Showing posts with label Honduras elections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Honduras elections. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Call to Solidarity - One Year Later - Un Año Despues


Statement by the Honduras Solidarity Network November 28, 2018

Un año después - Un llamado a la  solidaridad.
El régimen hondureño usa la violencia contra su gente; Estados Unidos usa la violencia contra los refugiados que huyen de Honduras.
English follows the Spanish

El lunes 26 de noviembre de 2018, las autoridades hondureñas dispararon enormes cantidades de gases lacrimógenos y dispararon balas vivas en contra de una gran marcha de protesta en Tegucigalpa para conmemorar el primer aniversario del fraude electoral de noviembre de 2017. Al menos 3 personas resultaron heridas, una de ellas, Geovanni Sierra, trabajaba como reportero para UNE-TV cuando recibió un disparo. Esto sucedió un día después de que la Patrulla Fronteriza de los Estados Unidos disparara balas de goma y grandes cantidades de gas lacrimógeno -a través de la frontera hacia México- a la Caravana de Refugiados, la mayoría huyendo de Honduras, a quienes se les está impidiendo ingresar a los Estados Unidos. Sólo 2 días antes de este incidente, el hermano del presidente de hondureño de facto, Juan Orlando Hernández, fue arrestado en el aeropuerto de Miami por ser integrante del crimen organizado, con vínculos con el narcotráfico, en Honduras. Estos tres incidentes en 4 días son únicamente la punta del iceberg de la crisis de las políticas estadounidenses en Honduras y de un régimen dictatorial, con en su violencia y corrupción.

El 26 de noviembre de 2017, Honduras acudió a las urnas en una elección en la que se enfrentaron la derecha con el Partido Nacional y el presidente JOH a la cabeza (quien se postuló para la reelección de manera inconstitucional), y Alianza, una coalición entre el anti-golpista/resistente Partido LIBRE y miembros del Partido Anticorrupción. Estas elecciones, en vez de permitir a Honduras tomar un nuevo camino para restaurar la democracia y hacer que el país sea habitable para el pueblo, un flagrante fraude electoral, una nueva ola de represión, y la continua impunidad y corrupción sumieron al país en una crisis aún más profunda.

La crisis que comenzó con el golpe de estado de 2009 respaldado por los Estados Unidos, seguida de las elecciones de 2017 -también respaldadas por los Estados Unidos-, es más profunda y más amplia que nunca. Es esta crisis la que está expulsando a miles de hondureños de su país.

Mientras el pueblo hondureño continúa organizándose, nosotros respondemos con un llamado a la solidaridad para apoyar al pueblo que lucha por el cambio en Honduras y al pueblo que lucha por sobrevivir en el éxodo de refugiados.

Exigimos que los Estados Unidos y Canadá detengan todo apoyo al régimen hondureño. Apoyamos las demandas de libertad para todos los presos políticos y de justicia para todas las víctimas del régimen hechas por el pueblo Hondureño. Exigimos que los Estados Unidos detengan la represión contra los refugiados, que abra las fronteras a quienes están siendo expulsados de sus países, y que ponga fin a la militarización de la frontera y a la violencia contra todos los migrantes y refugiados.

28 de Noviembre 2018
Honduras Solidarity Network of North America


One year later - A Call to Solidarity 
Honduran regime uses violence against its people - US uses violence against refugees fleeing Honduras.

On Monday, November 26, 2018, Honduran authorities fired massive amounts of tear gas and opened fire with live bullets on a large protest march in Tegucigalpa to mark the one year anniversary of the November 2017 election fraud. At least 3 people were wounded, one of them, Geovanni Sierra, was working as a reporter for UNE-TV when he was shot. This happened one day after the US Border Patrol shot rubber bullets and quantities of tear gas across the border into Mexico at the refugees, most fleeing from Honduras, who are being held back from entering the US. Only 2 days before that incident the brother of the defacto president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez was arrested at the Miami Airport for being part of the narcotics trafficking organized crime in Honduras. These three incidents in 4 days, are just the tip of the iceberg of the crisis of US policy, and a dictatorial regime and its violence and corruption. 

On November 26, 2017, Honduras went to the polls in an election that was a face off between the right wing National Party sitting president JOH (who ran for reelection unconstitutionally) and the Alianza, an alliance between the anti-coup/resistance Party LIBRE and members of the Anti-Corruption Party. But, instead of the election allowing Honduras to take a new path to restore democracy and make the country livable for the people, blatant election fraud,  a new wave of repression and continuing impunity and corruption plunged the country even deeper into crisis.

That crisis began with the US backed 2009 coup, and after the 2017 election (also supported by the US), it is deeper and broader than ever before. It is this crisis that is pushing thousands of Hondurans out of their country. 
As the Honduran people continue organizing, we respond with a call for solidarity to support the people fighting for change in Honduras and to support the people fighting for survival in the refugee exodus. 

We demand that the US and Canada stop all support for the Honduran regime. We support the Honduran people’s demand for freedom for all the political prisoners and for justice for all the victims of the regime. We demand that the US stop the repression against the refugees, open the borders to those being pushed out of their countries and end the militarization of the border and violence against all migrants and refugees. 

November 28, 2018
Honduras Solidarity Network of North America



Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Report from Honduras April 2018 Delegation




In April 2018, La Voz de los de Abajo and Alliance for Global Justice, both members of the Honduras Solidarity Network, led a delegation to Honduras concerned about the political prisoners and ongoing human rights crisis.

Here is the link to the final report from the delegation.

Meeting with political prisoner
foto by Dunia Perez

Saturday, February 24, 2018

Delegation Report from November Election Crisis in Honduras


Report from La Voz de los de Abajo, CODEPINK and Marin Task Force on the Americas Human Rights Observation Delegation during Honduran Elections 2017



Tegucigalpa protest 

Singer Karla Lara in Tegucigalpa 

Police and Military Tegucigalpa 
Photos by Chris Jeske




Delegation Report: Honduran Elections 2017

Saturday, January 20, 2018

ALERT! Edwin Espinal arrested for participation in protests against the dictatorship

COPINH denounces arrest of prominent Honduran activist Edwin Espinal, captured for his participation in protests against the dictatorship

[Original en español]

Tonight, while driving home, compañero Edwin Espinal was captured by members of the police along the Fuerzas Aramadas Boulevard in Tegucigalpa for his participation in the protests days before against the imposition of fraud and dictatorship by Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH).

Edwin Espinal is a well-known figure in the struggle against the dictatorial regime imposed since the 2009 coup d'etat in Honduras. His capture stems from orders by JOH the dictator to repress, demonize and criminalize the dignified protest of  people who oppose the imposition of violence and betrayal.

Edwin's capture comes days after having been victim of a demonization campaign in social media, just like what has happened to our brothers Martín Fernández and Víctor Fernández from the Broad Movement for Justice and Dignity (MADJ), as well as Father Melo from Radio Progreso among a long list of sisters and brothers in struggle against the regime.

The actions by the JOH government seek to sew fear and consternation amongst the mobilized people, as has been demonstrated by the brutal displays of force by the military police and the illegal statements by FUSINA, trying to interfere with the basic right to protest.

Nonetheless, the strength of our cry as a Honduran people against the illegality and illegitimacy of JOH is clear and we are sure that nobody will rest until he falls.

While JOH's spurious electoral tribunal certifies his illegal victory, they capture and criminalize compatriots who struggle for truth and dignity.

They use an iron fist against the people, but for foreign interests they kneel down as low as they can.

COPINH demands Edwin Espinal be released immediately and holds the Honduran state accountable.

We call on the national and international community to denounce these actions of criminalization along with the series of assassinations, aggressions, campaigns of stigmatization and brutal repression by the state against a mobilized people.

COPINH calls for a deepening of national mobilization against fraud and dictatorship.

The more they repress, the more we struggle and organize.

January 19th, 2018.

With the ancestral strength of Berta, Lempira, Mota and Etempica our voices rise, full of life, justice, dignity, freedom and peace!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Report from Honduras January 27th: Chabelo Morales - A New Trial Begins.

