December, 08 2017, 12:45pm EDT
Honduras: Government Deploys Dangerous and illegal Tactics to Silence Population
The Honduran government is deploying dangerous and illegal tactics to silence any dissenting voices in the aftermath of one of the country's worst political crisis in a decade, including preventing lawyers and human rights activists from visiting detained demonstrators, Amnesty International said after a visit to the country following contested presidential elections on November 26.
WASHINGTON
The Honduran government is deploying dangerous and illegal tactics to silence any dissenting voices in the aftermath of one of the country's worst political crisis in a decade, including preventing lawyers and human rights activists from visiting detained demonstrators, Amnesty International said after a visit to the country following contested presidential elections on November 26.
"Honduras seems to be on a very dangerous free fall where ordinary people are the victims of reckless and selfish political games," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
"Evidence shows that there is no space for people in Honduras to express their opinions. When they do, they come face to face with the full force of the government's repressive apparatus.
"Halting all use of illegitimate or excessive force against protesters by security forces, ending arbitrary detentions, and investigating all instances of human rights violations would be a good start to undo some of the many wrongs we have documented in recent days."
An Amnesty International delegation visited the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, to meet with human rights activists and victims of human rights violations following the crisis and state of exception that unfolded after the Presidential election on November 26. Amnesty's experts also met with members of the National Police and the office of the Ombudsman.
During their visit, the organization's delegates documented a plethora of human rights violations against protesters and other people.
Violence against protesters
At least 14 people died, most of them from bullet wounds, and dozens were injured in the context of largely peaceful demonstrations since the elections on Sunday, November 26, according to information provided to Amnesty International by both human rights defenders and public servants.
On December 1, authorities imposed a curfew that many believe increases risks to people's integrity and life.
One human rights defender told Amnesty International that severe harassment and beatings by security forces during demonstrations have been common in Honduras over the past few days and the situation has become more dangerous for everybody walking on the streets.
Security forces used tear gas, chased and arrested protesters. In some instances, they used firearms against them. Levels of violence are comparable to those that followed the 2009 coup.
Only one police officer has been brought before a judge for firing an arm against a protestor, according to information provided to Amnesty International by the National Police.
Human rights violations under the curfew
During the curfew imposed by the Honduran authorities on December 1, security forces operated with the greatest impunity.
Raul Antonio Triminio, a 39-year-old builder from Tegucigalpa, was killed during the night of 3 December 2017. His family told Amnesty International that he was peacefully demonstrating outside his house when military police personnel arrived, shot out the street lights and then shot him directly in the face. His relatives could not immediately assist him, since they were too afraid of going out and facing potential attacks by police. One of his sisters said: "They should have arrested him, not shot him. He wasn't doing anything wrong ... we only want justice."
Military police appear to be implicated in several cases of human rights violations in the context of the demonstrations and during the curfew.
Amnesty International researchers also documented the case of a young man who was attacked by military police in Tegucigalpa as he was trying to put his motorcycle into his home on the night of December 3.
According to eye witnesses, the police did not warn him or try to arrest him. They simply hit him until he lost consciousness. He was hospitalized for days and is still in a serious health condition.
The family told Amnesty International's researchers that when his siblings tried to assist him, the military police agents pointed their guns at them and told them not to report the case, since they knew where they lived and could come back to kill them.
In both instances, relatives had to call the National Police to take the victims to the hospital, unable and afraid to do this themselves.
The curfew is affecting every aspect of people's daily lives. Many people have to constantly change their schedules while others loose work hours or are prevented from visiting friends and family. If they fail to leave the streets by the time the curfew starts, they face the risk of not being able to return home or face violence on the streets.
People arrested for breaching the curfew are held in police stations until the end of the curfew, at 5 am. During that time, they are deprived of legal assistance, since lawyers or human rights defenders cannot breach the curfew to visit them or to file legal proceedings on their behalf.
The curfew, which has been amended twice in terms of its time and geographical reach since initially issued, does not follow international law provisions and seems too broad to handle limited cases of violence.
If the government is to further extend this measure, it should sufficiently and adequately argue its necessity and follow all required constitutional and international procedures, including by sending official notifications to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States and to the United Nations.
Either way, effective safeguards should be urgently put in place to prevent more human rights violations and all alleged human rights violations should be properly investigated and prosecuted.
Background Information
On November 26, 2017 presidential elections were held in Honduras.
In the early morning of November 27, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Supremo Electoral, TSE) published an initial indication of results, based on the revision of 57 percent of the votes, which indicated that the opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla had a five-point lead against the current president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez.
Both candidates declared themselves winners. According to the preliminary report from the Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States in Honduras, published following the elections, "the system of publication of the results, available to the public online, was not updated [following the first announcement from the TSE] on November 27. Upon review, the Mission observed how the difference between the candidates narrowed down".
On the afternoon of November 29, the TSE published official data that current president Juan Orlando Hernandez was leading the election's results.
Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the world, with high rates of murder and insecurity. There is a high level of mistrust of institutions, fueled by the fact that impunity prevails in the majority of crimes, and by repeated signs of corruption or the involvement of state forces in criminal activities.
Human rights defenders are particularly exposed to violence. Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America for human rights defenders, especially for defenders of land and the environment.
As a result of the coup of June 28, 2009, during which various states of exception and curfews were approved, serious human rights violations at the hands of Honduran security forces were reported.
This statement can be found online at https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/honduras-government-deploys-dangerous-and-illegal-tactics-to-silence-population/
Follow Amnesty International USA and Amnesty International USA Media on Twitter.
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.
LATEST NEWS
'Unhinged' Israeli Ambassador Literally Shreds UN Charter Ahead of Palestine Vote
"Shame on you," said Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan shortly before the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution supporting full membership for Palestine.
May 10, 2024
Shortly before the United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution Friday supporting full U.N. membership for Palestine, Israel's ambassador took to the podium and put a prop copy of the U.N.'s founding document through a handheld paper shredder.
In a speech that one journalist described as "unhinged," Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan described Palestinians as "modern-day Nazis" and condemned the U.N. General Assembly for choosing to "reward" them with "rights and privileges."
"You are shredding the U.N. Charter with your own hands," Erdan said as he fed a small copy of the document through a miniature paper shredder. "Shame on you."
Watch:
Watch: Israeli ambassador to the UN @giladerdan1 used a paper shredder to shred the UN charter on the podium of the UN general assembly ahead of a vote that will give new privileges to the Palestinians at the UN pic.twitter.com/mWQ85c8uwK
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 10, 2024
Erdan's bizarre performance came just before the U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution urging the Security Council to reconsider Palestine's request to become a full U.N. member following a U.S. veto last month. Palestine is currently a nonmember observer state of the U.N.
The General Assembly voted by a margin of 143 to 9—with 25 abstentions—in support of the resolution. The nine countries that voted no were the United States, Israel, Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Papua New Guinea.
In addition to backing its bid for full U.N. membership, the resolution gives Palestine "the right to introduce and co-sponsor proposals as well as amendments within the assembly," The Guardianreported.
Riyad Mansour, Palestine's permanent observer at the U.N., said ahead of Friday's vote that support for the resolution "is a vote for Palestinian existence."
"I stand before you as lives continue falling apart in the Gaza Strip," said Mansour, noting that "more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, 80,000 have been maimed, 2 million have been displaced, and everything has been destroyed" by Israeli forces over the past seven months.
"No words can capture what such loss and trauma signifies for Palestinians," Mansour added.
"The U.S. and Israel are isolated and the world is on the side of Palestine."
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, called the U.N. General Assembly's passage of the resolution "an unprecedented move that shows once again how unbelievably isolated [U.S. President Joe] Biden has made the U.S."
In anticipation of Friday's vote, a group of Republican U.S. senators led by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) introduced legislation that would halt U.S. funding for any entity—including the U.N.—that gives Palestine "any status, rights, or privileges beyond observer status."
Current law requires the U.S. to "cut off funding to U.N. agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state—which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the U.N. from its largest contributor," The Associated Pressreported Friday.
Craig Mokhiber, a former U.N. official who resigned in October over the body's failure to act in the face of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, wrote that Friday's vote further shows that "the U.S. and Israel are isolated and the world is on the side of Palestine."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Sad What We Are Doing': Global CO2 Increase Sets New All-Time Record
"I'd make this the lead story in every paper and newscast on the planet," said Bill McKibben. "If we don't understand the depth of the climate crisis, we will not act in time."
May 10, 2024
The average monthly concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere jumped by a record 4.7 parts per million between March 2023 and March 2024, according to new data from NOAA's Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii.
The spike, reported by the University of California, San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography on Wednesday, reveals "the increasing pace of CO2 addition to the atmosphere by human activities," the university said.
"I'd make this the lead story in every paper and newscast on the planet," author and long-time climate activist Bill McKibbenwrote on social media in response to the news. "If we don't understand the depth of the climate crisis, we will not act in time."
"Human activity has caused CO2 to rocket upwards. It makes me sad more than anything. It's sad what we are doing."
Scientists have been tracking rising CO2 concentrations from Mauna Loa since 1958, and their upward trajectory has come to be known as the "Keeling Curve," named for Charles Keeling, who began the measurements. The curve has become an important symbol of the climate crisis—making visible how the burning of fossil fuels and the clearing of vegetation has released more and more CO2 into the atmosphere, where it traps heat from escaping into space and raises global temperatures.
For most of human history, concentrations have hovered around 280ppm, and the curve's first measurement put them at 313. Sixty-five years later, C02 concentrations averaged 419.3 ppm in 2023, a level not seen since 4.3 million years ago when sea levels were around 75 feet higher and parts of today's Arctic tundra were forests. As of Wednesday, the Keeling Curve reported a daily concentration of 426.72 ppm.
