HONDURAS: HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE COUP D’ÉTAT

 

Chapter V - continuation
 

 

E.                The Right to Vote and Participate in Government

 

383.             Article 23 of the American Convention provides that:

 

1.       Every citizen shall enjoy the following rights and opportunities:

 

a.      to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;

b.       to vote and to be elected in genuine periodic elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free expression of the will of the voters; and

 

c.       to have access, under general conditions of equality, to the public service of his country.

 

2.       The law may regulate the exercise of the rights and opportunities referred to in the preceding paragraph only on the basis of age, nationality, residence, language, education, civil and mental capacity, or sentencing by a competent court in criminal proceedings.

 

384.          Under Article 27 of the Convention, the right to participate in government is one of the rights that cannot be suspended in a state of emergency.

 

385.          For its part, Article 3 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter provides that “[e]ssential elements of representative democracy include, inter alia, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to and the exercise of power in accordance with the rule of law, the holding of periodic, free, and fair elections based on secret balloting and universal suffrage as an expression of the sovereignty of the people, the pluralistic system of political parties and organizations, and the separation of powers and independence of the branches of government.”[498]

 

386.          The Commission must underscore the fact that political rights, defined as those that recognize and protect the right and duty of every citizen to participate in his or her country’s political life, are by nature the rights that serve to strengthen democracy and political pluralism,[499] and that human rights cannot be fully guaranteed without the effective and unrestricted recognition of political rights.[500]

 

387.          In its jurisprudence, the Inter-American Court has written that “[p]olitical rights are human rights of fundamental importance within the Inter-American system and they are closely related to other rights embodied in the American Convention, such as freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly; together, they make democracy possible.”[501]  It has therefore held that “effective exercise of political rights constitutes an end in itself and also a fundamental means that democratic societies possess to guarantee the other human rights established in the Convention.”[502]

 

388.          Because of the inherent relationship between democracy and political rights and the fact that democratic order in Honduras has been interrupted with a coup d’état, the Commission deems it imperative –given the context- to examine the conditions for exercising political rights in Honduras.

 

389.          In this regard, during its on-site visit the Commission was able to confirm serious violations of political rights that affect the citizens of Honduras.  The Commission notes that since the interruption of constitutional order, the de facto authorities have perpetrated repressive acts that have constituted serious limitations, both de jure and de facto, on the exercise of political rights, in particular those rights associated with the exercise of public office and those related to political participation.

 

1.         Right to Hold Public Office

 

390.          Since the coup d’état, restrictions on the exercise of public office have remained in place in the three branches of government, affecting both public officials elected directly by voters at the ballot box and public officials serving in non-elective positions.

 

391.          The Commission considers that as a consequence of the coup d’état in Honduras, protection of one’s tenure in public office is not effectively guaranteed by the de facto authorities.  On the contrary, the Commission found a systematic pattern of removing from public office those public officials not deemed to be favorably disposed to the forcible break from the constitutional order.

 

392.          In particular, the Commission observes that while the immediate effect of the coup d’état on June 28 was the forcible removal of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales from the office to which he had been constitutionally elected by popular vote,[503] the majority of those who were serving as ministers in the Cabinet of President Zelaya were also removed from office.  Similar measures were also taken against those members of the diplomatic corps who, while serving abroad as representatives of President Zelaya’s legitimate Government, refused to recognize the authority of the de facto regime.  Even civil servants working in various State offices were arbitrarily dismissed.

 

393.          The Commission also observes that in order to obstruct public servants’ legitimate exercise of their rights, the de facto authorities resorted to tactics like withholding notification of Congressional sessions in the case of members of Congress opposed to the coup d’état,[504] as well as reprisals and harassment perpetrated against those persons who publicly expressed their political support for President Zelaya.

 

394.          Since June 28, and even after its on-site visit, the Commission has been told of countless acts of intimidation against public officials who support President Zelaya, such as ministers, members of the National Congress and local authorities like municipal mayors and local government officials.

 

395.          The Commission received specific information indicating that members of the National Congress and members of President Zelaya’s Cabinet were threatened and physically assaulted.  Furthermore, administrative investigations were launched against some of them, while others were facing criminal charges; warrants had even been issued for their arrest.

 

396.          Concerning the situation of other local authorities, the IACHR confirmed that the offices of some mayors were taken over by military troops[505] and that cuts were even made to the local budgets of communities whose authorities came out against the coup d’état.[506]

 

397.          The Commission has learned that civil servants in the judicial branch, at various levels, were taken off court cases[507]  or relocated within the justice system in lower-ranking posts, with restrictions on what they could and could not do.[508]  This was in retaliation for their having taken measures that were perceived as contrary to the interests and policy of the de facto government.  Furthermore, some judges were threatened, attacked, and even arbitrarily detained,[509] while others were subjected to disciplinary proceedings.[510]

 

398.          The IACHR considers that all the events described above are serious restrictions on the exercise of public office.  In the case of public servants and officials who have been removed from their posts, the IACHR considers that any dismissals ordered by the de facto authorities are illegitimate ab initio inasmuch as they were adopted by illegitimate authorities who appropriated powers that were not theirs.

 

399.          Furthermore, the IACHR believes it is fitting to point out that every state has an obligation to respect the legitimate exercise of political power by those persons who, having been voted into office, are not of the same political persuasion as the government in power.  This obligation remains intact and takes on particular relevance when institutional order is interrupted and the legitimate authorities are removed from office by force.  Those representatives who, although in open opposition, nonetheless continue to perform the functions of their office are the ultimate expression of the democratic spirit.

 

2.         Right to Vote and to Participate in Government

 

400.          The IACHR has indicated that the right to vote and to participate in government “is broader than the right to associate for purely political reasons” as it also “includes the right to organize parties and political associations that, through the free exchange of ideas, prevent a monopoly on power by any single group or individual.”[511]  It has also established that the absence of an atmosphere of respect, in which ideas contrary to the form of government can be expressed freely, violate the right to participate in government, since “free exercise of the right to participate in government also requires respect for other human rights, especially liberty and personal security.  Full exercise of freedom of expression and the rights of association and assembly are essential to having a direct role in shaping the decisions that affect the community.”[512]

 

401.          However, as has been noted, the IACHR has confirmed that those rights have been violated through a variety of measures adopted and carried out by the de facto authorities in Honduras.  The Commission observes that, given that context and the fact that the interests of the majority of the Honduran people are not represented by the de facto government which has made a mockery of the will of the people and decided to appoint itself to power, it is hard to think of the active participation of Honduran citizens in their government.

 

402.          During its visit, the Commission confirmed that the political leaders have been particularly affected by this climate of restriction and violation of rights.  Those restrictions have materialized in the form of acts of intimidation, threats, physical assaults and arbitrary detentions; some political leaders have even been victims of police and military repression during demonstrations protesting against the coup d’état.

 

403.          However, restrictions on the right to participate in government have not been confined to political leaders.  In fact, they extend to and are prejudicial to the better part of the Honduran population.  Participation in demonstrations, statements against the coup made by way of the media or the resistance actions –such as the teachers’ strike- have drawn a disproportionate reaction on the part of the de facto authorities, carried out for the purpose of silencing public opinion.  The Commission observes that this policy of intolerance and repression limits Honduran society’s right to political participation because its goal is to silence the criticism that arose in response to the illegitimate government’s takeover and in so doing eliminates any type of political opposition by creating a climate of insecurity and terror.

 

404.          The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has indicated that “[i]t is essential that the State should generate the optimum conditions and mechanisms to ensure that these political rights can be exercised effectively, respecting the principles of equality and non-discrimination.”[513]

 

405.          Nevertheless, the Commission confirmed that the de facto authorities have not respected the principle of equality in the exercise and enjoyment of political rights in general, and the right to participate in government in particular.  The Commission observes that, in a blatant display of discrimination, the coercive measures have specifically targeted the political opposition.  By contrast, the IACHR observed that the demonstrations, campaigns and any type of expression in favor of the coup d’état have been conducted in an atmosphere of security and calm.  For example, the security forces did not engage in any act of violence at any of the “manifestaciones blancas.”[514]

 

406.          In view of the foregoing, the Commission concludes that since the coup d’état the inhabitants of Honduras have not enjoyed the guarantees essential for them to exercise their political rights freely.

 

F.         Right to Freedom of Expression

 

407.          Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights provides that

 

[e]veryone has the right to freedom of thought and expression. This right includes freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, in print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of one's choice.

          It adds that exercise of this right

 

.. shall not be subject to prior censorship but shall be subject to subsequent imposition of liability, which shall be expressly established by law to the extent necessary to ensure: a. respect for the rights or reputations of others; or b. the protection of national security, public order, or public health or morals.

 

          It also states that

 

[t]he right of expression may not be restricted by indirect methods or means, such as the abuse of government or private controls over newsprint, radio broadcasting frequencies, or equipment used in the dissemination of information, or by any other means tending to impede the communication and circulation of ideas and opinions.” It adds that “[a]ny propaganda for war and any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitute incitements to lawless violence or to any other similar action against any person or group of persons on any grounds including those of race, color, religion, language, or national origin shall be considered as offenses punishable by law.

 

408.          Principle 5 of the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression states that prior censorship, direct or indirect interference in or pressure exerted upon any expression, opinion or information transmitted through any means of oral, written, artistic, visual or electronic communication must be prohibited by law. Under this principle, “restrictions to the free circulation of ideas and opinions, as well as the arbitrary imposition of information and the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of information violate the right to freedom of expression.” Principle 13 of the Inter-American Declaration states that the media have the right to practice their profession independently. Direct or indirect pressures exerted upon journalists or other social communicators to stifle the dissemination of information are incompatible with freedom of expression.

 

409.          The Constitution of Honduras recognizes the right to freedom of expression in Article 72, which provides that “The expression of thought and opinion by any means of dissemination shall be free and uncensored.  Those who abuse this right shall answer to the law, as shall those who, by direct or indirect means, restrict or impede communication and the free flow of ideas and opinions.” Article 73 of the Constitution provides that printing presses, radio and television stations and any other means of dissemination of thought and opinion and all their equipment “shall not be taken out of commission,  confiscated,  closed, or have their business interrupted for a crime or failure to report, notwithstanding any liabilities that may thereby have been incurred under the law.  No business engaged in reporting news and opinions may be subsidized by a foreign government or foreign political party.  The law shall prescribe the penalties for violation of this clause.  The executive offices of print media, radio and television, and the intellectual, political and administrative management of them shall be performed by persons who are Hondurans by birth.”  Article 74 of the Constitution provides that “the right to express thoughts and opinions shall not be restricted through indirect means such as abuse of official or private control of the material used to print newspapers and the frequencies, tools or apparatuses used in broadcasting.” Article 75 adds that “The law regulating expression of thought may provide for prior censorship for the purpose of protecting the ethical and cultural values of society, and the rights of persons, especially children, adolescents and youth.  The law shall regulate commercial advertising of alcoholic beverages and tobacco consumption.” 

 

410.             For its part, the jurisprudence constante of the Inter-American Court has underscored the importance of freedom of expression:

 

Freedom of expression is a cornerstone upon which the very existence of a democratic society rests. It is indispensable for the formation of public opinion. It is also a condition sine qua non for the development of political parties, trade unions, scientific and cultural societies and, in general, those who wish to influence the public. It represents, in short, the means that enable the community, when exercising its options, to be sufficiently informed. Consequently, it can be said that a society that is not well informed is not a society that is truly free.[515]

 

411.          The Commission has received information about situations that have occurred since the coup d’état that constitute serious violations of the right to freedom of expression. During the Commission’s on-site visit, it confirmed that on June 28 a number of media outlets –especially television and radio stations- were forced to suspend broadcasts when the military took over their facilities, when technical problems like blackouts occurred, and when relay stations and transmitters were seized, which meant that they were unable to report what was happening.  The Commission also learned that various cable television channels were taken off air.  Broadcasting of television programs whose editorial leaning was critical of the coup d’état was suspended. Other methods of controlling information included calls made by various high-ranking officials, especially members of the forces of law and order, suggesting that it would be inadvisable to broadcast or print news or opinions against the de facto government.  While broadcasting, reporters were assaulted and detained and their equipment destroyed.  Private citizens also launched violent attacks and made death threats against the media.

 

412.          The IACHR has been able to confirm that after the coup d’état, the media became polarized.  Because of problems in their institutional structure, the government-owned media are not independent of the Executive Branch and as a result are openly biased in favor of the de facto government.  Reporters, journalists and the media that are perceived as being supportive of the de facto government have become targets of sharp attacks, presumably from those who oppose the coup d’état. Other media outlets that are perceived as encouraging the resistance movement have had their ability to report affected by agents of the State and by private citizens who are restricting their reporting.  In this highly polarized atmosphere, few media outlets have made public commitments to civilian organizations to report the news from all sides, without letting editorial positions influence their reporting.  However, reporting the news freely and without interference is no easy task, as the de facto government has powerful tools it can use to exert influence and intimidate.  These may be employed openly or under cover, under the pretext of enforcement of pre-existing laws.  On the other hand, threats and violent attacks by private citizens have also made the practice of journalism very difficult.

 

1.         Broadcasting Shutdowns or Interruptions

 

413.          The Commission was told that a number of channels were taken off the air on the morning of June 28.  Military troops took over the broadcasting antennas and cut electrical power.  Cable channels were ordered to block the signals from international channels and various radio stations were militarized.  These were just some of the abuses committed against freedom of the press.

 

            a.         Television Channels

 

414.          According to the information the Commission received, on June 28 military personnel occupied the broadcast antenna facilities of various radio and television channels in the Cerro de Canta Gallo district of Tegucigalpa and for a number of hours prevented the transmitters from going online.  The transmission towers for Channel 5, Channel 3, Channel 57, Channel 8, Channel 33, Channel 36, Channel 30, Channel 54 and Channel 11 are all in that area.  This measure, combined with the repeated power outages, made it difficult for these channels to transmit a signal.[516]

 

415.          For its part, Channel 8, which belongs to the State, stopped broadcasting its signal on June 28, according to what its former editor, Héctor Orlando Amador Zúñiga[517] told the Commission.  Some days thereafter, it started broadcasting again, but the entire staff and all the programming –including the advertising- had been substantially overhauled, presumably to reflect the de facto government’s views.[518].

 

416.          Channel 36, whose editorial line was supportive of President Zelaya’s administration, was also occupied by members of the armed forces on June 28 and went off the air.  According to reports, soldiers also took over the channel’s antenna and broadcasting equipment, located on Cerro de Canta Gallo in Tegucigalpa. On July 4, the channel was back on the air, after the military authorities returned it to its owner, Esdras Amado López.[519]  A communication sent by the de facto government in response to a July 3 request for information from the Commission, and received on July 10, stated the following about this case: “The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights took various measures to get that channel back on the air, which finally happened on Saturday, July 4.  That day, Channel 36 resumed normal broadcasting.”[520]

 

417.          According to the information compiled by the Commission, Maya Channel 66 was also ordered to stop broadcasting, although its signal was restored on June 29.  Eduardo Maldonado, who hosts the program “Hable como Habla” on Channel 66, told the Commission that on June 28 the Head of the Joint Chiefs, General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez, had called him by phone and told him that he should stay off the air.[521]

 

418.          The signals of privately-owned channels 6 and 11 were interrupted on June 28, according to complaints received by the Commission during its on-site visit.  The two channels resumed broadcasting and are back on the air, but there are complaints that they are up against restrictions in terms of what they can say and the views they can express regarding the events, especially when they report news related to President Manuel Zelaya.  Nancy John, news coordinator at Channel 11, told the Commission that on the day of the coup “we began to receive phone calls from CONATEL telling us to take CNN in Spanish and TeleSUR off the air.  We did establish links with them to be able to report the news that they had, because they had more access; however, we were told that we couldn’t.[522]

 

419.          In the department of Colón, at least two channels were forced to stop broadcasting for a number of days.  This happened in the case of Channel La Cumbre and Televisora de Aguán, Channel 5. Nahúm Palacios, managing editor of Channel 5, told the Commission that on June 28, “a number of members of the Armed Forces came into the station” and “they forced the channel to stop broadcasting.”[523]

 

420.          Early on the morning of September 28, the forces of law and order searched and seized broadcasting equipment at Channel 36 and Radio Globo.  This was shortly after the de facto government approved executive decree PCM-M-016-2009.[524]

 

421.          On October 20, the de facto government’s Foreign Office sent the Commission a communication in response to a request that the Commission had sent on October 6 seeking information.  The de facto government’s reply states that “with regard to the closing of Channel 36 and Radio Globo, the Commission is advised that these media outlets were closed pursuant to the instructions given in resolutions OD-019/09 and OD-018/09, which were issued by CONATEL pursuant to Executive Decree PCM-M-016-2009; those instructions designate the First Communications Battalion, based in Las Mesas, Department of Francisco Morazán, as the repository of all transmitting equipment, relays and antennas confiscated in the operation.” In its response, the de facto government added the following:  “Inasmuch as the above-mentioned Executive Decree was revoked by Executive Decree PCM-M-020-2009, both Channel 36 and Radio Globo are currently operating normally.  The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights has opened investigations into these cases”.[525]

 

          b.       Signal Blocking

 

422.          Apart from these situations, during its on-site visit the Commission confirmed that the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) had instructed cable television companies to either directly or indirectly take the international news broadcasts by CNN in Spanish, TeleSUR, Cubavisión Internacional, Guatevisión, Ticavisión, and others off the air.[526]

 

423.          However, during the Commission’s meeting with the board of CONATEL on August 18 in Tegucigalpa the directors denied having given any order to have the signals of the international news channels blocked; they even said that they watched –from their own homes- the broadcasts by CNN in Spanish and TeleSUR.[527]

 

424.          The chairman of CONATEL, Miguel A. Rodas, said that he had no “knowledge” of what happened on June 28, because he did not become chairman of CONATEL until five days after President Zelaya was deposed. “We don’t know anything.  No order has been given since July 3 to take the cable channels off the air”, Rodas asserted.[528]

 

425.          In his response to the Commission’s preliminary report on its on-site visit,[529] the National Commissioner for Human Rights (CONADEH), Ramón Custodio López, said that it was “true” that CONATEL instructed cable television providers to directly or indirectly take the international channels or domestic programs carried by local channels off the air.[530]

 

426.          In the meantime, Nancy John, a journalist with Channel 11, told the Commission that on June 28, “we started receiving phone calls from CONATEL to take CNN and TeleSUR off the air”.  She also said that in these phone calls, they were also told, “Please cut off CNN and TeleSUR.” She said that their argument was that “they wanted to avert more acts of violence, which was why they didn’t want the images of the people in the streets to be seen.”[531]

 

            c.         Radio

 

427.          Other media outlets were also taken over or surrounded by security forces on the date of the coup d’état. According to the information received, on the morning of June 28, Army troopers were said to have gone to the facilities of Radio Progreso in the city of El Progress, department of Yoro, and reportedly ordered the station personnel to shut down all the transmitting equipment and go home.  Given the display of force, the managing editors of the radio station and its staff allegedly decided to follow orders, which is why Radio Progreso was not broadcasting that day.  According to this information, the following day, June 29, the employees returned to the station, by which time the Army troops had apparently left the premises.  That day, the station broadcast normally.  However, on June 30, precautionary measures were requested from the Inter-American Commission because of the fear that the safety of the news crew had been compromised.  Shortly thereafter, the station started broadcasting its signal again.

 

428.          In his testimony to the IACHR, Radio Progreso journalist José Peraza recounted the moment when the military entered and took over the station.[532]

 

429.          In a communication from the de facto government received at the Commission on July 10, the following is written about Israel Moreno, journalist and managing editor of Radio Progreso:  “He complained that the station’s signal had been suspended; it was restored and an investigation is in progress.” As with so many of the situations involving issues related to freedom of expression and about which the Commission requested information, this communication said the following:  “The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding those complaints.”[533]

 

430.          Reports were also received to the effect that the following members of the journalist staff and members of Radio Progreso and the Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (ERIC) t Ministries’ Team of Reflection, Research and Communication [Radio Progreso and the Jesuit Ministries’ Team of Reflection, Research and Communication] had allegedly received threats via their cell phones and monitors: Rita Santa María, María Elena Cubillo, Lolany Pérez, Rommel Gómez, José Peraza, Lesly Banegas, Gerardo Chevez, Karla Rivas, Féliz Antonio Molina and Elvín Fernaly Hernández[534].

 

431.          The Managing Editor of Radio Globo, David Ellner Romero, reported that on June 28, the station was surrounded by Army troops for more than two hours, until they finally decided to take over the station.  In his testimony to the IACHR Romero recounted that on June 28, he arrived at the station at around 5:30 a.m.: “There were around 40 soldiers surrounding it.” Romero said he received a call from an Armed Forces spokesperson at 8:00 a.m. who “told me I was making a big mistake by saying that there had been a coup d’état, because this was a handover of power.” “But I hung up on them and at 10:00 a.m. they came looking for me at the building from which I was broadcasting.  I recalled then that in the 1980s I had been ‘disappeared’ for 6 days.” Romero added, “With that thought in mind, I jumped from the third floor.”[535]  That afternoon, the soldiers allegedly entered the station and took the reporters off the air.  They were broadcasting live at the time.  According to the information received, reporters Alejandro Villatoro, Lidieth Díaz, Rony Martínez, Franklin Mejía, David Ellner Romero and Orlando Villatoro had allegedly been roughed up and threatened.  The station was off the air for a number of hours, and then started broadcasting again, but with restrictions.  Some of the information about the station’s situation appeared in a letter that Ellner Romero published on a Web page.[536]

 

432.          In the communication from the de facto government, which the Commission received on July 10, the following is stated:  “Concerning these complaints, the Office of the Special Prosecutor employed its best efforts in having the signal of Radio Globo restored and to get the Maya TV program “Hable como Habla” back on the air.  Radio Globo re-started broadcasting last week.”[537]

 

433.          According to information that the Commission received, the executives at Radio Globo had allegedly obtained a copy of the petition filed on August 3 with CONATEL by attorney José Santos López Oviedo, who has his office in the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces.  In this petition, the attorney “requests suspension of one media outlet, because it is being used to commit sedition by inciting insurrection, thereby endangering the lives of private citizens.”[538]  According to information received, the complaint is based on the fact that Radio Globo had allegedly broadcast a message from human rights activist Andrés Pavón, who had allegedly called for a popular uprising.

 

434.          During the meeting between the Commission and the board of CONATEL in Tegucigalpa on August 18, the Chairman of CONATEL, Mr. Miguel A. Rodas, supplied a copy of the ruling that had declared the complaint against Radio Globo “inadmissible” “on the grounds that CONATEL’s authority and functions do not grant the power to investigate or punish alleged crimes; by law, that authority belongs exclusively to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Courts of the Republic, respectively.[539]

 

435.          On August 6, the managing editor of the station, David Romero Ellner, told the IACHR that he had received a phone call from a spokesman for the military chiefs emphasizing that the Armed Forces were not behind the petition and that it was attorney López’ personal initiative.[540]

 

436.          Early on the morning of June 28, Radio Juticalpa in the department of Olancho was strafed by machinegun fire.  The bullets struck the walls and windows of the broadcast booths. The incident was reported to the delegate of the Olancho Commissioner of Human Rights and to the Police, but there was allegedly no response.  The owner of the station, Martha Elena Rubí, told the Commission that on the morning of June 28, a military contingent had come to the station and forced her to close it down.  The military occupation of the station lasted until 7:00 p.m.  Rubí and her children immediately started to receive death threats over their cell phones.  Rubí told the Commission that the officers in charge of the operation refused to give her their names and told her that when she tells the Judge Advocate General what happened, “say that it was the Army.”[541]

 

437.          Also on June 28, military personnel tried to shut down Radio Marcala in Marcala, department of La Paz.  At the time, it was the only station transmitting the events.  According to the information received, locals who allegedly heard what was happening, came to the radio station and refused to allow it to be shut down. Suyapa Banegas, a journalist with Radio Marcala, told the IACHR that “on the day of the coup d’état, when the troops showed up at the radio station we announced it on the air and the people planted themselves outside the station,” thereby preventing it from being taken over.[542]

 

438.          On October 6, the Commission requested information from the de facto government concerning the serious threats and acts of harassment that community and commercial radio stations were said to have experienced. In its response, dated October 20, the de facto government indicated the following: 

 

Apropos the threats and acts of harassment supposedly experienced by Radio Faluna Binetu (Radio Coco Dulce), Radio Durugubuti (Radio San Juan), Radio Lafuru Garabali (Radio Buenos Aires), Radio Stereo Celaque in the Municipality of Tomalá (Department of Lempira), Radio Estereo Lenca of Valladolid (Puerto Lempira), Revista Vida Laboral, Radio Orquídea serving the community of Guadalupe Carney (Department of Colón), Radio Gaurajambala (Department of Intibuca), Radio La Voz Lenca of the Municipality of San Francisco (Department of Lempira), Radio Márcala (Department of La Paz), Defensores en línea.com and the radio program Voces contra el Olvido, which is a broadcast of the Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), Radio Progreso of the Society of Jesus, and Radio Uno, the Commission is hereby advised that the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation has been instructed to conduct all the necessary investigations to clarify the facts being alleged; however, those who consider themselves to have been aggrieved are urged to file the corresponding complaints with the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which has offices nationwide.  The Commission is also advised that the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights has issued instructions to the competent regional prosecutor’s offices to look into the situations being alleged and, where appropriate, open investigative case files.  Concerning Radio Progreso, the Commission is again advised that a request has been filed by the Public Prosecutor seeking indictment of personnel from the La Lima Air Base in the department of Cortés; as an update, the Judge presiding over case has decided to apply 4 of the 5 precautionary measures requested by the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights against Lieutenant Colonel Hilmer Enrique Hermida Álvarez and Lieutenant Dennis Mauricio Valdez Rodas, who have been prohibited from leaving the country, visiting the facilities of Radio Progreso and communicating with the station’s personnel; they have also been ordered to make a weekly court appearance.  The initial hearing has been set for November 16 of this year.[543]

 

            d.         Impact on the Print Media

 

439.          The staff of the newspaper Poder Ciudadano, established as the official newspaper of the administration of President Zelaya, was dismissed a few days after the coup.[544]  On July 14, René Zelaya, Minister of Communications and Press of the de facto government, delivered a message to Lic. Mercedes Barahona, the editor of the newspaper, which read as follows:  “On orders from the Office of the General Manager of the Presidential Residence and due to budgetary cuts, you are hereby respectfully notified that as of this date, all staff members working on what was once the ‘Poder Ciudadano’ newspaper are hereby discharged.”[545]

 

440.          In connection with these events, the Commission is compelled to point out that under Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of thought and expression. This right includes freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, in print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of one's choice.”  Article 13 also provides that “[t]he right of expression may not be restricted by indirect methods or means, such as the abuse of government or private controls over newsprint, radio broadcasting frequencies, or equipment used in the dissemination of information, or by any other means tending to impede the communication and circulation of ideas and opinions.

 

441.          Furthermore, Principle 5 of the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression states that “[p]rior censorship, direct or indirect interference in or pressure exerted upon any expression, opinion or information transmitted through any means of oral, written, artistic, visual or electronic communication must be prohibited by law. Restrictions to the free circulation of ideas and opinions, as well as the arbitrary imposition of information and the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of information violate the right to freedom of expression.”  Principle 13 states that “[t]he means of communication have the right to carry out their role in an independent manner. Direct or indirect pressures exerted upon journalists or other social communicators to stifle the dissemination of information are incompatible with freedom of expression.”

 

            2.         Blackouts

 

442.          On the morning of June 28, there was a generalized blackout that lasted for over two hours.  According to the complaints received by the Commission during its visit, a number of intermittent blackouts followed for the rest of the day.  The power cuts prevented radio and television broadcasts.  Among the affected areas were those in which the transmission towers were located.  The outages also affected landline and cellular telephone services.[546]

 

443.          Dagoberto Rodríguez, managing editor of Radio Cadena Voces, confirmed the complaints of electrical power being cut off.[547] Nancy John, news coordinator at Channel 11, also confirmed for the Commission the complaints concerning the incidents in which electrical power was cut.[548]

 

444.          For her part, Suyapa Banegas, on the staff of Marcala alternative radio in the department of La Paz, said that on the day of the coup, broadcasters on commercial radio stations that supported the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya could be heard saying “Nothing is happening here.” They asked the public “not to leave home” because “everything” was “normal”.[549]

 

445.          However, at the meeting that the Commission had with CONATEL’s board, Miguel A. Rodas, chairman of CONATEL –which is in charge of regulating telecommunications- assured the Commission that he had no information as to whether the power outages were intentional.  Rodas said the following: “What I can tell you is that electricity supply in Honduras is very unstable”.  By way of example he pointed out that “TIGO,” a cell phone company, has “100 percent of its towers operating on generators.”[550]

 

446.          The Commission also received information to the effect that a series of intermittent outages that began in Tegucigalpa on September 21, affected transmission by Channel 36 and Radio Globo.  The IACHR also received information to the effect that on September 21, military troops took over the Tegucigalpa electric power plant, which is the plant that controls electric power transmission to the Tegucigalpa region.[551]

 

            3.         Detention of Journalists

 

447.          The Commission received reports to the effect that a number of journalists were detained for several hours for reasons associated with the practice of their profession.  According to this information, on June 29, some 10 soldiers detained a group of journalists working for the foreign media at their hotel in Tegucigalpa.  Among those detained were the following: Adriana Sivori, with TeleSUR, and the members of the crew working for the same channel, María José García and Larry Sánchez; Nicolás García and Esteban Félix, who were working for the Associated Press (AP), and two others also working for AP.  According to various reports, the journalists were said to have been taken to an immigration office where they were allegedly questioned about their visas to work in the country.  Other reports indicated that the military had allegedly confiscated the work material of the TeleSUR journalists.  All were released some hours later.[552]  The TeleSUR journalist, Madeleine García, told the IACHR that on Monday, June 29, they were transmitting “live” from the 12th floor of the Hotel Marriot, a vantage point that allowed them to film “everything that was happening” on the streets below, located in the vicinity of the Presidential Residence, where sympathizers of President Manuel Zelaya were gathered, “pleading for his return.” García said that at around midnight, she received a call from the authorities of the de facto regime in which they warned her that the authorities were about to arrest them.[553]

 

448.          As with the other situations involving issues of freedom of expression and about which the IACHR requested information, the communication received from the de facto government said the following about this case:  “The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights is currently investigating the circumstances under which the events in these complaints transpired.”[554]

 

449.          Caricaturist Allan McDonald was detained together with his 17-month-old daughter.  According to the complaint, the caricaturist “reported from a hotel, where he was being held in custody along with the Consul of the Republic of Venezuela and two women journalists from Spain and Chile, with whom he was not acquainted.” The caricaturist said that on June 28, members of the Armed Forces burst into his home, “ransacked” it and built a “bonfire with all his caricatures and drawing materials.”  The only thing they allowed him to take when they dragged him from his home was his passport.[555]

 

450.          The news director at Televisor de Aguán, Channel 5, Nahúm Palacios, reported that in Tocoa, department of Colón, soldiers surrounded the television station on June 29 and forcibly entered the facility, while the journalists were covering the coup d’état. The soldiers seized the broadcasting equipment and the channel went off the air.[556]

 

451.          On July 2, Mario Amaya, a photographer for the Salvadoran newspaper El Diario de Hoy, was beaten and taken into custody by soldiers as he was photographing a protest in San Pedro Sula that was being dispersed.  On June 29, the same photographer reported having been beaten by supposed demonstrators as he was covering a pro-Zelaya march.[557]

 

452.          On July 2, Rommel Gómez, a reporter from Radio Progreso, was detained by the military as he was covering a protest in San Pedro Sula’s Central Park.  The soldiers took way his work materials and took photos of his personal documents.  According to the complaints received, this was an act of intimidation.[558] Rommel Gómez and his wife, Miryam Espinal, also complained of receiving death threats on their private phones.[559]

 

453.          According to information received, on the night of July 11, police in Tegucigalpa detained members of the TeleSUR and VTV news teams and took them to police headquarters on the pretext of confirming their immigration status.  After a number of hours, the persons being held were released.  The next morning, police allegedly prevented reporters from leaving their hotels for a number of hours, on the pretext that they were waiting for the immigration authorities to arrive to check their status.  According to the information received,  journalists and members of the TeleSUR and VTV news teams were allegedly being held up as a form of intimidation, because of their coverage of the coup d’état and of the institutional rupture.  According to reports received, the crews from both channels left Honduras the next day believing that they might be in danger.  They were escorted as far as the Nicaraguan border by a delegation from the Centro para la Prevención, Tratamiento y Rehabilitación de las Víctimas de la Tortura y sus Familiares (CPTRT) [Center for the Prevention of Torture and the Treatment and Rehabilitation of its Victims and Their Families].[560]

 

454.          On August 14, a reporter from Radio Progreso, Gustavo Cardoza, was taken into custody in Choloma, in the Department of Cortés, as he was covering the violent dispersal of a group of Zelaya sympathizers.  The reporter was beaten by police and detained for a number of hours.

 

455.          In the testimony he gave to the Commission, Cardoza recounted how he was beaten by security forces as he was trying to do his reporting.[561]  At the same protest, Eduin Castillo, an independent journalist from Tela in the department of Atlántida, complained of having been beaten by the security forces.[562]

 

456.          The IACHR received information to the effect that just after 6:00 a.m. on September 22, Agustina Flores López, a teacher and broadcaster with Radio Liberada, was allegedly arrested as she was on her way to the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where President Zelaya was.  The information added that Flores López had allegedly been beaten and tortured by law enforcement personnel.  On October 6, the Commission requested information on this matter from the de facto government.  In its reply, sent October 20, the de facto government stated the following: “Concerning the complaint of the detention and alleged acts of torture committed against Mrs. Agustina Flores López, the Commission is hereby advised that the individual in question entered the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation on September 23 of this year, at 16:55 hours, together with Mr. Mario Enrique Molina Izaguirre.  She was brought in on suspicion of the crime of sedition and aggravated vandalism, at the request of Metropolitan Police Headquarters No. 1, after being brought before the Combined Court of Francisco Morazán.  When she entered police premises, Mrs. Agustina Flores López had a blow to the jaw area of the face and was therefore asked to have a dental examination; however, she did not respond.  On October 12, the hearing was held to review measures.  Judge No. 3, attorney Laura Casco, proceeded to release her on bail for one hundred thousand lempiras (the equivalent of some 5 thousand United States dollars).”

 

457.          The IACHR reiterated the provisions of Principle 5 of the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression to the effect that “[p]rior censorship, direct or indirect interference in or pressure exerted upon any expression, opinion or information transmitted through any means of oral, written, artistic, visual or electronic communication must be prohibited by law. Restrictions to the free circulation of ideas and opinions, as well as the arbitrary imposition of information and the imposition of obstacles to the free flow of information violate the right to freedom of expression.” 

 

458.          As for the violence to which reporters covering many of the events were subjected, the IACHR would point out that Principle 9 of the Inter-American Declaration of Principles warns that the “murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media violate the fundamental rights of individuals and strongly restrict freedom of expression. It is the duty of the state to prevent and investigate such occurrences, to punish their perpetrators and to ensure that victims receive due compensation.

 

            4.         Assaults on Journalists

 

459.          The IACHR received reports of serious and multiple assaults on journalists for reasons associated with their news coverage.  These assaults were perpetrated by agents of the State and by demonstrators. Information has been received on all these assaults.

 

460.          The IACHR received information to the effect that on June 29, a journalist from the newspaper El Heraldo was allegedly attacked while he was covering a demonstration in front of the Presidential House in Tegucigalpa.[563]  At least one photo-journalist from the newspaper La Tribuna, Juan Ramón Sosa, was beaten and verbally abused by police as he was covering the demonstration on June 29 in Tegucigalpa.  His camera was also confiscated.[564]  Also in Tegucigalpa, three journalists of the Channel 42 program “Entrevistado” were allegedly attacked on June 28 by a group of demonstrators who also knocked them down and destroyed their cameras.[565]

 

461.          On July 1, demonstrators presumably in support of President Zelaya, allegedly assaulted Carlos Rivera, a correspondent with Radio América in the city of Santa Rosa de Copán.  When a second journalist was assaulted at the same demonstration, the journalists present allegedly felt compelled to leave.  In the same city, Zelaya sympathizers allegedly attacked Maribel Chinchilla, the owner of Channel 34 television.[566]

 

462.          On July 25, a group of foreign journalists were allegedly assaulted by police in Danli.  According to the information received, photo-journalist Wendy Olivo, of the Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, was reportedly attacked after trying to photograph detainees at a police station.  When she refused to hand over her camera to the police, Olivo was reportedly beaten up.  Other journalists were also assaulted when they attempted to come to the photo-journalist’s rescue.[567]

 

463.          In the Department of El Paraíso on July 26 reporters from the newspaper La Tribuna reported having been assaulted by demonstrators presumably in favor of President Zelaya’s return.  According to the information received, a group of people had allegedly attempted to grab the camera belonging to photo-journalist Henry Carvajal.  When journalist Martín Rodríguez intervened, they hit him, too, calling them ‘coup supporters’.   Carvajal allegedly lost all the photographs he had taken that day.[568]

464.          On July 30, a number of journalists and cameramen were assaulted by police as they were covering the supression of the demonstration held that day in Tegucigalpa.  According to the information received, Karen Méndez, a reporter from TeleSUR, said she was pushed and threatened by a police officer, while a photographer from that same channel, Roger Guzmán, was also assaulted and his work materials taken.[569] José Oseguera and Luis Andrés Bustillo, cameramen with the Maya TV program Hable como Habla were said to have been beaten in the Durazno area, on the northern road leading out of Tegucigalpa on July 30.[570] Edgardo Castro, a journalist with Televisora Hondureña de Comayagua, was said to have been assaulted on July 30, during a demonstration in Tegucigalpa where he was filming the action the police were taking against demonstrators.  His equipment was reportedly damaged.[571]

 

465.          C-Libre reported that Juan Carlos Cruz, a journalist with the state-run Radio Nacional de Honduras, was beaten and arrested by police on July 31 because he was filming a confrontation between police and some young people who were driving a motorcycle without license plates, in a sector of Comayagüela. Cruz was held for 18 hours and his camera was not returned, even though he had identified himself as a reporter.[572]

 

466.          On August 5, Héctor Clara Cruz, photo journalist with the newspaper Tiempo, was said to have been beaten by police as he was covering a student demonstration at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH). According to reports in the newspaper Tiempo, at least two police officers beat him up to make him stop taking photographs of the clash between students and police.  The beating left him disabled for one week.  His camera equipment was also damaged.[573]

 

467.          Richard Esmith Cazulá, a cameraman with Channel 36, was said to have been beaten in Tegucigalpa on August 12, as he was filming a demonstration.  His camera was also damaged.  The reporter said that he was beaten by police.[574]

 

468.          During a demonstration on August 14, a group of police assaulted Julio Umaña and confiscated his material.  Umaña, a photographer for the newspaper Tiempo, had allegedly shown them his journalist credentials.[575]

 

469.          On September 28, Guatemalan journalists Alberto Cardona, a reporter with Guatevisión, and Rony Sánchez, a cameraman with Guatevisión and the Mexican channel Televisa, were beaten by security forces as they were covering the shutdown of Radio Globo.  The information received indicates that the security forces confiscated the video they had taken of the radio station being shut down.  Police also damaged the television camera.[576]

 

470.          The IACHR received information to the effect that in the municipality of El Progreso, department of Yoro, Dunia Montoya, wife of journalist Bartolo Antonio Fuentes, was allegedly assaulted as she was filming her husband being taken into custody on September 15.  On October 6, the IACHR requested information on this case from the de facto government.  In its reply, dated October 20, the de facto government maintained that it “has no information whatever concerning the assault allegedly suffered by Mrs. Dunia Montoya.”[577]

 

471.          The Commission also received information to the effect that on September 28, Delmer Alberto Membreño Aguilar, graphics editor with the newspaper El Libertador, had reportedly been abducted and assaulted for a number of hours by four individuals wearing ski masks.  The Commission requested information on this case from the de facto government on October 6.  Its reply, dated October 20, reads as follows:  “Concerning the alleged abduction of Mr. Delmer Alberto Membreño Aguilar, Graphics Editor with the newspaper El Libertador, the Commission is hereby informed that neither the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation nor the Public Prosecutor’s Office has any record of this episode; nevertheless, instructions have been issued to have the matter investigated.”[578]

 

            5.         Violent Attacks on the Media

 

472.          The IACHR has observed the increasing polarization between sectors of the press, the de facto government and the opposition, which has manifested itself in a variety of ways, including violent attacks on the media.

 

473.          The San Pedro Sula newspaper La Prensa reported having been the target of an attack on June 29, in Tegucigalpa, when a group of demonstrators threw stones and sticks against the entrance to the newspaper office.[579] Radio América was also allegedly attacked on the night of June 30.  According to the information received, a bomb was placed on the premises of the radio station in Tegucigalpa, after the curfew came into effect.  Police removed the device.  According to the complaints received the radio was off the air for the time it took to remove the device.[580]

 

474.          On the night of July 4, an unidentified person reportedly left an explosive device in the Centro Comercial Prisa in Tegucigalpa, where the facilities of Channel 11 and the newspaper Tiempo are located.[581]

 

475.          Early on the morning of August 14, hooded individuals carrying weapons set fire to a vehicle that distributed copies of the newspaper La Tribuna, in an area known as Las Vueltas del Junquillo, on the outskirts of the city of Juticalpa. “The criminals stopped the green Nissan Frontier, driven by José Giovanni Fonseca Contreras, 30, tied him up, blindfolded him, threw him out of the vehicle, and finally set fire to the vehicle,” wrote the newspaper El Heraldo when reporting the attack in its Saturday, August 15 edition.[582]

 

476.          The following day, unidentified persons threw Molotov cocktails against the building that houses the newspaper El Heraldo.  In his testimony to the IACHR, the deputy editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Carlos Mauricio Flores, mentioned the damage caused by the Molotov cocktails.[583]

 

477.          Executives at Channel 36 and Radio Globo reported that on Sunday night, August 23, a group of hooded individuals attacked their transmission towers on Cerro de Canta Gallo, taking both stations off the air for several hours.[584]

 

478.          Concerning this string of serious assaults and attacks, the Commission recalls that Principle 9 of the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression states that “murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media violate the fundamental rights of individuals and strongly restrict freedom of expression. It is the duty of the state to prevent and investigate such occurrences, to punish their perpetrators and to ensure that victims receive due compensation.

 

6.         Threats and other Forms of Intimidation

 

479.          Threats and other forms intimidation have been used to obstruct the work of journalists.  Since June 28 the Commission has received a number of complaints that single out the police and supporters of President Zelaya as engaging in these threats and intimidation tactics.

 

480.          Indeed, the threats have come from a variety of sources and have been made by telephone, electronically or in person, while reporters are covering demonstrations or newsworthy events related to the political crisis.  The Commission observed that during its visit in the last weeks of August, the threats against freedom of the press had increased.

 

481.          TeleSUR reported that journalist Madeleine García had received phone threats from a person who allegedly identified himself as a military officer.  This person had reportedly warned the journalist to stop reporting on the protests in support of President Zelaya.[585]

 

482.          For his part, the managing editor of Radio Cadena Voces, Dagoberto Rodríguez, reported that on June 29 he received three phone calls, supposedly from groups identified with the Zelaya government, in which threats were made against his radio station in Tegucigalpa. Rodríguez filed a complaint with the IACHR to the effect that supporters of President Zelaya had threatened a number of journalists from Radio Cadena Voces during the protests against the de facto government.[586]

 

483.          Other reports indicated that journalist Eduardo Maldonado, who aided Zelaya on the consultation that the administration was planning and who hosts the program “Hable como Habla” on Channel 66 Maya, had allegedly received threats and sought protection at an embassy.[587]

 

484.          On July 2, journalist Jorge Otts Anderson filed a complaint from Bonito Oriental in the department of Colón, where he had to go into hiding because soldiers were looking for him to take away his camera.  In a telephone conversation with the IACHR on July 15, Otts explained that channel La Cumbre, which he owns, had been shut down for several days.[588]

 

485.          Héctor Castellanos, who directs the program “El consultorio del Médico” [The Doctor’s Office] on Radio Globo said he had received death threats.[589]  In an e-mail to the IACHR, Castellanos explained that after expressing his opinion on the current political situation in Honduras, he began receiving text messages and e-mails containing threats, as well as threatening phone calls from persons he supposes were supporters of President Zelaya. Castellanos said that he stopped broadcasting his radio program, since on at least two occasions he had been the target of an attempted assault for not being a supporter of President Zelaya.[590]

 

486.          Before the coup d’état, Jhonny Lagos, editor of the newspaper El Libertador, was threatened with jail and a fine for having asked his readers whether they were for or against the consultation proposed by President Zelaya.  According to the information received, the reporter complained that after June 28 he was under constant surveillance and was constantly being followed in Tegucigalpa and that they had cut off the electricity supply to his newspaper and its internet access. The Center for Justice and International Law reported that since July 10, the newspaper’s offices had been under police guard. Lagos complained about the situation at a press conference held on July 15 at COFADEH’s offices in Tegucigalpa.[591]

 

487.          Information was received to the effect that José Luis Galdámez Álvarez, director of the program “Tras la Verdad” [Pursuing the Truth] on Radio Globo, had come out against the coup, after which he was allegedly subjected to various acts of intimidation, such as surveillance of his home and direct threats made to his children at gunpoint by unidentified persons because of their father’s political position.[592]

 

488.          On July 21, Andrés Molina, a broadcaster on Radio Juticalpa, reported that telephone threats against journalists in the Olancho region who expressed views in opposition to the de facto government continued.  He said that the previous day, he had himself received a phone call threatening him if he continued to speak on the radio.[593]

 

489.          On August 11, Rosangela Soto, a journalist with Televicentro, complained of having been threatened by demonstrators in Tegucigalpa, as a protest against the coup d’état was coming to an end.[594]

 

490.          Consistent with the pattern of intimidation, the IACHR was also told that soldiers were asking media outlets like Channel 11 and the newspaper Tiempo, to stop reporting on the opposition.  A similar request was made of the journalists in Tocoa, Colón, two days after the coup.

 

491.          The Commission received information to the effect that on September 23, Raquel Isaula, coordinator of the Red de Desarrollo Sostenible (RDS) Sustainable Development Network [Sustainable Development Network] had allegedly been persecuted for reasons having to do with her work.  According to the information received, Isaula had allegedly been visited by CONATEL representatives who asked that the Network suspend all registration of Honduran domain names and that she turns over the lists and databases of the existing “hn” (Honduran) domain names.  The information received went on to say that Isaula had allegedly received a number of threatening messages on her cell phone.  The Commission requested information on this matter from the de facto government, which on October 20 replied as follows:  “Concerning the situation of Mrs. Raquel Isaula, Coordinator of the Red de Desarrollo Sostenible (RDS) [Sustainable Development Network], the Commission understands that the National Police have no knowledge of these events, since the alleged victim did not file a complaint; a review of the files of complaints presented to the Offices of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, as well as the files of other regional prosecutors’ offices recorded no complaint filed by a person of that name (…)  As for the Inspection Visit that CONATEL authorities made to the Sustainable Development Network-Honduras (RDS-HN), the Commission is advised that under the General Regulations of the Telecommunications Sector Framework Law (in force since December 2002), specifically Article 79B thereof, CONATEL has the authority to regulate and manage domain names and IP addresses within the national territory. It also provides that CONATEL may take the measures necessary to ensure that the administration of domain names and IP addresses through other public or private institutions, for which purpose agreements shall be signed and the corresponding regulations issued.”[595]

 

492.          The acts of aggression described earlier and the threats mentioned in this section are attributed both to the de facto government and to alleged members of the opposition, and illustrate how very polarized Honduran society is at the present time.

 

493.          Once again, the Commission recalls the provisions of principle 9 of the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, which states that “murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media violate the fundamental rights of individuals and strongly restrict freedom of expression. It is the duty of the state to prevent and investigate such occurrences, to punish their perpetrators and to ensure that victims receive due compensation.”

 

            7.         Other Abuses

 

494.          The Commission also received a number of complaints related to the suspension of programs whose editorial leaning was against the coup d’état, restriction of official advertising on media outlets not sympathetic to the de facto government or a temporary ban on journalists’ access to Government House.

 

495.          On July 11, the program “Tiempos de Hablar,” carried over Radio Cadena Voces and hosted by journalist Daisy Flores, was allegedly cut off on the morning when Flores asked the panelists for their opinion of the coup d’état. According to the information received, the management of the radio station had reportedly told her that they had no explanation for the cut-off.  Hours later, when she was about to go on air again in connection with the program “La Bullaranga,” which is a production of the Centro de Estudios de la Mujer de Honduras [Honduran Women’s Studies Center], the broadcast was interrupted again.[596]

 

496.          Information was also received to the effect that the program “Voces contra el Olvido” [Lest We Forget], a production of the Comité de Familiares de Detenidos y Desaparecidos en Honduras  [Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras] broadcast by contract on Radio América, was taken off the air in mid July.  According to this information, the radio station’s management had allegedly informed the Committee that the program would be off the air until further notice, “given the situation in the country.” Bertha Oliva, one of the program’s hosts, told the IACHR that on July 11 they told her that they would not take the program off the air “without giving her an explanation.” Oliva told the Commission that on Friday, July 10, they called her and told her that the program was being suspended.[597]

 

497.          On July 15, broadcaster Allan Adális Martínez complained that he was being dismissed for describing the de facto government as “golpista” on his radio show “Libre Expresión” on Radio Alegre, in Tocoa, Colón.  According to Martínez, the owner of the station, where Martínez had worked for 13 years, had told him that some broadcasters would be discharged from the station for expressing views of that type.[598]

 

498.          In the meantime, Esdras López at Channel 36 and Radio la Catracha, and Eduardo Maldonado on Maya TV, complained that the de facto government had brought pressure to bear on private businesses to cancel advertising on their programs and media outlets.[599]

 

499.          Information was also received to the effect that on July 13, a journalist from Radio Globo, Liliet Díaz, was denied entry to Government House, even though she had been given the credentials to enter more than a year earlier.[600]

 

500.          On August 10, journalist Ivis Alvarado and cameraman Alejandro Fiallos, both from Channel 36 and accredited to the Presidential Residence, were not allowed to enter the presidential office “on orders from above.” The two members of the Channel 36 crew and the channel’s managing director, Esdras López Amado, lodged a complaint with the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights.  The latter reportedly sent its prosecutors to investigate the situation, and they, too, were denied entry to the Presidential Residence.  According to López Amado, other media outlets were given access to the Presidential Residence. This was the first time that members of the channel’s news crew had been unable to enter a State office to perform their job.  The Presidential Residence lifted the suspension two days later.[601]

 

501.          Journalist Pedro Antonio Noriega Nieto, host of the program “Noticias en línea” on Channel 51, told the Commission that officials of the television channel had removed his program on August 19 “because of pressure from above,” an allusion to the de facto government.[602]

 

502.          In the meantime, on September 16, Channel 36 complained that its television signal was being sabotaged by order of the de facto government.  In a news item broadcast on several occasions on the program “Así se informa” on that channel, the executive branch headed by Mr. Micheletti, CONATEL and the Honduran Telecommunications Company (HONDUTEL) were all blamed for the interruptions.[603].

 

503.          On September 22 and October 7, the de facto government of Honduras published in the Official Gazette, two executive decrees containing provisions disproportionately restricting the right to freedom of expression.

 

504.          On September 22, the de facto government issued Executive Decree PCM-M-016-2009, which was published in the Official Gazette of September 26.  This decree, inter alia, suspended the constitutional right to freedom of expression by prohibiting any publication that “offends human dignity or the dignity of public officials, or that violates the law and government decisions.” The decree authorized the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) to use the forces of law and order to interrupt broadcasting by any radio station, television channel or cable system that in its judgment was in violation of the aforesaid prohibitions.  Enforcing that decree, in the early hours of September 28, the security forces proceeded to search and confiscate the broadcasting equipment at television Channel 36 and Radio Globo.  Both media outlets had been critical of the de facto government.  The decree was nullified subsequent to its announcement, on Monday October 19.

 

505.          On October 7, the de facto government published Executive Decision 124-2009 in the Official Gazette.  Under that decision, “in order to protect national security for the sake of the overriding interests of the Nation, and to defend the rights and physical and moral integrity of the human person,”   “CONATEL and other competent organs of the State”  were ordered to “revoke the permits and operating licenses that CONATEL granted to operators of radio and television stations that broadcast messages that seek to justify hatred against the nation and violation of protected rights and claims, and that defend a system of social anarchy as opposed to a democratic State and in so doing violate social peace and human rights.”

 

506.          The IACHR was informed that on October 16, the executives at Radio Cadena Voces allegedly cancelled three women’s programs: “Aquí entre Chonas”, produced by the Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz Visitación Padilla [Visitation Padilla Women’s Pro-Peace Movement], “Tiempo de Hablar” produced by the Centro de Derechos de Mujeres [Women’s Rights Center] (CDM) and “La Bullaranga” produced by the Centro de Estudios de la Mujer Honduras [Honduran Women’s Studies Center] (CEM-H).  It did so on the grounds that it feared the de facto government would take away its license, in application of Executive Decision 124-2009.[604]

 

507.          In response to complaints the Commission has received since June 28 alleging threats to physical integrity, the Commission has granted precautionary measures on behalf of dozens of journalists in private and alternative or local media, located both in Tegucigalpa and elsewhere in Honduras.

 

            8.         Journalistic Ethics

 

508.          The Commission has been told by a number of sources that various media outlets may have manipulated the news, thereby preventing the Honduran public from receiving enough information, presented from all sides, about the situation that the country is experiencing. The IACHR recalls that at times of political crisis like the one Honduras is now experiencing, it is more important than ever that the exchange of ideas be as prolific as possible, which presupposes a well-informed society.  In this context the separation of the editorial line from the news reporting offered to the population may contribute to achieving that objective.  States should refrain from imposing standards of ethical conduct to the media; instead, journalists should pursue self-regulation by subscribing to deontological codes of ethics, style manuals, rules of composition, and by serving as watchdogs for the public’s interests, providing advice, and other mechanisms.

 

509.          Principle 6 of the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression states that “[j]ournalistic activities must be guided by ethical conduct, which should in no case be imposed by the State.”

 

510.          The Supreme Court of Justice stated the following in its observations:  “In strict compliance with Article 74 of the Constitution of the Republic, the National Police has ensured observance of freedom of information and, through the Public Relations Department of the Secretariat of Security, has even provided all necessary collaboration to the print, radio and televised media, both national and international; hence, the supposed threats and other forms of intimidation against journalists and sympathizers of Mr. Zelaya are pure conjecture.”[605]

 

511.          With respect to the right to freedom of expression, the Commission must remind the Honduran State of its obligation to respect the right to freedom of expression unreservedly, which demands that it guarantee to all journalists, irrespective of their editorial position, the freedom to express their ideas and impart the information they gather.  Acts of intimidation and censorship, either direct or indirect, by reason of a media outlet’s coverage of a story or its editorial position, and for the purpose of silencing it, are a blatant violation of the right that all persons have to express themselves without fear of reprisals, and of society’s fundamental right to receive information from multiple and diverse sources, without any form of censorship.

 

512.          The Honduran State is also reminded that any restriction on the right to freedom of expression, even in a state of emergency or exception, can only be ordered by a legitimate government and must be proportionate and strictly necessary to protect the democratic system.  Silencing dissonant opinions or criticism by evoking words like ‘contempt’ -as was indeed attempted in Honduras- and giving law enforcement agencies the authority to search and confiscate broadcasting equipment when, in the opinion of the government, the media are engaging in behavior that they deem to be in violation of existing law, constitutes a serious, unnecessary, arbitrary and disproportionate restriction of every Honduran’s right to express himself or herself freely and to receive information from multiple and diverse sources.

 

513.          The Commission urges Congress and the Supreme Court to put a stop to enforcement of any measure that may violate the right to freedom of expression, and also to take steps to correct the adverse effects that may have been caused while those provisions were in force.  It also demands that the de facto government grant all the guarantees necessary so that media outlets and journalists are able to discharge their mission of informing and reporting with complete freedom and in total safety.

 

G.        Women’s Rights

 

514.          Article 1 of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (hereinafter, the “Convention on the Prevention of Violence against Women) defines violence against women as “any act or conduct, based on gender, which causes death or physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, whether in the public or the private sphere.”  In its preamble, the Convention acknowledges that violence against women is a manifestation of the historically unequal power relations between women and men.[606]

 

515.          The Court, following the line of international jurisprudence, has held that sexual violence is any act of a sexual nature which is committed on a person under circumstances that are coercive.  Sexual violence is not limited to physical invasion of the human body and may even include acts that involve no penetration at all or even physical contact.[607]

 

516.          The Inter-American Court has also indicated that in the context of internal or international armed conflict the parties often employ sexual violence against women as an instrument of punishment and suppression.  The use of official authority to violate the rights of women in an internal armed conflict affects them directly, and can also be intended as retaliation or as a message to society.[608]

 

517.          On the issue of women deprived of their liberty, international standards indicate that the rape of detainees by a State agents is a particularly grave and abhorrent crime, in view of the vulnerability and defenselessness of the victims.[609]  Rape is a highly traumatic experience that can have severe consequences[610] and causes great physical and psychological harm, leaving the victim feeling “debased and violated both physically and emotionally” and with deep psychological scars that do not heal as quickly as other forms of physical and mental violence.[611]

 

518.          The IACHR also received testimony revealing that both in the context of suppression of demonstrations and unlawful detentions, women were subjected to verbal abuse and sexual violence.  The Inter-American Court has already held that acts of violence specifically targeted against women are in many cases used as “a symbolic means to humiliate the other party.”[612]  The Commission has held repeatedly that the commission of rape by State agents is equivalent to torture.

 

519.          The Commission has learned that members of the security forces reportedly raped women detained after demonstrations.  The Commission took testimony from one woman in particular, who after being detained at a demonstration, had allegedly been raped by four soldiers, who had also forced their police batons into her vagina.[613]

 

520.          During its 137th regular session, the Commission was informed that at least seven other women had reportedly been raped by security agents in the context of the public demonstrations held to protest against the coup d’état.  However, they had refrained from filing their complaints for fear of reprisals and mistrust of the system of justice.

 

521.          The Commission also received information to the effect that women were systematically beaten on their buttocks, thighs and on the rear side of their legs.[614]  According to the testimony, the police agents touched women in sexual ways while the women were under arrest; in some cases, police prodded women’s genitalia and crotches with their batons. [615]  Male officers also involved female officers asking them to “mess” with the detainees.[616] The Commission received the following testimony:

 

When they arrest us, they verbally abuse us; they say things like:  “Old whores, why aren’t you home making dinner? What are you looking for here? Oh, what you want is sex.  What you’re trying to say is that you want to get it on.”  They humiliate us.  And then there’s the physical harm as well.  The beatings they administer to women on the buttocks and the legs… and they put their police batons between our legs to intimidate us, and then ask us if we want to have sex.[617]

 

522.          The IACHR also received testimony from a woman who was trapped between military roadblocks erected on July 24 on the road from Las Manos to the border.  According to her account, she spent three days without food or water and unable to attend to her biological needs.  She was so frightened by the entire situation that she suffered a hemorrhage, but the soldiers gave her nothing to take care of her personal hygiene.  The entire time she was detained, she was terrified of being raped by the soldiers, given the psychological aggression she had suffered.[618]

 

523.          Another woman, detained on July 24 at the departmental police station of the municipality of Danlí, said that they stripped her and ordered her to bend over, which she refused to do.  This all happened in the presence of her son, who was 11 years old and reportedly cried the entire time.  She also said that after being put into the cells, the women were searched in an obscene fashion; agents touched them, hit the women’s genitalia with their batons[619] and then threatened to burn them.[620]

 

524.          The Movimiento de Feministas en Resistencia [Feminists Movement in Resistance] has played an active role and has openly expressed its condemnation of the coup d’état.  As a result, their members have been mistreated by security forces on various occasions.[621] This organization has repeatedly denounced the violence against women and the failure of CONADEH and the Public Prosecutor’s Office to act on the complaints filed at the domestic level.[622] Specifically, the Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz, “Visitación Padilla” [Visitation Padilla Women’s Pro-Peace Movement] stated that it made presentations to the Special Prosecutor for Women to make her aware of the fact that military and police agents were detaining women in the eastern sector of the country, stripping them, raping them and then releasing them without their underwear.[623]

 

525.          During a thematic hearing held during the 137th regular session of the IACHR, the representatives of Feminists in Resistance reiterated that the security forces were verbally abusive of women who participate in the demonstrations, calling them “whores,” “revolting”, “you want us to rape you” or “go home and take care of the kids.”  They also reported that no complaints on the violation of women’s rights have been filed before local authorities because women have no confidence in the justice system, because the authorities tend to ignore these complaints, or because women are frequently expected to file them before the perpetrators themselves.

 

526.          The representatives of Feminists in Resistance also described how surveillance and security operations continue, as do death threats, laden with sexual overtones and directed at female human rights defenders (both face-to-face and by cell phone).

 

527.          There were complaints that women working for institutions charged with promoting and protecting women’s rights were being persecuted.  It was also said that plans within the National Women’s Institute were suspended for lack of budget, as there was no international cooperation.  Also, there is a plan to merge that institution with other social programs, thereby rendering women’s issues invisible.  Coordinators of the municipal women’s affairs offices were reportedly being persecuted and threatened.  The representatives complained that significant ground had been lost in the area of reproductive rights and maternal health care. They also said that the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Women has lost all credibility, that it does not investigate the violations reported and that the guarantees of due process are not observed. 

 

528.          The Supreme Court asserted the following in its observations: “The allegation that members of the security forces raped and otherwise sexually molested women detained in demonstrations is flatly denied inasmuch as no such events have been reported to law enforcement officials and the justice system and the allegations themselves are based on conjecture.”[624]

 

529.          A recurring theme in the information reported is that law enforcement personnel discriminate against women. They are not only beaten on numerous occasions but are also victims of sexual violence.  This situation is compounded by the difficulties filing complaints at the domestic level and securing the prosecution and punishment against the state agents responsible for these acts.

 

H.        The Right to an Education and the Right to Strike

 

530.          Article 26 of the American Convention reads as follows: 

 

The States Parties undertake to adopt measures, both internally and through international cooperation, especially those of an economic and technical nature, with a view to achieving progressively, by legislation or other appropriate means, the full realization of the rights implicit in the economic, social, educational, scientific, and cultural standards set forth in the Charter of the Organization of American States as amended by the Protocol of Buenos Aires.

 

531.          During its visit, the IACHR was able to observe the tension between the hard-line position taken by leaders of the teachers unions, and parents’ demands that classes be held to educate their children.

 

532.          In the context of the measures taken by Honduran civil society to protest against the coup d’état, teachers’ unions called for a total work stoppage; after the coup, classes were given only three days a week.  Given this situation, parents organized associations and federations, staged demonstrations, held assemblies, drafted proceedings, identified the teachers who were not showing up to give classes, filed complaints,[625] and obtained court orders to have the schools re-opened.[626] The IACHR received information from four of these associations.

 

533.          First, the Parents Association of the Escuela Normal Mixta Pedro Nufio [Pedro Nufio Co-educational Normal School] stated that parents had enrolled their children in that institution so that they would be trained as elementary school teachers.  Nevertheless, they said, since the coup d’état the leadership of teachers’ organizations, amalgamated under the Federación de Organizaciones Magisteriales [Federation of Teachers’ Organizations] (FOMH), had called an indefinite strike of the national education system, which could affect the right of children and young people to be educated. Attached to the testimony was a list of 32 teachers who were said to be obstructing academic activity at that school by their refusal to hold classes.  Their refusal to teach placed the students’ school year and the parents’ investment at risk.[627]

 

534.          Secondly, the Asociación de Madres y Padres de Familia por la Educación de nuestros niños, niñas y jóvenes “Volvamos a Clase”[628] [Association of Parents for the Education of Our Children and Youth ‘Let’s Get Back to Class’] wanted teachers to return to the classroom so that the mandatory 200 days of classes could be completed and the full course curricula taught, ‘while refraining from indoctrinating their children with imported ideologies.’  This association alleged that the leadership of the teachers’ unions was preventing classes from running normally and that teachers who were giving classes had reportedly been threatened[629] and the children allegedly taken out of the classrooms and forced to attend a demonstration.[630]  The Association supplied a list of the schools and public education institutions that had allegedly not allowed teachers to return and had not held the mandatory 200 days of class.[631] The list also included the proceedings of the assemblies held at two schools.

 

535.          The third organization was the Federación de Sociedades de Padres de Familia en Defensa de la Educación Nacional [Federation of Parents Associations to Defend National Education], which filed a complaint with the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Children[632] in which it claimed that: i) teachers are not showing up at schools; ii) the schools remain closed; iii) on the few occasions when classes have been held, the striking teachers have asked students for food for the demonstrators in exchange for earning points; iv) the teachers claim that they answer to the teachers’ union, which pays their salaries; v) the schools are being used as shelters for groups of demonstrators; vi) teachers are indoctrinating the students and use them to engage in violence; vii) the teachers who are participating in the strike are threatening those who continue to give classes.[633]

 

536.          Finally, the Executive Board of the Parents Association said that on August 18, they wanted to sign a compromise agreement with officials at the Escuela Estado de Israel in the Colonia Flor del Campo in Comayagüela in which the teachers would pledge to teach five days a week.  In the event of noncompliance, the parents would have the authority to take over the institution, allow into the school only those teachers who abided by the agreement, and seek immediate dismissal of the teachers who did not turn up for class.  The teachers didn’t want to sign that compromise agreement.[634]

 

537.          The IACHR also received complaints from teachers in the rural municipalities of Colón, El Paraíso, Copán and Yoro, and the towns of Jocón and Olanchito[635] and other teachers who were forced to transfer to other teaching establishments,[636] were mistreated, threatened, persecuted, harassed, defamed[637] and charged with crimes[638] by arm forces,[639] the de facto authorities[640] and parents.[641] There were also complaints that some educational institutions had been militarized, which obstructed the learning process.[642]  Finally, it was reported that payment of teachers’ loans are not being transferred to the high schools that train teachers; as a result teachers appear to be in default or in arrears and therefore they are unable to obtain or use credit cards.[643]

 

538.          The Supreme Court wrote the following in its observations:  “As for the supposed complaints from the IACHR to the effect that teachers from the rural municipalities of Colón, El Paraíso, Copán and Yoro, and the residents of Jocón and Olanchito, were transferred against their will to other educational institutions, and were abused, threatened, persecuted, harassed, defamed, and charged with crimes by the security forces, the necessary investigations cannot be conducted because no dates, places and specific names were provided, which makes investigation of these cases difficult at best.”[644]

 

539.          The IACHR also has information to the effect that campaigns are being waged in the media against teachers,[645] that the contracts of temporary teachers have not been renewed,[646] that investigations and criminal actions have been instituted against striking teachers through inspections[647] and documents[648] drawn up by CONADEH and the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights and the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Children.[649]

 

540.          Complaints were also filed alleging persecution of demonstrators who were asked to name union leaders and to point out certain teachers.[650] Departmental directors of education were asked to supply information on the measures taken to ensure the normal functioning of the educational system[651], and on the activities of teachers in each department.[652]  One of those communications reads as follows:

 

Given the scandalous absence of some teachers from the classroom and other misconduct on their part during the recent demonstrations, I would respectfully request that by no later than Tuesday, the 18th you inform this office of any corrective or disciplinary measures that you, as educational authority in this department, have taken to establish administrative responsibility, as required under the Teacher’s Statute, your regulations, the Primary Education Regulations, the Secondary Education Regulations and other applicable laws.[653]

 

541.          In a case brought by the Superior Court of Accounts, a fine of 3,523,794.37 lempiras was imposed on the head of a school “for not having taken any action with the Office of the Deputy Director of Teaching Personnel of the Secretariat of Education to stop payment of salaries to the teachers and administrative staff of the school who did not work in July of this year.”[654] The ruling was based on the following:

 

[Legislative Decree 141-2009] makes it obvious that the teachers’ strike is illegal. Apart from the fact that the government’s decision with respect to the presidential succession has proved to be the wise course of action to preserve constitutional order, the supposed reason for the strike has no justification because teachers’ unions should remain on the sidelines when the situation involved is eminently political.  Strikes called for political causes are violations of the education laws.  More importantly, they are detrimental to the educational growth and development of Honduran children.  The evidence against former President Manuel Zelaya Rosales was credible enough for the National Congress to have taken the decision to remove him from office…[655]

 

542.          Concerning the operations conducted at a number of educational institutions, on July 30 the Administrative Manager in the Operations Planning and Evaluation Unit with the Office of the Departmental Director of Education of Atlántida filed a complaint with CIPRODEH to the following effect:

 

At no time was any charge ever presented or even mentioned.  No institutional representations were made much less an express order produced stating what they were looking for, or any order of confiscation.  High-handedness and arrogance were constantly in evidence (…) These were 4 agents from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, wearing bullet-proof vests.  Not one would show any identification.  However, from the time they came in they had their weapons on display for intimidation purposes.  There were also two regional prosecutors, two prosecutors from Tegucigalpa, and two other people who said they were from the Superior Court of Accounts (…) They were apparently looking for the lists of teachers, as they appeared to have little interest in any other kind of information.

 

543.          This information was confirmed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, which stated that measures were taken to ask the competent courts to restore the right to education, “by issuing court orders or rulings to order the implicated teachers to return to the schools and resume classes.”[656]

 

544.          The Commission received information about one specific criminal case in which two teachers from the Instituto Central Vicente Cáceres, one of them a union leader, had been charged with mistreatment.  The case, which was heard in the Second Trial Court for Child Protection, began on the basis of an interview that was broadcast on Radio Cadena Voces, where a mother had said that these teachers were trying to prevent the other teachers from holding classes.  On July 30, the judge ordered the teachers to teach their full class schedule to all students, in keeping with those provisions of the Constitution that concern the promotion and dissemination of culture and in fulfillment of their obligations under the Honduran Teachers Statute.[657]

 

545.          The Commission also received a copy of court records in which union leaders were fined and teachers at the schools that remained closed were convicted of gross misconduct.  The court ordered that “the children’s right to an education be immediately restored,” reasoning that “the conduct of the accused constitutes negligence that utterly compromises every child’s welfare.  These are cases in which the stimuli necessary for educational and recreational development are being denied and thus constitute intellectual abuse by virtue of negligence.”[658]

 

546.          In this context, on August 1 the Chairman of CODEH filed a constitutional petition seeking amparo relief with the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court challenging the measures taken by a prosecutor from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Municipal Commission of Danlí alleging harassment and threats.  The petition argues that these authorities assembled 113 teachers in the gymnasium of the Instituto Departamental de Oriente (IDO), along with the Department Director of Education of El Paraíso, the President of the Parents’ Association and representative from the Office of the National Commissioner for Human Rights to inform them that documents had been prepared to show that the teachers had been absent from class, and that the educational authorities would be obliged to impose the corresponding administrative sanctions.[659]

 

547.          Concerning the dispute, CONADEH maintained that “if a public employee is not in his or her place, performing his or her functions, this may be grounds for dismissal and withholding of salaries for work unperformed.  That is the rule of law.”[660]

 

548.          On October 4, the de facto authorities concluded that “given the political and social situation in the country, administrative measures must be taken that do not affect the interests of the principal actors in education; automatic promotion is justified so that students are able to move to the next grade or course level.” They therefore decided “to suspend educational activities for the remainder of the school year, effective October 17 of this year and to end the school year at all public schools at all levels of the national educational system on October 31, the date on which the school keys are to be handed over to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal.”[661]

 

549.          The Commission was also informed that classes have been interrupted as a result of the curfews[662] and the militarization of schools and universities.

 

550.          The Commission observes that the institutional breakdown has doubtless affected the normal functioning of Honduran daily life.  One example is the information concerning the way that the children’s right to an education has been adversely affected.  The Commission understands that these allegations are surfacing in an atmosphere in which the teachers, parents and the students themselves are on different sides of an intense social debate.  The genesis of the matter, in the Commission’s view, is that opportunities for a democratic exchange of ideas are being closed off, thereby preventing the dispute from being resolved.

 

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[498] Organization of American States, Inter-American Democratic Charter, approved at the first plenary session of the twenty-eighth special session of the OAS General Assembly, held in Lima, Peru, September 11, 2001, Article 3.

[499] IACHR, Annual Report 2008, Chapter IV, Venezuela, paragraph 336.

[500] Preliminary Observations on the IACHR’s Visit to Honduras, August 21, 2009.

[501] I/A Court H.R., Castañeda-Gutman v. Mexico Case. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of August 6, 2008. Series C No. 184, paragraph 140.

[502] I/A Court H.R., Case of Castañeda Gutman vs. Mexico, op. cit., 143.

[503] President Manuel Zelaya Rosales was elected to the Office of the Presidency of Honduras in the general election held on November 27, 2005, and took office on January 27, 2006.

[504] The IACHR confirmed that contrary to what was originally claimed, the Honduran National Congress had not unanimously approved Legislative Decree No. 141-09 –in which President Zelaya Rosales was removed from the Office of President- because lawfully-elected members of the National Congress had not been convened to participate in that assembly and their seats had been taken over.

[505] One example is the municipality of El Paraíso, department of El Paraíso.  Information received by the IACHR during its visit to El Paraíso on August 20, 2009.

[506] One example is the municipality of San José de las Colinas, department of Santa Bárbara.  Testimony of A.J.H., taken by the IACHR in San Pedro Sula on August 19. 2009 (No. 202).

[507] Information supplied by the Asociación de Jueces por la Democracia [Association of Judges for Democracy], received  by the IACHR in San Pedro Sula on August 19, 2009 (No. 124).

[508] Testimony of J.R.P., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on October 19, 2009 (No. 277).  

[509] For example, Juan Carlos Griffin, Prosecutor for Human Rights in Tegucigalpa, and Luis Alonso Chévez de la Roca, Trial Judge in Domestic Violence Cases. 

[510] For example, Judges Adán López Lone, Luis Alonso Chévez de la Roca and Ramón Enrique Barrios.

[511] IACHR, Report No. 67/07 (Merits), Case 12,476 Oscar Elías Biscet et al. (Cuba), October 21, 2006, paragraph 245.

[512] IACHR, Report No. 67/07 (Merits), Case 12,476 Oscar Elías Biscet et al., op. cit., paragraph 256.

[513] I/A Court H.R., Yatama v. Nicaragua Case. Judgment of June 23, 2005. Series C No. 127,
paragraph 195.

[514]Manifestaciones blancas” are those demonstrations held in support of the coup d’état.

[515] I/A Court H.R., Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed by Law for the Practice of Journalism (Arts. 13 and 29 American Convention on Human Rights). Advisory Opinion OC-5/85 of November 13, 1985. Series A No. 5, paragraph 70.

[516] Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1. Committee to Protect Journalists,
“CPJ Alarmed by Suppression of Media in Honduras,” (New York) June 30, 2009.  Available at: http://www.cpj.org/blog/2009/06/cpj-alarmed-by-supression-of-media-in-honduras.php. Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html. .C-Libre, “Reinician transmisiones Canal 36 y Radio la Catracha” [Channel 36 and Radio la Catracha resume broadcasting]. (Tegucigalpa), July 5, 2009.  Available at:  http://www.conexihon.com/ediciones/edicion117/NOTAS/n_libertdad-expresion3.html. Committee of Relatives of Detainees- Disappeared in Honduras, “Informe Preliminar Violaciones a Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the Context of the Coup d’état in Honduras], July 15, 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cofadeh.org/.
 IACHR meeting with COFADEH, Washington, D.C., United States, July 21, 2009. 

[517] In his testimony to the IACHR during the on-site visit to Honduras on August 21, 2009 (Tegucigalpa), the former managing editor of Channel 8, Héctor Orlando A. Zúñiga, said the following:  “On June 28 I was planning for the channel to begin broadcasting at 6:30 AM.  However, when I reached the presidential residence, where channel 8 is located, there were soldiers everywhere; the coup d’état was already under way.  They took my colleagues –the technicians and the producer Cesar Romero- out at gunpoint, beat them up and took away their cell phones.  I couldn’t get into the station.  We were standing outside, with guns pointed at us.  I finally managed to get away when they picked me up on a motorcycle.”