Report from Honduras January 27th
Text and Photos V. Cervantes

Go here for background information on Chabelo’s case

Monday, January 27th was the first day of the new trial for campesino political prisoner Jose Isabel Morales.  More than 100 people from  from the Campesino Movement of Aguan (MCA) and Fraternal Black Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) maintained a vigil in front of the court house; Radio Progreso and ERIC SJ were also present. All the campesino organizations in the Aguan have plans to take part in the vigils everyday of the trial. Indigenous organizations, OFRANEH and COPINH are also participating in the support for Chabelo. 



A small number of family members, representatives of the MCA and OFRANEH and international observers were allowed in the court the first day. The defense filed a motion to recluse two of the three judges on the presiding panel because they were the same judges from the Tribunal in Trujillo who violated procedures in hearing and refusing to act on the Supreme Court ruling that Chabelo could be freed pending a new trial. The judges then decided to suspend the trial until a higher court rules on the defense motion (3-4 days).
Miriam Miranda, OFRANEH

At the opening of the trial the prosecutor laid out the case against Chabelo; what was obvious, (and highlighted by the Chabelo’s lawyers in their statement), was that they could make no concrete, particular accusations against Chabelo as an individual. They could only talk about “they coldly attacked” “they set fire”, because there is no evidence  against Chabelo himself. I also noticed that every time the prosecutor said the word, “campesino” or “campesinos” he said it with distaste. He also brought up accusations about violence and land recuperations  and other things that have absolutely nothing to do with the charges against Chabelo in order to paint a picture of a “violent campesino”. 

After the proceedings were suspended both buses from the MCA Guadalupe Carney community went to the prison to visit Chabelo. It was incredibly moving to see Chabelo surrounded by his community and family and their support. Community members and Chabelo also spent time talking about the problems of the campesino movement, the need for more unity around principles and strategies in the face of what they expect to be even more attacks on the campesinos. 

When we got back to Guadalupe Carney, we started to hear reports form people who watched the inauguration on television who told us that even on television it was really clear that hardly anyone was at the official ceremony in the national stadium but that the streets were full of resistance and protests. The FNRP reported 5 thousand people protested during the inauguration ceremony (see the FNRP photo below) 
foto from Resistencia FNRP


Sunday, January 26, 2014

Report from Honduras - January 26, 2014

A representative of La Voz de los de Abajo is in Honduras to accompany the campesino movement during the new trial of political prisoner, Jose Isabel “Chabelo” Morales. The trial begins on Monday, January 27th and will be accompanied by campesino organizations from all over the country. 

Sunday - January 26, 2014 - by V. Cervantes

Arriving in San Pedro Sula in the late evening the Saturday before the inauguration, the airport is quiet but with more national police presence than I have seen on recent trips. At least in discussions with people here in the Sula Valley there is considerable fear and uncertainty as they face the incoming “President” and his program for militarization and repression. In Tegucigalpa  Saturday, Honduran Women’s Day, the police blocked of streets to cut off a woman’s march organized by the human rights group, Visitación Padilla.
January 25th Woman's Day - Foto from Dina Meza

On January 27th Juan Orlando Hernandez takes power as "President of Honduras" after the highly contested and widely condemned as fraudulent elections of November 2013. But the truth is that Juan “Robando” as he often called has been powerful in Honduras, setting legislative agendas and getting fascist laws passed, for the past four years - as the head of the National Congress since January 2010. Since the November elections, the “lame-duck” congress controlled by Hernandez and the National Party has rushed to push more of the neoliberal, anti-popular and anti-democratic agenda through even before his inauguration on the 27th.  According to the trade union organization, The Unitary Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH) in a press release on January 25th calling for protests on January 27th, in just three weeks after the elections, “the pro-coup Honduran Congress illegally approved 119 new laws and gave 87 new contracts to private companies.” This is more legislation than it passed in all of 2013. (see press release in english here) 

These laws include a steep increase in sales tax that will raise the cost of many basic foods and items.  The Congress has also rushed to make appointments to important government positions that were not due to be filled for 6 months. 