The record jump from March 2023 to March 2024 surpasses the last record jump of 4.1 ppm from June 2015 to June 2016.
"We sadly continue to break records in the CO2 rise rate," Ralph Keeling, Charles' son who now directs the Scripps CO2 Program, said. "The ultimate reason is continued global growth in the consumption of fossil fuels."
The record leaps from both 2015-2016 and 2023-2024 were also influenced by active El Niño events. The El Niño phenomenon increases atmospheric carbon dioxide because it leads to warmer, drier temperatures in the tropics, which decrease vegetation and encourage fires. Atmospheric CO2 levels tend to rise especially quickly toward the end of an El Niño cycle, and last March's CO2 levels were unusually low, leading to a larger gap in the 12-month period.
This year's rate of increase during the current El Niño is significantly larger than the one that took place in 2016. As Scripps explained:
The increase from February 2023 to February of this year was 4.0 ppm, compared to 3.7 for the 2016 El Niño. The increase from January 2023 to January of this year was 3.4 ppm, compared to 2.6 for the 2016 El Niño.
The growth rate from April 2023 to April 2024 dropped to 3.6 ppm, but taking into account the first four months of 2024, the growth rate is well above that for 2016. If this El Niño follows the pattern of the last El Niño, the world might experience a very high growth rate for several more months, Keeling said.
However, any regular climate variations such as El Niño events occur over the longer-term rise in both fossil fuel emissions and greenhouse gas levels.
"The rate of rise will almost certainly come down, but it is still rising and in order to stabilize the climate, you need CO2 level to be falling," Keeling toldThe Guardian. "Clearly, that isn't happening. Human activity has caused CO2 to rocket upwards. It makes me sad more than anything. It's sad what we are doing."
Jeff Goodell, author of The Heat Will Kill You First, wrote in response, "We're riding the Venus Express."
The record jump in CO2 concentrations comes as 2023 was the hottest year both on record and in around 100,000 years. Of the 12 months covered by the March 2023 to March 2024 period, 10 of them (June through March) were the hottest of that month on record.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Analysis Finds Nearly 100% of Campus Gaza Protests Have Been Peaceful
"If someone is speaking more about 'violent encampments' than they are about violent genocide of the Palestinians, they have a problem reflective of deep and dangerous biases," said one supporter.
May 10, 2024
Just over a week after U.S. President Joe Biden defended police crackdowns on dozens of anti-war protests on college campuses by declaring that students don't have "the right to cause chaos," a new analysis on Friday showed that nearly all the campus demonstrations have not been violent at all—and many that have descended into violence did so due to police interventions or aggressive counter-protests.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) examined 553 campus protests that took place across the U.S. between April 18-May 3 and found that fewer than 20 resulted in serious violence or property damage—meaning that 97% of the protests remained non-violent.
The group categorizes demonstrations as violent only when "physical violence that rises above pushing or shoving" takes place or when property damage includes protesters "breaking a window or worse."
ACLED's latest analysis comes after a previous study released May 2, which found 99% of campus protests in the first days of the burgeoning student-led movement against Israel's assault on Gaza had remained peaceful.
In the latest report, analyzing the 3% of protests that became violent, ACLED found that at half of those students clashed with police who had been sent in to clear the peaceful student encampments—which should have been allowed to proceed unimpeded according to Biden's speech about the protests on May 2, in which he said, "Peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to controversial issues."
At one protest at Washington University in St. Louis, three police officers were injured, and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison on May 1, a state trooper was reportedly injured after being hit with a skateboard.
ACLED found two instances of serious property damage: a protest at Portland State University where students shattered glass and damaged computers and other furniture while occupying a library, and the occupation of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University, where students broke windows.
But examining the campus protests as a whole, ACLED did not find evidence of the "disorder" Biden spoke of when he said earlier this month that "vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations... threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest."
The most significant violence that's erupted at a campus protest so far, according to ACLED's data, was an attack by a pro-Israel mob on an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, which went on for hours as police stood by.
"If someone is speaking more about 'violent encampments' than they are about violent genocide of the Palestinians, they have a problem reflective of deep and dangerous biases," said Tanya Zakrison, a surgeon at University of Chicago Medical Center, close to the college campus where students on Thursday said police shoved and hit them as they removed an encampment this week.
ACLED documented at least 70 examples of violent police crackdowns, including the use of chemical agents and batons to disperse crowds.
According to The New York Times, more than 2,800 people have now been arrested at campus protests at more than 50 colleges in the United States. The crackdowns have appeared to mobilize Palestinian rights supporters in the U.S. and abroad, with campus demonstrations spreading in Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia.
ACLED found that police have forcefully intervened against pro-Palestinian protests both on and off college campuses about five times as often as they have against pro-Israel demonstrations.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular