If you’ve been keeping up with the news in Honduras, you know about the crackdown on protesters, crackdown on media outlets, and slow diplomatic talks.
Supporters of ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya sit in front of Honduran army soldiers, 3 July 2009 © AP/PA Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills
You also might know it’s a pretty emotional issue for Hondurans, many of whom stand completely with Zelaya or the de facto government. Just read the comments on my last blog and you’ll get the idea.
But did you know about an executive decree that bans all public meetings and gives incredible power to police? Yep, it’s true. According to a new AI story:
Honduran de facto president Roberto Micheletti must rescind a decree that provides sweeping new powers of detention to the police, bans all public meetings and imposes a 45 day curfew, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
“Honduras risks spiralling into a state of lawlessness, where police and military act with no regard for human rights or the rule of law,” said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International. Roberto Micheletti must urgently rescind the decree and send clear instructions to the security forces to respect human rights in all circumstances and at all times.”
Since AI ran this story, Micheletti has vowed to reverse the decree — but not surprisingly has been slow to follow through.
From the beginning of the crisis in Honduras, Amnesty International has tried to make sense of the issue through a human rights lens rather than taking political sides — calling out human rights violations and getting the word out about unlawful abuse and detentions. Even though Amnesty is producing thoughtful research and news stories about human rights abuses in Honduras, more has to be done.
With rumors of civil war among some social organization spreading and the diplomatic talks stalling, now is time for you to take action to help end this crisis and restore human rights to the Honduran people!
i've been in honduras – most recently two weeks ago – this post and the previous blog are just inaccurate. the peaceful marches have been those who support the ousting of zelaya. those supporting zelaya have been the ones ramsacking and pillaging businesses, stealing goods, burning buildings, shooting people, etc. what about the rights of the people who they are hurting? no one around the world is stepping up to help them – not amnesty, not governments. instead everyone seems to be supporting the "rights" of those who support zelaya and chavez and castro. why is that? i'm all about human rights but those people who are destroying the property of others and injuring others in the "name of zelaya" – who requested these people do this – lost their right to protest as soon as they became violent. it is their violence that has forced micheletti to put curfews in place, and to take away their right to demonstrate, etc. please do us all a favor and do your research….obviously you haven't………..
Jenna — It seems that you are taking political sides here and that is not what the post is trying to do. Whether the protesters or pro or anti- Zelaya, the fact is that human rights have been compromised. 12 people have been killed, 475 people detained and 75 Indigenous people have being removed from their villages and have asked for political asylum in Guatemala, all because they support Zelaya — there is some research for you. If those people were anti-Zelaya and the same thing happened, AI would be fighting for them just the same.
i’ve been in honduras – most recently two weeks ago – this post and the previous blog are just inaccurate. the peaceful marches have been those who support the ousting of zelaya. those supporting zelaya have been the ones ramsacking and pillaging businesses, stealing goods, burning buildings, shooting people, etc. what about the rights of the people who they are hurting? no one around the world is stepping up to help them – not amnesty, not governments. instead everyone seems to be supporting the “rights” of those who support zelaya and chavez and castro. why is that? i’m all about human rights but those people who are destroying the property of others and injuring others in the “name of zelaya” – who requested these people do this – lost their right to protest as soon as they became violent. it is their violence that has forced micheletti to put curfews in place, and to take away their right to demonstrate, etc. please do us all a favor and do your research….obviously you haven’t………..
Kate – you need to give me a break here. Zelaya is trying to remain in power and this goes against the constitution. Zelaya is trying the same tactics Chavez used. Chavez has been in power for 11 years now and it is clear that the any opposition (political, media, etc) has been violently and illegally eliminated. Where are you defending those in Venezuela that are not even allowed to protest in the streets without risking being killed by death squadrons (and don't tell me they don't exist, there is plenty of video and pictures of pro-government militias firing upon innocent people on the streest of Caracas).
Kate – the problem with you is that you are writting in your little cosy country with all your freedoms intact. But if you will be living in Honduras and fearing that a permanent Zelaya administration is about to take place for ever and ever you will be thinking differently. My advise: move to Honduras and live there for 10 years. We will see who will you defend then!
Jenna — It seems that you are taking political sides here and that is not what the post is trying to do. Whether the protesters or pro or anti- Zelaya, the fact is that human rights have been compromised. 12 people have been killed, 475 people detained and 75 Indigenous people have being removed from their villages and have asked for political asylum in Guatemala, all because they support Zelaya — there is some research for you. If those people were anti-Zelaya and the same thing happened, AI would be fighting for them just the same.
I see, so because I live in the U.S. I can have no opinion on the matter? Whether or not you like Zelaya has nothing to do with the fact that there has been a massive crackdown on human rights since he was ousted in the coup — that has been AI's stance all along.I'd like to say more, but I doubt you'll read since I live in such a "cozy country".
For those of you that aren't obsessed with Venezuela, see this new article on Colombia fighters in Honduras: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/09/world/i…
I see, so because I live in the U.S. I can have no opinion on the matter? Whether or not you like Zelaya has nothing to do with the fact that there has been a massive crackdown on human rights since he was ousted in the coup — that has been AI's stance all along.I'd like to say more, but I doubt you'll read since I live in such a "cozy country".
For those of you that aren't obsessed with Venezuela, see this new article on Colombia fighters in Honduras: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/09/world/i…
I see, so because I live in the U.S. I can have no opinion on the matter? Whether or not you like Zelaya has nothing to do with the fact that there has been a massive crackdown on human rights since he was ousted in the coup — that has been AI's stance all along.I'd like to say more, but I doubt you'll read since I live in such a "cozy country".
For those of you that aren't obsessed with Venezuela, see this new article on Colombia fighters in Honduras: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/09/world/i…
Kate – you need to give me a break here. Zelaya is trying to remain in power and this goes against the constitution. Zelaya is trying the same tactics Chavez used. Chavez has been in power for 11 years now and it is clear that the any opposition (political, media, etc) has been violently and illegally eliminated. Where are you defending those in Venezuela that are not even allowed to protest in the streets without risking being killed by death squadrons (and don’t tell me they don’t exist, there is plenty of video and pictures of pro-government militias firing upon innocent people on the streest of Caracas).
Kate – the problem with you is that you are writting in your little cosy country with all your freedoms intact. But if you will be living in Honduras and fearing that a permanent Zelaya administration is about to take place for ever and ever you will be thinking differently. My advise: move to Honduras and live there for 10 years. We will see who will you defend then!
I see, so because I live in the U.S. I can have no opinion on the matter? Whether or not you like Zelaya has nothing to do with the fact that there has been a massive crackdown on human rights since he was ousted in the coup — that has been AI’s stance all along.I’d like to say more, but I doubt you’ll read since I live in such a “cozy country”.
For those of you that aren’t obsessed with Venezuela, see this new article on Colombia fighters in Honduras: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/09/world/international-us-honduras-mercenaries.html
It sounds like you're creating problems for yourself by trying to solve this issue instead of looking at why there is a problem in the first place
It sounds like you’re creating problems for yourself by trying to solve this issue instead of looking at why there is a problem in the first place