[518] “Corte le quita al gobierno la frecuencia del canal 8” [Court takes Channel 8 away from government], La Prensa (San Pedro Sula), November 25, 2008. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.laprensahn.com/País/Ediciones/2008/11/26/Noticias/Corte-le-quita-al-Gobierno-la-frecuencia-de-Canal-8 “Canal de televisión del Gobierno hondureño comienza a emitir señal” [Honduran government television channel begins to broadcast signal], Radio La Primerísima (Managua), August 3, 2008.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias/resumen/34874. AMARC, “Canal de televisión del gobierno comenzó a emitir” [Government television channel started broadcasting], August 2008.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://legislaciones.item.org.uy/index?q=node/732. Inter-American Press Association.  Honduras Report.  64th General Assembly, Madrid, Spain.  Available at: http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=det_informe&asamblea=20&infoid=321&idioma=us. “Gobierno intenta recuperar Canal 8 ante tribunales” [Government returns to the courts to get back Channel 8], La Prensa (San Pedro Sula), November 26, 2008.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.laprensahn.com/Pa%C3%ADs/Ediciones/2008/11/27/Noticias/Gobierno-intenta-recuperar-Canal-8-ante-tribunales.

[519] Testimony of the managing editor of Channel 36, Esdras Amado López, as told to the IACHR during the on-site visit in Honduras (Tegucigalpa) on August 17, 2009.  Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29, 2009.  Available at:
http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/ showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1
.  Committee to Protect Journalists, “CPJ Alarmed by Suppression of Media in Honduras,” (New York) June 30, 2009.  Available at:
http://www.cpj.org/blog/2009/06/cpj-alarmed-by-supression-of-media-in-honduras.php. Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at: 
http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html
. C-Libre, “Reinician transmisiones Canal 36 y Radio la Catracha” [Channel 36 and Radio la Catracha resume broadcasting]. (Tegucigalpa), July 5, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.conexihon.com/ediciones/edicion117/NOTAS/n_libertdad-expresion3.html.

[520] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, Memorandum No. 526-DGAE-90, dated July 10, 2009.

[521] Testimony of Eduardo Maldonado, who conducts the Maya TV program called “Hable como Habla,” as told to the IACHR during the on-site visit to Honduras. (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.

[522] Testimony of Nancy John, Editorial Head of Channel 1, as told to the IACHR during the on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.  Inter-American Press Association, “Respect press freedom, IAPA again urges Honduras” (Tegucigalpa) July 2, 2009 Available at: 
http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page= cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles&id=4210&idioma=us
.
Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html.

[523] Testimony that Naúm Palacios, managing editor of Channel 5, gave to the IACHR, by telephone, during the on-site visit to Honduras   (Tegucigalpa) August 21, 2009.

[524] Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 71-09: ´The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns the Suspension of Guarantees in Honduras and the Violations of the Right to Freedom of Expression,”  September 29, 2009. Available at:
http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/ showarticle.asp?artID=764&lID=1.
“Micheletti acalla las voces contra el golpe en Honduras” [Micheletti silences the voices protesting coup in Honduras], El País de Madrid, September 29, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Micheletti/acalla/voces/golpe/Honduras/elpepiint/
20090929elpepiint_10/Tes
.

[525] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Memorandum 731-DGAE-09 dated October 20, 2009.

[526] Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1. Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html.  Inter-American Press Association, “IAPA censures acts against journalists and media in Honduras” (Miami), June 29, 2009. Available at: http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados& seccion=detalles&id=4208&idioma=us. Inter-American Press Association, “Respect press freedom, IAPA again urges Honduras” (Tegucigalpa) July 2, 2009. Available at:  http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_ comunicados&seccion=detalles&id=4210&idioma=us Article 19, “Honduras: Early Warning Signs of Impending Crisis”, (London) July 28, 2009.  Available at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/honduras-early-warning-signs-of-impending-crisis.pdf. Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ Alarmed by Suppression of Media in Honduras,” (New York) June 30, 2009.  Available at: http://www.cpj.org/blog/2009/06/cpj-alarmed-by-supression-of-media-in-honduras.php.. ..

[527] IACHR’s meeting with the Board of CONATEL, during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 18, 2009.

[528] IACHR’s meeting with the Board of CONATEL, during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 18, 2009.

[529] IACHR, Press Release 60-09: IACHR presents preliminary observations on its visit to Honduras, August 21, 2009.  Available at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/English/2009/60-09eng.htm.

[530] CONADEH’s response to the IACHR’s Press Release 60-09, Honduras. (Tegucigalpa), September 1, 2009. 

[531] Testimony of Nancy John, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.

[532] Testimony of Radio Progreso journalists Ismael Moreno, Karla Rivas, Gustavo Cardoza and José Peraza, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (San Pedro Sula), August 19, 2009.  Peraza said the following: “Early on Sunday morning, the 28th we checked the media that tend to be carrying news at that time of the day; all they were carrying were sports, cartoons, and they said ‘nothing’s happening in this country’.  Right away we thought, the military is going to take us over.  We knew we had no bargaining position, so we decided to leave the radio station.  The first contingent of troops was on the street corner where the station is located at 10:10 a.m.  But the people who were in the park, just a block away, came to the station and the soldiers run off.  Then, Karla Rivas, who was in the booth at that time, began to say that the military were here.  Within minutes, the military came in, positioned themselves at key points and ordered the equipment shut down.” Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1. Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html.  Committee to Protect Journalists, “CPJ Alarmed by Suppression of Media in Honduras,” (New York) June 30, 2009.  Available at: http://www.cpj.org/blog/2009/06/cpj-alarmed-by-supression-of-media-in-honduras.php. Inter-American Press Association, “IAPA censures acts against journalists and media in Honduras” (Miami), June 29, 2009. Available at: http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion =detalles&id=4208&idioma=us.

[533] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, Memorandum No. 526-DGAE-90, received on July 10, 2009.

[534] Request for precautionary measures filed by the International Mission to investigate the Human Rights Situation in Honduras in the wake of the coup d’état, July 22, 2009.

[535] Testimony of David Ellner Romero, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 20009.

[536] IACHR, Office of the Special Rapporteur, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1. Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html. “El apagón de los medios” [The Media Blackout], BBC World (London), June 30, 2009.  Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2009/06/090630_1030_honduras_medios_sao.shtml.

[537] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, Memorandum No. 526-DGAE-90, July 10, 2009.  Article 19, “Honduras: Early Warning Signs of Impending Crisis”, (London) July 28, 2009.  Available at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/honduras-early-warning-signs-of-impending-crisis.pdf.  Reporter Without Borders, “Gag on media getting steadily tighter in month since coup,” July 28, 2009.  Available at: http://www.rsf.org/Gag-on-media-getting-steadily.html.

[538] IACHR’s meeting with the board of CONATEL during its on-site visit in Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 18, 2009.

[539] IACHR’s meeting with the board of CONATEL during its on-site visit in Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 18, 2009.

[540] “Radio globo de Honduras denuncia que auditor militar pidió silenciarla” [Radio Globo of Honduras denounces that military judge advocate seeks to silence it], El Nacional (Caracas), August 4, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.el-nacional.com/www/site/p_contenido.php?q=nodo/92989/Honduras/Radio-Globo-de-Honduras-denuncia-que-auditor-militar-pidi%C3%B3-silenciarla-. C-Libre, “Fuerzas Armadas intentan cerrar Radio Globo” [Armed Forces Attempt to Shut Down Radio Globo]. (Tegucigalpa), August 4, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/582. Testimony of David Romero Ellner, managing editor of Radio Globo, taken by telephone by the IACHR on August 6, 2009.

[541] Testimony of Martha Elena Rubí, owner of Radio Juticalpa, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 21, 2009.  Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras, “Informe Preliminar de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Reporto n Human Rights Violations in the context of the coup d’état], July 15, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/. Request seeking precautionary measures, filed by the Center for Justice and International Law and received on July 20 and 22, 2009.

[542] Testimony of Suyapa Banegas, journalist with Radio Marcala, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 20, 2009.  Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras, “Informe Preliminar de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the context of the coup d’état], July 15, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/.

[543] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Memorandum 731-DGAE-09 dated October 20, 2009.

[544] Article 19, “Honduras: Early Warning Signs of Impending Crisis”, (London) July 28, 2009.  Available at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/honduras-early-warning-signs-of-impending-crisis.pdf.

[545] Note sent to the newspaper Poder Ciudadano by the Presidential House, dated July 14, 2009, a copy of which was received by the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.

[546] Office of the Special Rapporteur- IACHR, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1. C-Libre, “Bloqueo de Medios de Comunicación en Honduras. (Tegucigalpa), June 29, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/324. Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html. Inter--American Press Association. June 29, 2009, IAPA censures acts against journalists and media in Honduras.  Available at: http://www.sipiapa.org/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles&id=4208&idioma =us. BBC. June 30, 2009.  “El apagón de los medios” [The media blackout]. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/america_latina/2009/06/090630_1030_honduras_medios_sao.shtml. Communication sent to the IACHR on June 29, 2009.

[547] Testimony of Dagoberto Rodríguez, managing editor of Radio Cadena Voces, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.  Rodríguez said the following: “On Sunday the 28th, power was cut several times; one of the outages affected us.  But because we have our generator, we solved the problem.” Rodríguez added that on that day, “broadcasting at all stations was suspended for a number of hours and we had to broadcast in segments.  On Monday, we didn’t have problems.  At least not at our station.”

[548] Testimony of Nancy John, a journalist with Channel 11, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.  Ms. John said the following:  “On the morning of the coup, there was a generalized two-hour blackout in Tegucigalpa and other cities and regions in Honduras.  This was followed by a number of power cuts, but they were intermittent.”

[549] Testimony of Suyapa Banegas, journalist with Radio Marcala, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 20, 2009.  She indicated: “However, when the radio stations in the country’s interior –community and alternative stations— realized about the coup, it occurred to us that the Government, and more specifically the military who were in control that morning, had decided to cut the electrical power in the country, specifically in those areas where the local stations were beginning to report the news.  All this happened before 11:00 a.m., when electric power was restored.”

[550] IACHR’s meeting with the board of CONATEL during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 18, 2009.

[551] Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 66-09: Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression Condemns Restrictions to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, September 24, 2009.  Available at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1.

[552] Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1. Committee to Protect Journalists, “CPJ Alarmed by Suppression of Media in Honduras,” (New York) June 30, 2009.  Available at: http://www.cpj.org/blog/2009/06/cpj-alarmed-by-supression-of-media-in-honduras.php. Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html. Article 19, “Honduras: Freedom of Expression Under Threat Following Weekend Coup”. (London), July 1, 2009.  Available at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/honduras-freedom-of-expression-under-threat-following-weekend-coup.pdf. Inter-American Press Association.  “Respect Press Freedom, IAPA Again Urges Honduras.” (Miami), July 2, 2009.  Available at: http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles&id=4210&idioma=us.

[553] Testimony of Madeleine García, a journalist with TeleSUR, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.  García said that the midnight call she received was from a call center; the party at the other end of the line said to her: “Look, Madeleine, why are you doing this?  You are showing something that isn’t true.  We’ll be there in 20 minutes.”  Ms. García went on to say: “And in fact, 20 minutes later, a group of heavily armed military personnel arrived on the hotel’s 12th floor and took all the reporters away, including the journalists from the AP and other news agencies.  I immediately called General Romeo Vásquez Velázquez and asked him, ‘Where are the journalists who were detained?’ All this came out, which is why they acted quickly to release the TeleSUR crew, which had been taken to the immigration office, on the pretext that they were in Honduras illegally.”

[554] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs, memorandum No.  526-DGAE-90, received on July 10, 2009.

[555] Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR, Press Release 44-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Limitations to Freedom of Expression in Honduras, June 29 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=753&lID=1. Article 19, “Honduras: Freedom of Expression Under Threat Following Weekend Coup”. (London), July 1, 2009. Verenice Bengtson, e-mail received by the IACHR on June 29, 2009.  Periodistas en Español, “Secuestrado en Honduras el caricaturista Allan Mc Donald” [Caricaturist Allan McDonald abducted in Honduras], June 30, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.p-es.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3724&Itemid=78.

[556] Testimony that Nahúm Palacios, news editor at Televisora de Aguán, Channel 5, gave to the IACHR by phone during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 21, 2009.   C-Libre, “Director de Noticiero del Aguán también fue atropellado” [Editor at Aguan News also beaten]. (Tegucigalpa), July 3, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.ifex.org/honduras/2009/07/07/nahun_palacios_victim/es/. Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras, “Informe Preliminar Violaciones a Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the context of the coup d’état], July 15, 2009Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/.  Nahúm Palacios, e-mail sent to the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression on July 16, 2009. Testimony of Naún Palacios, taken by the IACHR by phone on July 15, 2009 and July 22, 2009.  CEJIL’s letter to the Executive Secretary of the IACHR, Santiago Cantón received by the IACHR on July 23, 2009. 

[557] “A Micheletti no le preocupan represalias contra Honduras” [Micheletti unconcerned about reprisals against Honduras], El Universo (Guayaquil), July 3, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.eluniverso.com/2009/07/03/1/1361/9AB24BE7076D489FA5EDC0956A412372.html “Periodista salvadoreño es agredido en Honduras” [Salavadoran journalist assaulted in Honduras], Diario Co Latino (San Salvador), July 3, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.diariocolatino.com/es/20090703/nacionales/68733/.  Inter-American Press Association, “IAPA calls for Investigation into the Death of Honduran Journalist” (Miami), July 7, 2009.  Available at: http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles &id=4211&idioma=us. “Fotoperiodista salvadoreño golpeado en Honduras” [Salvadoran Photojournalist Beaten in Honduras], La Prensa Gráfica (San Salvador), July 2, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.laprensagrafica.com/el-salvador/lodeldia/43920-fotografo-salvadoreno-golpeado-en-manifestacion-en-honduras.html.

[558] Defensores en Línea, “Denuncian represión de militares hacia dirigentes sociales y periodistas independientes [Military repression of social leaders and independent journalists denounced]. (Tegucigalpa), July 2, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://libertaddeexpresionhn.blogspot.com/2009/07/denuncian-represion-de-militares-hacia.html. Reporters Without Borders. September 7, 2009. Media in Coup Storm.  Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=33697. . Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras, “Informe Preliminar Violaciones a Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the Context of the Coup d‘état]. July 15, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/. Testimony of Patricia Murillo Gómez, coordinator of the School of Journalism of the Universidad Autónoma de San Pedro Sula and a correspondent for the newspaper  Tiempo de Tegucigalpa, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (San Pedro Sula), August 19, 2009.

[559] Request seeking precautionary measures, filed by the International Mission Investigating the Human Rights Situation in the wake of the coup d’état, July 22, 2009.

[560] Testimony of the Centro para la Prevención, Tratamiento y Rehabilitación de las Víctimas de la Toruta y sus Familiares (CPTRT) [ Center for te Prevention of Torture and Treatment and Rehabilitation of Its Victims and Their Families] , as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009. Office of the Special Rapporteur-IACHR: Relatoría Especial-IACHR, Press Release R50-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns Detention of Foreign Journalists in Honduras.  July 12, 2009.  Available at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle.asp?artID=755&lID=1. Committee to Protect Journalists, “Venezuelan journalists leave Honduras after harassment”. (New York), July 13, 2009.  Available at:  http://cpj.org/2009/07/venezuelan-journalists-leave-honduras-after-harass.php. Inter-American Press Association, “ IAPA condemns harassment of Venezuelan TV crews in Honduras.”  (Miami), July 14, 2009.  Available at: http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles&id=4215& idioma=us. Comité de Familiares Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras [Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras], “Informe Preliminar Violaciones a Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the Context of the Coup d’État], July 15, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/.

[561] Testimony of Gustavo Cardoza, reporter from Radio Progreso, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (San Pedro Sula), August 19, 2009.  Cardoza said the following:  “The security forces were throwing tear gas grenades into the crowd of demonstrators.  I ran off in the midst of the smoke, I began coughing and they handed me the microphones. Running to get out into the fresh air.  I reported that the police were hurling grenades at the houses.  A police officer, who must have been a high-ranking officer because his uniform was different, looked at me, drew his weapon and pointed it at me. I decided to run, because I was scared to death.  But five anti-riot police caught me.  They threw us one on top of the other.”

[562] Testimony of Eduin Castillo an independent journalist from Tela, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (San Pedro Sula), August 19, 2009.  Castillo reported that: “When they told us that hundreds of members of the security forces were on their way, we stepped to one side.  They came in shouting “Conquer or die.” They were soldiers, police and members of the Cobra special strike force.  I identified myself and a soldier told me ‘Here, you’re worthless.’  Then they started shoving me.  And they said ‘son of a bitch, so you like to mix it up, get into fights.’  When I protested and asked why the police were saying things just to the media that supported the coup, they slapped handcuffs on me and left me out in the sun.  ‘You’ll fry out here, you son of a bitch’.”

[563] Reporters Without Borders, “News blackout after army ousts president,” June 29, 2009, Available at:  http://www.rsf.org/News-blackout-after-army-ousts.html. Inter-American Press Association, “IAPA Censures Acts against Journalists and Media in Honduras”, Tegucigalpa, June 29, 2009.  Available at: http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles&id=4208&idioma=us.

[564] Inter-American Press Association, “Respect Press Freedom, IAPA Again Urges Honduras,” (Miami), July 2, 2009.  Available at: 
http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion= detalles&id=4210&idioma=us
. “Periodistas y fotógrafos denuncian agresiones” [Journalists and photographers denounce assaults], La Tribuna (Tegucigalpa), June 30, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=14635,

[565] Inter-American Press Association, “Respect Press Freedom, IAPA Again Urges Honduras,” (Miami), July 2, 2009.  Available at:  http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados& seccion=detalles&id=4210&idioma=us. “Periodistas y fotógrafos denuncian agresiones” [Journalists and photographers denounce assaults], La Tribuna (Tegucigalpa), June 30, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=14635.

[566] Reporters Without Borders, “Media in Coup Storm”, September 7, 2009.  Available at: http://www.rsf.org/Media-in-coup-storm.html.

[567] “Agencia estatal venezolana denuncia agresión contra reportera en Honduras” [Venezuelan state agency denounces assault on female reporter in Honduras], EFE/Yahoo News, July 25, 2009. “Agredida reportera gráfica de ABN por fuerzas policiales hondureñas” [ABN photographic journalist roughed up by Honduran police], Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (Caracas), July 25, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.abn.info.ve/noticia.php?articulo=192265&lee=16

[568] C-Libre, “Comunicadores denuncian agresiones” [Reporters denounce assaults]. (Tegucigalpa), July 26, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/548. “Seguidores de “Mel” agreden a fotógrafo de LA TRIBUNA” [Mel supporters rough up a photographer from La Tribuna] (Tegucigalpa), July 27, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=23625.

[569] C-Libre, “Policía hondureña golpea a periodistas y camarógrafos nacionales e internacionales” [Honduran police beat national and international reporters and photographers]. (Tegucigalpa), July 30, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/569. “Reprime la policía hondureña a seguidores de Zelaya” [Honduran Police Repress Zelaya Followers], La Crónica de Hoy (Mexico, DF), July 31, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php?id_nota=448659.

[570] C-Libre, “Policía hondureña golpea a periodistas y camarógrafos nacionales e internacionales” [Honduran police beat national and international reporters and photographers]. (Tegucigalpa), July 30, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/569.

[571] Testimony of Edgardo Castro, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (San Pedro Sula), August 19, 2009. C-Libre, “Policía hondureña golpea a periodistas y camarógrafos nacionales e internacionales”.[Honduran police beat national and international journalists and cameramen] (Tegucigalpa), July 30, 2009. Available at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/569. Habla Honduras, “3 días de movilizaciones diarias” [Three days of daily demonstrations]. (Tegucigalpa), July 30, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://hablahonduras.com/2009/07/31/hechos-destacados-jueves-30-de-julio-de-2009/. “Endurecen golpistas acciones contra manifestantes en Honduras” [Coup takes harder line with demonstrators] Milenio (Mexico, DF), July 30, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.milenio.com/node/259010.

[572] C-Libre, “Arrestado un policía porque filmaba pleito de jóvenes” [Arrested by Police because he was filming a confrontation between police and younsters]. (Tegucigalpa), August 3, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/580.

[573] Diario Tiempo, “Salvaje golpiza propinan policías a reportero gráfico de Tiempo” [Police beat a photographic journalist with Tiempo savagely] (Tegucigalpa), August 6, 2009. Diario Tiempo, “Evidente ignorancia del viceministro de Seguridad ante golpiza contra reportero gráfico de Tiempo [Vice Minister of Security’s obvious ignorance of the beating of the photo journalist with Tiempo]. (Tegucigalpa), August 7, 2009. IACHR, MC 196/09 – Amplification of Precautionary Measures, Honduras, September 4, 2009.  Available at http://www.cidh.org/medidas/2009.eng.htm. Diario La Tribuna, Editorial “Libre Expresión” [Free Expression], August 18, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?cat=10&paged=3.

[574] C-Libre, “Otro ataque contra la libertad de expresión en Honduras” [Another attack on freedom of expression in Honduras]. (Tegucigalpa), August 12, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://conexihon.com/blog/ archives/624

[575] Diario La Tribuna, Editorial “Libre Expresión” [Free Expression], August 18, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?cat=10&paged=3.

[576] IACHR, Office of the Special Rapporteur, Press Release 71-09: Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression Condemns the Suspension of Guarantees in Honduras and the Violations of the Right to Freedom of Expression, September 29, 2009.  Available at:  http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showarticle .asp?artID=764&lID=1.

[577] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Memorandum 731-DGAE-09 of October 20, 2009.

[578] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Memorandum 731-DGAE-09 of October 20, 2009.

[579] Inter-American Press Association, “Respect press freedom, IAPA again urges Honduras” (Miami) July 2, 2009 Available at:  http://www.sipiapa.com/v4/index.php?page=cont_comunicados&seccion=detalles &id=4210&idioma=us. Gilberto Molina Arcos, “Periodista revela que no hay día sin amenazas a periodistas en Honduras” [Journalist reveals that not a day passes without threats to journalists in Honduras], El Universal (Mexico DF), June 30, de 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/608564.html.

[580] C-Libre, “Radio América denuncia atentado” [Radio América denounces attack]. (Tegucigalpa), July 1, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/352.  Radio América. July 1, 2009, Radio América condena atentado [Radio América condemns attack]. Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.radioamerica.hn/sitio.cfm?pag=leenoticias&t=Nacionales&id=13379.

[581] Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras, “Informe Preliminar Violaciones a Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the Context of the Coup d‘état]. July 15, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/. C-Libre, “Otro atentado a medio de comunicación en Honduras” [Another attack on a media outlet in Honduras]. (Tegucigalpa),l July 6, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/441. El Tiempo. Cofadeh constata daños por bombazo en Canal 11 [COFADEH confirms bomb damage at Channel 11].  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/crisis-politica/13-cofadeh-constata-danos-por-bombazo-en-canal-11

[582] Diario La Tribuna, Editorial “Libre Expresión” [“Free Expression”] August 18, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:  http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?cat=10&paged=3. “Queman carro repartidor de diario La Tribuna” [“They set fire to vehicle distributing La Tribuna], El Heraldo, (Tegucigalpa), August 15, 2009.

[583] Testimony of Carlos Mauricio Flores, deputy editor of the newspaper El Heraldo, as told to the Office of the Special Rapporteur during the on-site visit to Honduras.  (Tegucigalpa) August 20, 2009.  Flores said the following:  “The most recent visible attack came in the early morning hours of Saturday, August 15, when a number of unknown men threw five incendiary bombs.  Three of them exploded; two others, thrown at the second floor, fortunately did not explode.  Had it not been for the expertise and skill of the building’s security personnel, the building would have caught fire; we believe that was the objective of the attackers.”  Diario La Tribuna, “Lanzan bombas molotov contra diario capitalino” [Molotov cocktails hurled at capital city newspaper]. (Tegucigalpa), August 16, 2009. Also available [in Spanish] at: http://www.latribuna.hn/web2.0/?p=30005.

[584] Testimony of the owner of Channel 36, Esdras Amado López, given by phone to the IACHR on August 24, 2009.  Encapuchados sacan del aire al fundir transmisores de radio Globo y canal 36” [Hooded persons operate in the open to blow up Radio Globo and Channel 36 transmission towers], Diario Tiempo, August 24, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:
http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/el-pais/2706-encapuchados-sacan-del-aire-al-fundir-transmisores-de-radio-globo-y-el-canal-36
.

[585] Committee to Protect Journalists, “CPJ Alarmed by Suppression of Media in Honduras,” (New York) June 30, 2009.  Available at:
http://www.cpj.org/blog/2009/06/cpj-alarmed-by-supression-of-media-in-honduras.php.

[586] Testimony of Dagoberto Rodríguez, managing editor de Radio Cadena Voces, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009. Rodríguez stated that:  “a number of our colleagues were threatened at the protest marches.  Some were asked to show their identification. The [authorities] don’t have a right to ask that. They asked which media outlets they were associated with and told them they would be beaten if they didn’t answer.  Our colleagues identified themselves. Because of that, we didn’t cover the demonstrations staged by the Resistance group.  This was not because we didn’t want to; the ideal thing would have been to give them more coverage.  However, we felt that because of the threats that had been made and the fact that members of the Resistance block had become increasingly radicalized, we would have to stop covering their marches.”

[587] Comité por la Libertad de Expresión [Committee for Freedom of Expression]. June 29, 2009. Alerta: Bloqueo de Medios de Comunicación en Honduras [Warning: Media Blockout in Honduras]. Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/324. Radio la Primerísima. June 29, 2009. Periodista hondureño corre peligro: clausuran su canal [Honduran journalist in danger:  they are shutting down his channel]. Available [in Spanish] at: http://radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias/general/55729.

[588] C-Libre, “Continúan hostigamientos contra periodistas” [Harassment of journalists continues] (Tegucigalpa), July 3, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at:
http://www.movimientos.org/show_text.php3?key=14830. Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras, “Informe Preliminar Violaciones a Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the Context of the Coup d‘état]. July 15, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/.

[589] C-Libre, “Continúan hostigamientos contra periodistas” [Harassment of journalists continues] (Tegucigalpa), July 3, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at:
http://www.movimientos.org/show_text.php3?key=14830. Héctor Castellanos, e-mail received by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression on July 16, 2009.

[590] Héctor Castellanos, e-mail received by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression on August 13, 2009.

[591] Complaint that the CPTRT filed with the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009. During a press conference held at COFADEH offices, Lagos said the following:  “I have received mail by the post and electronic messages mentioning my mother and using words intended to scare me.  I understand this is a psychological war.  That doesn’t affect me.  I’m telling you right now, if something happens to me, those responsible will be the visible faces of the coup d’état.”

[592] Request for precautionary measures filed by the Center for Justice and International Law on July 20 and 22, 2009. 

[593] C-Libre, “Periodistas denuncian presiones para cancelación de contratos de publicidad” [Journalists denounce threats to cancel advertising contracts] (Tegucigalpa), July 21, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://movimientos.org/show_text.php3?key=15046.

[594] C-Libre, “Otro ataque contra la libertad de expresión en Honduras” [Another attack on freedom of expression in Honduras]. (Tegucigalpa), August 12, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/624

[595] De facto Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, Memorandum 731-DGAE-09 of October 20, 2009.

[596] Comité de Familiares Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras [Committee of Relatives of Detainees-Disappeared in Honduras], “Informe Preliminar Violaciones a Derechos Humanos en el marco del golpe de Estado en Honduras” [Preliminary Report on Human Rights Violations in the Context of the Coup d‘état]. July 15, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.cofadeh.org/.  Letter from CEJIL to the IACHR’s Executive Secretary, Santiago Canton. Received by the IACHR on July 23, 2009.  C-Libre/IFEX, “Two feminist movement radio programs censored.” (Tegucigalpa), July 14, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at:
http://www.ifex.org/honduras/2009/07/20/ cadena_voces_suspends_programmes/es/
.
Article 19, “Honduras: Early Warning Signs of Impending Crisis”, (London) July 28, 2009.  Available at: http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/honduras-early-warning-signs-of-impending-crisis.pdf.

[597] Testimony of Bertha Oliva, host of the COFADEH program “Voces contra el Olvido” [Lest We Forget], to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 2009.  Oliva said the following:  “They said it was because of the crisis the country was experiencing, even though we had a contract until December (…) The one who called was an administrative assistant; she told us not to transmit the program, because the station couldn’t air it.  She said this was temporary, not a big thing, and it was because of the situation in the country.  We asked her to send us the message in writing, but they never did.  We want them to notify us in writing.  And although we’ve contacted them about this four times, they’ve never done.”  C-Libre, “Radio América saca del aire programa radial”.[Radio América takes radio program off the air] (Tegucigalpa), July 22, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at:
http://hablahonduras.com/2009/07/23/alerta-radio-america-saca-del-aire-programa-radial-de-cofadeh-comite-de-familiares-de-detenidos-y-desaparecidos-en-honduras/.

[598] C-Libre/IFEX,Periodista despedido por oponerse al coup d’état” [Journalist fired for opposing the coup]. (Tegucigalpa), July 16, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at:
http://www.ifex.org/honduras/2009/07/20/ martinez_fired_diaz_barred/es/
. Reporters Without Borders, “International community urged to demand an end to news media lockdown by de facto authorities.” July 23, 2009.  Available at: http://www.rsf.org/International-community-urged-to,33960.html.

[599] Testimony of journalists Esdras López Amado and Eduardo Maldonado, as told to the IACHR during its on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 17, 20009. C-Libre, “Periodistas denuncian presiones para cancelación de contratos de publicidad” [Journalists denounce threats to cancel advertising contracts] (Tegucigalpa), July 21, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at: http://movimientos.org/show_text.php3?key=15046.

[600] C-Libre, “Impiden acceso en Casa Presidencial a periodista de Radio Globo” [Radio Globo journalist denied access to Presidential House]. (Tegucigalpa), July 13, 2009.  Available [in Spanish] at: http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/489. Reporters Without Borders.  July 23, 2009 “International community urged to demand an end to news media lockdown by de facto authorities,” July 23, 2009.  Available at: http://www.rsf.org/International-community-urged-to,33960.html. “Vuelven a Presidencial periodistas de Canal 36 y Radio Globo” [Journalists from Channel 36 and Radio Globo return to Presidential Residence], Diario La Tribuna (Honduras), August 13, 2009.

[601] Testimony of Esdras López Amado, taken by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression by phone on August 10, 2009.  C-Libre, “Más violaciones a la libertad de expresión del Gobierno de facto en Honduras” [More violations of freedom of express by Honduras’ de facto government]. (Tegucigalpa), August 10, 2009. Available [in Spanish] at:
http://conexihon.com/blog/archives/612?action=lostpassword.  “Vuelven a Presidencial periodistas de Canal 36 y Radio Globo” [Journalists from Channel 36 and Radio Globo return to Presidential Residence], Diario La Tribuna (Honduras), August 13, 2009.