Why the rush?  The November elections broke the back of the traditional two-party stranglehold on Honduran politics. LIBRE (Partido de Libertad y Refundacion), the political party born out of the resistance to the 2009 coup d’etat fought a hard, broadly based campaign that without the fraud would have put their candidate, Xiomara Castro Zelaya into the Presidency. Despite the fraud and violence against LIBRE candidates, 37 LIBRE candidates were elected to the National congress. Another 15 candidates from a new center, or perhaps center-right,  Anti-Corruption Party (PAC) were also elected to Congress. The PAC has joined LIBRE in denouncing the electoral fraud and the actions of the Hernandez congress this past month. This means that for the first time the far right National Party and the Liberal Party will be facing as many as 50 or more opposition votes on at least some proposals.  Even though it remains to be seen how strongly the opposition block will unite and how much  the LIBRE Party will be able to push on the most important social issues, it is still the first time the National and Liberal Party’s two-headed monster is facing a numerous, organized congressional opposition. 
Protest at Congress - January 23rd
foto from the FNRP
Hernandez, strongly backed by the U.S. government and its embassy in Honduras, has gone on the offensive in the press against LIBRE, even asserting that LIBRE members are tied to organized crime, presumably to justify the use of military, police and intelligence services against them. In a show of what kind of tactics can be expected in the new Congress, the executive committee of the Congress was elected in a special session of the incoming Congress, but the National and Liberal Party congressmen running the podium refused to allow any of the opposition elected officials to speak, or to introduce their own candidates for the committee, despite a vigorous protest by LIBRE and PAC members.  In protest LIBRE has announced that its elected officials will not participate in the inauguration on the 27th and there was a large protest at the Congress building on January 23 by LIBRE and FNRP activists. Major protests are planned for inauguration day tomorrow amidst reports of militarization in Tegucigalpa and the region near the capital.  The FNRP held a press conference today in Tegucigalpa as part of the preparation for the protests. The FNRP had its first general assembly since the electoral campaigns began last week on January 18th and decided to build the FNRP as an expression of the social movements.

At the same time the militarization of the police, immigration, and law enforcement in general continues reinforcing the analysis of many activists that the country is facing even harder times and tougher challenges than it has in the past four years since the coup.




Sunday, December 1, 2013

Today in the Streets of Tegucigalpa: Anger & Mourning!

The national mobilization called for by Xiomara Castro on Friday night became a massive, angry funeral procession today in Tegucigalpa. Last night two members of LIBRE were murdered in Tegucigalpa, there were unconfirmed reports of another in Olancho and a bomb was set off at another resistance locale. Today's march accompanied the coffin of Jose Antonio Ardon, "Emo 2" from the Pedagogic University to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and then to his wake at the national teachers union (COPEMH) hall.  President Xiomara Castro, ex-President Zelaya, and other leaders from LIBRE and the National People's Resistance Front (FNRP) spoke angrily of the fraud, lies and violence and called on people to take the streets agains after this "ballot box coup" as they did after the June 28, 2009 coup.

Thousands of marchers chanted, sang and shouted emotionally, carrying LIBRE flags, and hand-made signs. Person after person told our team that Juan Orlando Hernandez and the National Party are usurpers and not the legitimate government. LIBRE is filing a formal challenge to the announced results and has vowed to fight in the courts and international bodies as well as the streets.

Photos by E. Torres, V. Cervantes








Saturday, November 30, 2013

Xiomara: We will defeat them in the streets!

"TO THE STREETS!"
English translation of Xiomara Castro de Zelaya's speech 11/29/2013 
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Video original del discurso de Presidenta Xiomara Castro de Zelaya el 29 de noviembre, 2013 en español: Parte 1 / Parte 2

Good evening.

Members of the national and international press,
Sisters and brothers of struggle,
People of Honduras,
Beloved comrades,

Five days after the end of the electoral process in our country, after several public appearances, I am here once again before you, to reiterate that we have found innumerable proof of the disgusting monstrosity with which they are stealing the presidency of the republic from our people of Honduras.

Our position is unwavering and unceasing: while they don’t allow us access to the system of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, we will not accept the results emitted by that Electoral Tribunal.

We do not recognize the legitimacy of any government that is the product of this shameful assault. We will demonstrate that triumph of LIBRE was the will of the Honduran people with its votes on November 24th. And this triumph is being stolen by those who have turned the electoral system into a farce, by falsifying voting records and adulterating electoral results.

We demand, together with our people, that they allow us to look over the 16,135 original records where the will of the people was expressed. And for those that show inconsistencies in the recording, we demand public scrutiny of every one of those polling places.

I denounce that this government, that this group that is governing the country, has no respect for the institutions of Honduras. They know that they have stolen the will of the people and right now they ignore our position and are trying to use force to install a regime that came from fraud, to continue sustaining the brutal violence, the intimidation, the violation of human rights and the continual and unyielding action of the system that impoverishes our people in order to subdue and manipulate them.

They have everything. The power to bully us, attack us and to persecute our people. But they will never make us give up our dignity!

Sisters and brothers, let us peacefully take to the streets that we came from!

Chants: To the streets! To the streets! To the streets!

We are going to defend our triumph in every one of the communities where we know the people are awaiting us. To see that they respect every vote. Every will that was expressed at the polls.

I swear, I swear for my kids, that I will not rest until I see a Honduras that is free, sovereign, independent.

Chanting: Xiomara! Xiomara! Xiomara!

We are going to make a reality of the dream of Morazán. Resistance and re-foundation. Here, in the presence of all of you, I ask the party, to launch all of the necessary actions to defend the will of each and every Honduran. In defense also of our candidates for mayor and congress.

All of this, within the parameters of morality, of respect, of the rights of others, and of the policy of non-violence that rules in our party, to continue this struggle, that should not end until this international nightmare that oppresses us, sustained by evil sons of this land who do not deserve to live here, has come to its end.

To our people, to the youth, to the teachers, to the workers, to the businesspeople, home-makers, women and men, I call on all of us to defend our proposal to create a homeland, a democratic state instead of this oligarchic state that oppresses us and that today seeks to subjugate us through this monstrous fraud.

I ask you, let us stand up and place ourselves immediately at the disposition of the orders that will come from our leaders and our general coordinators. To those who are against freedom and against the people’s sovereignty, I tell you that this struggle has just begun! They will never be able to defeat our people, we are stronger than ever because we are organized in more than 20,000 collectives nationally. With the consciousness and the conviction to work through this great network of information and communication to guarantee that not one of these actions of fraud are not reported.


Chants: Long live Xiomara! The people, united, will never be defeated!

For the memory of those who gave their lives for a better world that is still possible, I swear before you, that we will not cede even for an instant until we carry out our historic mission of defending our people, with our morals, in every battlefield necessary. We will never stop struggling! We will never forget the atrocious crimes of those who kill our people with hunger every day so that they never, and be completely clear, they will never be able to kill our hopes.


We will defeat them in the streets, we already beat them at the polls. Until the final victory! Thank you very much.

LIBRE DETAILS ELECTORAL FRAUD - English translation of original communiqué

The following is an English translation by La Voz de los de Abajo of the official communiqué read by the LIBRE party at the November 29th, 2013 press conference in Tegucigalpa. The original speech in Spanish is available in two parts online: part 1 / part 2

Lo que sigue es una traducción al inglés por La Voz de los de Abajo del comunicado oficial de LIBRE leído en la conferencia de prensa del 29 de noviembre, 2013 en Tegucigalpa. Se puede ver la versión original en línea en dos partes: parte 1 / parte 2


PARTY FOR FREEDOM AND RE-FOUNDATION: “LIBRE”

EXECUTIVE REPORT ABOUT THE 2013 GENERAL ELECTIONS PROCESS

1.     THE RESULTS CONTAINED IN THE RECORDS OF THE RECEIVING ELECTORAL TABLES (MER) WERE ALTERED AND FALSIFIED IN THEIR SUMS IN THE OFFICIAL BULLETINS EMITED BY THE SUPREME ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL (TSE).

2.     THE SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS PUBLISHED BY THE TSE DOES NOT COINCIDE IN THOUSANDS OF CASES WITH THE PHYSICAL COPIES OF THE RECORDS

3.     WE ASK FOR THE COMPARISON AND RECOUNT OF THE 16,135 ORIGINAL RECORDS FROM THE CLOSE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL VOTING, AS PROVIDED FOR IN THE ELECTORAL LAW ARTICLE 15, NUMBER 12.

