual, according to the law as well as full reparation for damages.  

 ·         An expedited, efficient, independent and impartial investigation into the violation of the human rights of the people detained and especially regarding torture inflicted which should include:

o   Who was in charge of the operation?

o   What was the chain of command?

o   What were the guidelines for the Honduran and United States agents regarding use of force and in particular on the use of combat weapons?

o   Who gave the order to open fire and based on what criteria?

·         Remind the State of Honduras of its obligation to promote and uphold the respect for the rights and obligations contained in the international instruments it has ratified including first and second generation rights.  In addition, the special rights of indigenous people.

Porfirio Lobo Sosa

Casa Presidencial

Tel (504) 2221-4558, 2221-4560, 2221-4562

Fax (504) 2290-5000, 2221-4545

Mail: info@presidencia.gob.hn

,  

Juan Orlando Hernández

Congreso Nacional

Tel (504) 2269-3181

Fax 2269-3000

Mail: portalpj@poderjudicial.gob.hn

Jorge Alberto Rivera Avilés

Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia

Tel (504) 2269-3000  2269-3069 2269-3981

Mail: cedij@poderjudicial.gob.hn

Luis Alberto Rubí

Fiscal General de la República.

Fax (504) 2221-5667

Tel (504) 2221-5670  221-3099

Mail: lrubi@mp.hn

          suazog@mp.hn

U.S. Human rights activists document US participation in massacre of Miskito people

Rights Action and Alliance for Global Justice are members of Honduras Solidarity Network and their delegation to Honduras issued the following press release (Spanish follows the English)

Press Advisory

U.S. Human rights activists document US participation in massacre of Miskito people

Tegucigalpa, Honduras, May 27, 2012                            

Contact: Karen Spring, 9507-3835 (In Honduras)

Annie Bird, 202-680-3002 (in Washington, D.C.)

On May 22 and 23 a delegation of human rights activists from the United States organized by Rights Action and Alliance for Global Justice visited the community of Ahuás in the Moskitia region of Honduras.  The delegation witnessed an atmosphere of terror being generated amongst dire poverty in an area where the indigenous people are now losing control of natural resources which are key to the development of their economy.

The group inquired into the May 11, 2012 massacre of indigenous Miskito people by gunfire from U.S. State Department - titled helicopters that the US government confirms carried U.S. DEA agents and security contractors. The boat and its passengers had almost completed an eight hour trip to Ahuas from the town of Barra Patuca. Four were killed, including two pregnant women, a 14-year-old boy and a 21-year-old man, while at least four more were seriously injured.

Following the massacre at least one helicopter landed and at least ten, tall, light-skinned English speakers with limited Spanish proficiency wearing military type uniforms exited the helicopters to collect cocaine from a boat near the massacre site.  They aimed guns at, threatened to kill, and handcuffed  residents of the town who had come to assist the wounded.  Victims lay on the banks of the river and in the damaged boat until after helicopters departed.  In this way security forces delayed emergency medical assistance two to three hours.

Neither U.S. nor Honduran authorities have interviewed the eye witnesses or secured evidence at the crime scene, indicating that no serious investigation has been conducted into the massacre. Even without conducting a serious investigation U.S. and Honduran officials have accused the victims, the population in general and local authorities of participating in drug trafficking. 

Since the massacre Ahuas has been occupied by several dozen Honduran troops, and it is reported that U.S. military presence in the vicinity of Ahuas is increasing.  U.S. government authorities recognize that counterinsurgency tactics are being used while they identify the indigenous communities as drug traffickers.  Indigenous communities in Central America have once again become the focus of U.S. counterinsurgency actions.

Many people the group spoke with noted that militarization and violence generated by the U.S. drug war is focused where there are significant natural resources, Ahuas is known to hold significant petroleum deposits and Texas-based Honduras Tejas Oil and Gas Company, a joint venture with concessions in the Moskitia, estimates there are six to eight billion barrels of oil reserves in the Moskitia.

The delegation is calling for a serious and credible investigation including a Congressional hearing that identifies criminal responsibility in the massacre, the withdrawal of U.S. security forces from Honduras, and suspension of U.S. military assistance to Central America.

Aviso de Prensa

Delegación de Activistas de Derechos Humanos documenta la participación de los Estados Unidos en la masacre de población Miskita

Tegucigalpa, 27 de Mayo del 2012                            

 El 22 y 23 de Mayo una delegación de activistas de derechos humanos de Estados Unidos organizada por Rights Action y Alliance for Global Justice visitó la comunidad de Ahuás en la región de la Moskitia en Honduras. La delegación presenció una atmósfera de terror siendo generada en medio de la pobreza extrema de la zona donde la población indígena ahora está perdiendo el control de los recursos naturales que son clave para el desarrollo de su economía.

 El grupo investigó sobre la masacre del 11 de Mayo del 2012 de pobladores indígenas miskitos en un tiroteo por parte de helicópteros titulados al Departamento de Estado de los Estados Unidos que el gobierno estadounidense confirma transportaba agentes de la DEA y contratistas de seguridad. El bote y sus pasajeros casi habían completo un viaje de ocho horas hacia Ahuás desde el pueblo de Barra Patuca. Cuatro fueron asesinados, incluyendo dos mujeres embarazadas, un joven de 14 años y un hombre de 21 años, así mismo cuatro o más fueron heridos gravemente.

 Luego de la masacre al menos un helicóptero aterrizó y por lo menos diez hombres angloparlantes altos de piel clara y poca habilidad para hablar español, vistiendo uniformes militares salieron de los helicópteros para recoger cocaína de un bote cerca del sitio de la masacre. Apuntaron sus armas, amenazaron con matar y esposaron residentes de la aldea quienes llegaron a asistir a los heridos. Las víctimas permanecieron en las márgenes del río y en el bote dañado hasta que los helicópteros se retiraron. De esta manera las fuerzas de seguridad retrasaron la asistencia médica de emergencia por dos o tres horas.

 Ni las autoridades de Estados Unidos ni de Honduras han entrevistado a los testigos oculares o recolectado evidencia en la escena del crimen, indicando que no se ha llevado a cabo una investigación seria luego de la masacre. Aún sin conducir una investigación formal los oficiales de Estados Unidos y Honduras han acusado a las víctimas, a la población en general y a las autoridades locales de participar en el tráfico de drogas.

 Desde la masacre Ahuás ha sido ocupada por varias docenas de tropas hondureñas, y se reporta que la presencia militar estadounidense en las cercanías de Ahuás está aumentando. Las autoridades del gobierno de Estados Unidos reconocen que se están utilizando tácticas de contrainsurgencia a medida que identifican a las comunidades indígenas como narcotraficantes. Las comunidades indígenas en Centroamérica una vez se convierten en el enfoque de acciones contrainsurgentes de los Estados Unidos.

 Muchas personas con las que el grupo habló indicaron que la militarización y violencia creada a raíz de la guerra contra las droga s de los Estados Unidos está enfocada en lugar donde se encuentran valiosos recursos naturales, se sabe que Ahuás tiene importantes depósitos de petróleo y compañía tejana Texas Oil and Gas Company, una empresa conjunta con concesiones en la Moskitia, estima que hay de seis a ocho millones de barriles en reservas de petróleo en la Moskitia.

La delegación exige una investigación formal y fidedigna incluyendo una audiencia del Congreso que identifique la responsabilidad criminal en la masacre, el retiro de las fuerzas de seguridad de Estados Unidos de Honduras, y la suspensión de la asistencia militar de Estados Unidos en Centroamérica.