4.     IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WARNINGS IN THE REPORT FROM THE INTERNTIONAL AUDIT BY THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, WE CALL FOR A POST-ELECTION AUDIT OF THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF TRANSMISSION (SIEDE).

5.     WE ASK FOR REPORTS ABOUT THE ELECTORAL DOCUMENT CALLED THE ‘CREDENTIAL’ FROM THE POLITICAL PARTIES WHO, ACCORDING TO THE TRIBUNAL’S OWN FIGURES, RECEIVED FROM THE SUPREME ELECTORAL TRIBUNAL MORE THAN 160,000 CREDENTIALS YET ONLY RECEIVED 17,516 VOTES AT THE PRESIDENTIAL LEVEL, MAKING IT A FALLACY THAT MER IS MADE UP OF ALL THE POLITICAL PARTIES.

The FREEDOM AND REFOUNDATION PARTY (LIBRE) does not accept nor recognize the official preliminary results published by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, due to the series of alterations, falsifications and irregularities reflected through the Transmission System SIEDE.

I-              EVIDENCE OF ALTERATION DURING SCANNING AND ADDING OF RESULTS OF MER RECORDS

                                               i.     After comparing 14,593 MER records that the LIBRE party received physically at our data center to the records published in the SIEDE system (last consulted at 11:00pm Thursday November 28th, 2013) we found:
a.     82,301 too many votes counted in favor of the National Party
b.     55,720 votes not counted for LIBRE.
c.     34,184 votes not counted for PAC.
d.     29,063 votes not counted for the Liberal Party.
e.     13,307 votes not counted for other parties.

                                             ii.     Numerous MER records were scanned in the morning hours of November 24th, according to the report that appears on the ATX (Scanner Center), vertically in lowercase.

                                            iii.     Numerous records transmitted by the TSE to the political parties and those published on the web page do not coincide with the originals received by LIBRE’s members of the MER, in terms of the signatures, which confirms the alterations.

                                            iv.     Numerous records published by the TSE coincide with the characteristics of those transmitted during the simulations.

                                             v.     Numerous Certified Records of the Municipal Electoral Tribunals were scanned or entered into the System, showing it TURNED OUT TO BE FALSE that the scanners were programmed to only transmit the Final Records of the Receiving Electoral Tables (MER) and that for security purposes no other electoral document could be transmitted. Supposedly each MER record would have a bar code that guaranteed it could only be transmitted by the ATX scanner assigned to the corresponding MER.

II-            VOTING OF ABOUT 70% at 12% OF THE MER.

It was found that at 12% of the polls there is an inflation of results, since the average voting in each MER is 61% and in this block of polls the voting is over 70% and the count at 85% of these MER’s favored the National Party candidate, an indication that necessitates comparison of the electoral registry with voters in order to discard the votes of those who have moved or died.

III-          RECORDS NOT TRANSMITTED TO THE POLITICAL PARTIES, NOT PUBLISHED BY THE TSE AND WITH A SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF 0. (Out of 14,593).

At least 2,805 MER records were not transmitted to the political parties nor published on the TSE webpage, within this category are also included the records whose “summary of results” appears as 0 and those sent for Special Scrutiny (2,134 records).

The International Audit carried out by the Organization of American States OAS established on the 20th of November, three days before the elections, that: “The process/functioning evaluated in accordance with the Operative Plan: special scrutiny does not meet requirements due to inability to evaluate.”
These records represent an electoral volume of 883,140 voters, mostly distributed amongst the departments of Cortes, Francisco Morazán, Santa Barbara and Yoro. The projection of these figures would give LIBRE the victory in the elections.


IV-          160,000 MER CREDENTIALS WERE GIVEN BY THE TSE TO 5 PARTIES; FAPER, UD, DC, ALIANZA PATRIOTICA AND PINU-SD.

In accordance with the law, the Receiving Electoral Tables (MER) are made up of a principal and replacement member proposed by each of the political parties through their representatives. The total number of MER’s in the 2013 electoral process was 16,135, meaning that each party received credentials for that number of both principal and replacement MER members.

Up to today, November 29th, the count by the TSE indicates that amongst them all, these 5 parties obtained 17,516 presidential votes, a fact that proves that the credentials that they signed for were given to members of other parties. On average, at 68% of the MER’s the parties PINU, DC, FAPER, UD and Alianza Patriótica do not have a single vote.

V-            REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL AUDIT TO THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM (SIEDE) BY THE OAS AND PRESENTED TO THE TSE ON NOVEMBER 20TH, 2013.

This report contains conclusions in terms of security and general conclusions with regards to quality and transparency. It can be found on the OAS page and there it shows the vulnerability of the system and the lack of security and the lack of guarantees in the transmission and publishing of results in addition to the counting. Amongst them is established:

                                              i.     “The security analysis of the distinct elements of the SIEDE has shown that the current System as of the date of this report presents certain deficiencies of adequate implementation of security measures that in carrying out these types of projects should be considered as the minimum standards for guaranteeing the integrity of the system.”

                                             ii.     “Quality- In relation to the evaluation of the quality of the SIEDE, it is necessary to mention that the absence of manuals of requirements and procedures constitutes an impediment for the analysis of the project based in metrics of compliance with standards. In the same way, it is necessary to clarify that the findings of the audit have been established based on evaluations up to the present date concluding the current Report, which means that the system could present improvement in the remaining days before carrying out the electoral process.”

“Relating to the consolidation, integration and publishing of the results, the auditing was able to observe problems in the design of the systems and algorithms applied that could affect their operations in the absence of corrective measures. Dues to this being an area that affects the transparency of the System, it is a critical element since it could affect the quality of the entire SIEDE.

                                            iii.     “In relation to the module of consolidation, integration and publishing of the results, the audit detected faults that showed non-compliance with quality standards required for this type of programs. It is important to emphasize that aspects such as correction, reliability and efficiency have not been met by these modules up to the finalizing of the simulations”.

                                            iv.     “As far as the publishing of the results, the audit was able to show design problems that forced a redesign of the application. For that reason up until the present date, it has not been possible to carry out an analysis of vulnerabilities since there is not a definitive version of the program.”

VI-          VULNERABILITY OF THE SYSTEM

On an internet page (recovered November 26th, 2011), are published a series of code sequences in the postgreSQI language, which drives the database used by the SIEDE of the TSE to generate the structure for the database, tables, fields, etc. which constitute a fundamental part of the general structure of SIEDE. In the leaked code, you can see the information regarding three tables: votes, details, candidates and votes, their fields, and the detail of the relationships and keys for each one. It is important to note that at the end there is a query showing a search for a candidate with the parameter "Mauricio" and it shows the list of figures (id, first last name) of candidates with the first name “Mauricio," thereby indicating that whoever uploaded this page to the web had access to the database registry and not just to the structure.

VII-        DECLARATIONS AND REPORTS FROM INTERNATIONAL ACCOMPANIERS AND OBSERVERS

Judge Baltasar Garzón. “There were clear indications of manipulation and electoral fraud in last Sunday’s elections in Honduras. The reach is not determined but there was buying of votes, buying of credentials, clear influence and attempts to manipulate the electronic count and the transmission of records,” declared the Spanish ex-judge during a visit to Paraguay. In Honduras, Garzón was part of an observation mission of the International Human Rights Federation made up of 11 people from Canada, the United States, Spain, Colombia, Sweden and Belgium. “We all unanimously verified that there were clear indications of electoral manipulation and fraud.”

Carter Center. The delegation was headed by two members of the Friends of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the ex-Presidents Carlos Mesa of Bolivia and Martín Torrijos of Panamá along with Dr. Jennifer McCoy, director of the Americas Program for the Carter Center. In the press release the delegation expresses that “Vote tallying continues. A number of parties have questioned one or more aspects of the process.  The delegation believes that it is very important that the parties make their complaints known to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in accordance with the procedures established by electoral law.  It trusts that the Tribunal will resolve these challenges based on the established norms.”

Mission of the European Union. The European Union Mission observes that 30% of the electoral census is not real. Here is the corresponding part in their preliminary report. “Based on the Civil Registry and generated together by the National Registry of People and the TSE, the electoral census has significant problems that constitute a weakness of the electoral process. There has been no systematic attempt to fix it and generally it allows that about 30% of its entries correspond to people who have emigrated or died, while in a smaller number of cases there are citizens who, though living, have been excluded as dead. In other occasions, there have been discoveries of unsolicited address changes. While the first cases come from administrative failures, the accusations of fraudulent address changes were persistent throughout the electoral period and the European Union Electoral Observation Mission observers registered credible accusations of that type in which the National or Liberal Parties were always implicated.”

Today, Leo Gabriel, Austrian journalist and anthropologist and member of the European Union delegation said that based on the fraud he observed, it seems that “the European Union prefers a stable dictatorship to a democracy.”

The Juan Bosch Foundation titles their report, “Elections in Honduras: No to another electoral slaughter in Latin America.” They say, “Among the things we will see in the current report are: a) Manipulation of the media; b) repression and intimidation of international observers and accompaniers, c) Vulnerability of the Honduran electoral system and the lack of guarantees for a transparent and equitable competition amongst candidates; d) Multiple anomalies during the electoral process such as the buying of votes and the trafficking of credentials; e) Serious anomalies in the process of public scrutiny; f) Unjustified withholding of 19% of the records retained by the TSE and sent to special scrutiny without explanation; g) Declaration of 1,000 records won by the LIBRE party as having inconsistencies; h) Lack of resolution of 611 voting centers to transmit the results of 983 electoral tables; i) Replacement and adulteration of the real records; j) Scanning of around 1,800 records that never made it to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.” The report concludes saying, “Unfortunately, the only conclusions one can arrive at after observing and accompanying the Honduran electoral process are negative. What we were able to observe and verify is a fragile, vulnerable process lacking a system of consequences for the diverse situations of irregularity and anomaly that we have exposed. If this is not rectified in accordance with the essential values of democracy and respect for popular sovereignty, we are headed down the slippery slope to what Juan Bosch called the “electoral slaughter” referring to the electoral processes lived through in the Dominican Republic after 1966, following the coup d’état in 1963 and the U.S. occupation of 1965-1966. We were also able to clearly see TSE partiality towards the National Party, ignoring multiple demands, complaints and denunciations by the LIBRE party and PAC.”

VIII-      CONCLUSIONS

                                               i.     To proceed to the revision and verification, record by record, incorporated to the system, comparing the summary of the results and physical records of every one of the 16,135 Receiving Electoral Tables at the presidential level and with the presence of the LIBRE party, thereby processing 100% of the records in accordance with the law.

                                             ii.     To proceed immediately to audit the SIEDE system through an international post-electoral audit to verify its vulnerabilities, the alterations and the falsifications of electoral documents and their results.

                                            iii.     To ask for reports about the Electoral Document called “Credential,” more than 160,000 to those political parties who didn’t reach in the polls even the number of credentials given to them by the TSE. Since the credential is an electoral document to accredit the main member and replacement from each political party, if the political party did not receive as many votes as people it accredited, it implies that it shared that public document, received under its responsibility, with members of other political parties. Therefore, it is an oft-repeated fallacy that the MER is made up of all of the political parties.

                                            iv.     That the Public Ministry through the Special Prosecutor for Electoral Crimes move to open a file for an investigation of all of the alterations and falsifications produced in the process, thereby threatening the will of the people.

                                             v.     Finally, we present on the screen, just one example of MER 11,256 from the Department of Islas de la Bahía, Voting Center Escuela Marco Aurelio Soto, Municipality of Jose Santos Guardiola, town of Jose Santos Guardiola. This MER is the one that is on the page of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. And the next one is the original that arrived to the party with all of the signatures of the members of the MER. This is evidence of the irregularities and the falsifications committed by the system.



Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Nobember 29th, 2013
Party of Freedom and Re-Foundation (LIBRE)


Related Posts with Thumbnails