[602] Testimony of Pedro Antonio Noriega Nieto, host of the program “Noticias en línea,” as told to the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression during the on-site visit to Honduras (Tegucigalpa), August 21, 2009.

[603] “Canal 36 asegura que el gobierno le sabotea la señal” [Channel 36 is certain that the government is sabotaging its signal], Diario Tiempo (Tegucigalpa), September 16, 2009.

[604] Web page for “Las Chonas”. October 17, 2009. Dictadura cierra tres programas radiales de mujeres [Dictatorship takes three women’s radio programs off the air].  Available [in Spanish] at: http://www.laschonas.com/cms/noticias.php?subaction=showfull&id=1255792139&archive=&start_from=&ucat=5&. Testimony of Mery Agurcia, COFADEH attorney, as told to the IACHR during its 137th regular session, November 3, 2009, Washington, D.C.

[605] Observations made by the State of Honduras to the IACHR’s Report, dated December 22, 2009 and signed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, p. 17, paragraph 43.

[606] IACHR, Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on the Status of Women in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.100, Doc. 17, 13 October 1998.

[607] I/A Court H.R., Miguel Castro Castro Prison vs. Peru Case, op. cit., paragraph 306; International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.  Case of Prosecutor vs. Jean-Paul Akayesu, Judgment of September 2, 1998. 

[608] I/A Court H.R., Castro Castro Prison vs. Peru Case, op. cit., paragraph 224.

[609] ECHR, Case of Aydin v. Turkey, Judgment of September 25, 1997, paragraph 83.

[610] United Nations, Commission on Human Rights. 50th session, Question of the Human Rights of All Persons Subject to Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, in particular:  torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.  Report of the Special Rapporteur Rapporteur, Mr. Nigel S. Rodley, submitted pursuant to the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1992/32. Doc. E/CN.4/1995/34 of January 12, 1995, paragraph 19.

[611] ECHR Case of Aydin v. Turkey, cit., paragraph 83; I/A Court H.R., Castro Castro Prison vs. Peru Case, op. cit., paragraph 311.

[612] I/A Court H.R., Castro Castro Prison vs. Peru Case, op. cit., paragraph 223.  See also, U.N., Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 11th session.  General Recommendation 19 “Violence against women.” Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 1 at 84 (1994), paragraph 16; United Nations Commission on Human Rights, 57th session, 2001, Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, submitted in accordance with the Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/45, “Violence against women perpetrated and/or condoned by the State during times of armed conflict (1997-2000)”, E/CN.4/2001/73, paragraph 44.

[613] ERIC, Violación a los derechos humanos fundamentales [Violation of basic human rights], op. cit.

[614] Amnesty International, Honduras: Human rights crisis threatens as repression increases, e-mail received on September 3, 2009. Testimony of D.X.F.S., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 14). Testimony of S.C.C.E., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 111). Testimony of H.S.M.S., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 206). Testimony of E.Z.A., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 1).

[615] Testimony of G.G., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 18, 2009 (No. 293).

[616] Testimony of A.V.O., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 21, 2009 (No. 243). Testimony of A.L.O.C. and J.P.M.A., taken by the IACHR en Tegucigalpa on August 17, 2009 (No. 123).

[617] Testimony of I.M., taken at the meeting of human rights defenders in San Pedro Sula on August 19, 2009.

[618] Testimony of M.U., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 21, 2009 (No. 222). Testimony of N.G.B., taken by the IACHR in Comayagua on August 20, 2009 (No. 87)

[619] Testimony of C.M.R., cited in CIPRODEH, Reporte de Violaciones [Report on Violations], op. cit.

[620] Testimony of T.J.R., cited in CIPRODEH, Reporte de violaciones [Report on Violations], op. cit..

[621] Communiqués from the Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz “Visitación Padilla” [“Visitación Padilla. Women’s Pro-Peace Movement]. Information received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 18, 2009 (No. 49). Testimony of S.M., taken by the IACHR at the meeting of social leaders on August 17, 2009.

[622] Testimony of S.M. Information supplied by the Movement of Feminists in Resistance and received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 488).

[623] Information supplied by the Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz “Visitación Padilla”, received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 18, 2009 (No. 49). On July 4, 2009, this organization was denied permission to broadcast its radio program “AQUÍ ENTRE CHONAS.”

[624] Observations made by the State of Honduras to the IACHR’s Report, dated December 22, 2009 and signed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, pp. 17-18, paragraph 44.

[625] “Llegan más denuncia a la Fiscalía contra directores de colegios” [Prosecutor’s Office receives more complaints against school heads], La Tribuna, August 11, 2009.  Information received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 17, 2009 (No. 115).

[626] The Office of the Special Prosecutor for Children and the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights authorized the parents to change the locks on the gates to the Escuela República de Costa Rica. “Padres de familia asumen mando en centros educativos” [Parents take charge at schools], El Heraldo, August 12, 2009
(No. 115).

[627] Testimony presented by the Asociación de Padres de Familia de la Escuela Normal Mixta Pedro Nufio [Parents Association of the Pedro Nufio Co-educational Teachers’ School], received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 18, 2009 (No. 114).

[628] An association composed of approximately 413 mothers and fathers.  Information received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 20, 2009.

[629]Denuncian a maestros por violar derecho a la educación de la niñez” [Complaints filed against teachers for violating children’s right to an education], La Tribuna, August 11, 2009 (No. 115).  Some teachers at the Instituto Abelardo R. Fortín, who continued to hold classes for 50 days, reportedly said that they were being threatened by leaders of the teachers’ unions.  One student at the Instituto Dr. Ramón Rosa in the city of Tocoa complained that the curriculum heads had allegedly been threatened for asking that the normal class routine be reinstated. Testimony of J.M.F.R., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 17, 2009 (No. 122).

Finally, some teachers had allegedly asked the government to guarantee their jobs if they resumed teaching, since the teachers’ union leadership had threatened to fire them from the unionized high schools unless they attended the demonstrations against the coup. “Dirigencia amenaza con expulsar a mentores de colegios magisteriales” [Union leadership threatens to expel teachers from unionized schools], La Tribuna, August 6, 2009.

[630] Testimony of Asociación de Madres y Padres de Familia por la Educación de nuestros niños, niñas y jóvenes “Volvamos a Clase” [“Association of Parents for the Education of Our Children and Youth ‘Let’s Get Back to Class’], taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 17, 2009 (No. 115).

[631] Instituto Esteban Mendoza, Colonia Kennedy; Instituto Blanca Adriana, Colonia Kennedy; Instituto Jesús Milla Selva, Colonia Kennedy; Instituto Abelardo Fortín, Colonia Mercado; Escuela John F. Kennedy, Colonia Kennedy; Instituto Abraham Lincoln, Colonia Kennedy; Escuela Juan Ramón Molina, Colonia San Miguel, Instituto Nimia Baquedano, Colonia Villa Olímpica; Escuela Gustavo Simón, Colonia Villa Nueva; Instituto Técnico Honduras, Colonia Kennedy; Instituto Policarpo Paz, Colonia Policarpo Paz; Central Vicente Cáceres, Colonia Tiloarque; Escuela República de Brasil, Colonia Guacerique; Instituto Pineda Ponce, Colonia Villa Nueva; Escuela José Trinidad Gómez, Colonia Las Joyas; Instituto 19 de Septiembre, Colonia 19 de Septiembre; Escuela 19 de Septiembre, Colonia 19 de Septiembre; Instituto Augusto Urbina Cruz, Villa Los Laureles; Escuela Carlos Roberto Reina, Colonia Rosalinda; Centro Básico Carlos Roberto Reina, Colonia Rosalinda; Escuela Rafael Pineda Ponce, Colonia 3 de Mayo; Instituto Monseñor Luis Alonso Santos, Colonia 3 de Mayo; Instituto Mixto Hibueras, Colonia Mercado. Information received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 17, 2009 (No. 115).

[632] The following institutions are named in the complaint: Escuela José Cecilio del Valle, Ajuterique, Comayagua: classes are not being given; Instituto Pol. Gregorio Consuegra, Ajuterique, Comayagua. Classes are not being given; Escuela Dominga Chirinos, San Francisco de Becerra, Olancho: the principal doesn’t want to have classes, but the teachers do;  Escuela Ibrahim Gamero Idiáquez, Colonia Zapote Norte, M.D.C.,F.M: classes are only given two days a week; Escuela María Auxiliadora, village of El Carril, Olanchito, Yoro: since June 20, 2009, only 3 days of classes have been held; Instituto Saúl Zelaya Jiménez, Comayagüela, M.D.C.: classes are only held twice a week; Escuela República de Costa Rica, Blv. Morazán, M.D.C.,F.M.: classes are not being held; Escuela 14 de Julio. Bo. El Bosque. Tegucigalpa. MDC: the Principal doesn’t want to open the school gates; Instituto Técnico Honduras, Colonia Kennedy, Teg. MDC: the Principal does not want to open the school gates; Escuela John F. Kennedy, Colonia Kennedy, Teg. MDC: the teachers want to have classes, but are being threatened; Escuela R.M. – El Nuevo Rosario, Nuevo Rosario, San Juancito, M.D.C.: since June 28, 2009, only 5 days of classes have been held; Instituto Modesto Rodas Alvarado, Colonia Santa Ana, Chamelecón, Cortés: class is held only twice a week; Escuela Antonia Carias, Aldea Casa Quemada, MDC,FM: classes are given from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. and no classes are held on Fridays; Instituto Adan Bonilla Contreras, Florida, Opatoro, La Paz: only 3 days of classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela Lempira, Florida , Opatoro, La Paz: only three days of classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela Ramón Calix Figueroa, Colonia Arcieri, MDC,FM: classes will be held on two or three days a week until the end of the year; Escuela Montes de Bendición, Comayagüela, MDC: classes are not being held; Escuela Ramón Ortega. Village of Upausupo, Vado Ancho, El Paraíso: the Assistant Principal is the only one giving classes; Escuela República de México, Guacamaya: no classes are being held; Escuela Emilio Amador Ponce, Las Delicias, San Jerónimo, Comayagua: classes are not being given on Mondays and Fridays; Instituto León Alvarado, Comayagua: some teachers do not show up at school; Escuela Fray Juan de Jesús Zepeda, Comayagua: some teachers do not show up at school; Centro Básico Miguel Paz Barahona, Joya Grande, San Antonio de Oriente, El Paraíso: only the first-grade teacher is giving classes; Escuela Cámara Junio N° 1, Colonia San Luis, Comayagüela, MDC: the principal is being threatened because she is holding classes; Jardín de Niños Miguel Paz Barahona, Village of Las Tapias, MDC: classes are not being given; Escuela Centro Americana, Colonia Centro Americana, Comayagüela, MDC: the course material for the second bimester was not taught; Instituto Abelardo R. Fortín, Comayagüela, MDC: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela Gregorio Donaire, village of El Rosario, Comayagua: classes are not being held; Instituto Opoteca, village of El Rosario, Comayagua: classes are not being given; Instituto Técnico Aleman, Blv. Nueva Orleans, San Pedro Sula: the students were assembled to collect food supplies for the demonstrators in exchange for points; Escuela José Cecilio del Valle, Colonia Villa Olímpica, San Pedro Sula: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela Dionisio de Herrera, village of El Cobre, San Antonio de Oriente, El Paraíso: no classes were given all year; Municipality of San Francisco Atlántica: no classes were given at any school; Escuela Policarpo Paz García, Trojes, El Paraíso: classes have not been held for more than a month; Instituto Mateo Molina, Perspire, Choluteca: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela Agrícola Luis Landa, Nacaome Valle: no classes were held for the entire year; INTAE, Tegucigalpa: the principal objects to the other teachers giving classes; Escuela Carmen de Carias, Agalteca, Cedros, Francisco Morazán: classes have not been held for more than a month; Instituto Rafael Pineda Ponce, Agalteca, Cedros, Francisco Morazán: classes have not been held for a number of days; department of  Santa Bárbara: most schools are not holding classes; Escuela José Castro López, Bo. Medina, San Pedro Sula: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela José Trinidad Cabañas, Bo. El Guanacaste, MDC: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela Juana Donatila Cruz, Colonia Aurora, Tocoa, Colón: this school has not had classes for more than a month;  Instituto Técnico Luis Bogran, Comayagüela, MDC: some teachers are not showing up for school;  Escuela República de Guatemala, Colonia Torocagua, MDC: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela José A. Espinoza, Colonia Las Brisas, San Pedro Sula: classes are not being held; Instituto 21 de Octubre, Colonia 21 de Octubre, MDC.:classes have not been held for more than a month and the teachers are asking the students to listen to Radio Globo and to watch Canal 36; Escuela 3 de octubre, village of Santa Rosa, MDC: some teachers are giving classes in Marxism and have the students sing the national anthem with their fists raised in the air; Instituto Francisco Miranda, village of Sambrano, MDC: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela República de Brasil, Comayagüela, MDC: classes have not been held for a month; Escuela República de Guatemala, San Antonio, Nueva Armenia, FM: some teachers only hold classes from Monday to Wednesday year-round; Escuela Polivalente San Martín, Tegucigalpa, MDC: classes have not been held for over a month; Escuela Bessy Watson de Reyna, Colonia Nueva Danlí, MDC: classes are only given 3 days a week and the children only go to play; Escuela República de Chile, Colonia 3 de mayo, MDC: some teachers don’t want to hold classes; Instituto Reynaldo Narváez Rosales, Colonia Las Torres, MDC: some teachers don’t show up for school; Instituto Augusto Urbina Cruz, Colonia Villa Los Laures, MDC: some teachers don’t show up for school; Instituto Gerardo Muñoz Hernández, Siguatepeque, Comayagua: classes have not been held for more than a month; Universidad Nacional de Agricultura, Catacamas, Olancho: the director announced that classes would only resume when they return President Zelaya to office; Escuela José Trinidad Cabañas, village of Azacualpa, Santa Elena, La Paz: some teachers don’t show up for school; Instituto Polivante 15 de septiembre, Santa Elena, La Paz: classes are only give three days a week and no classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela Cirilo Vindel, Colonia Altos del Loarque, Comayagüela, DC: the teachers are not holding class; Escuela Oscar A. flores, Colonia Izaguirre, Tegucigalpa, MDC: some teachers don’t show up for school; Escuela Amor Viviente, hamlet of  El Río, village of Victamo, La Unión, Olancho: classes are not being held; Escuela Atenea and Centro Básico, village of Quinito, Santa Fe, Colón: classes are not being held; Escuela Esteban Guardiola, village of San Juan de Río Grande, MDC: some teachers only hold classes from Tuesday to Thursday; Escuela José Trinidad Cabañas, village of El Durazno, MDC, FM: some teachers are not holding classes; Escuela José C. del Valle, San José de Guaymaca, Guaymaca, FM: no classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela Agustín Alonzo, Barrio el Manchen, Tegucigalpa: classes have not been held since June 28, 2009; Instituto Francisco Morazán, Sabanagrande, FM: 7 of the 42 teachers are not holding class; Escuela Pablo Zelaya Sierra, Ojojona, FM. Classes have not been held for over a month; Escuela Básica Lempira, Colonia Bella Vista, Choloma, Cortés: classes have not been held for more than a month; Escuela Francisco Morazán, village of Progreso de Capire, Trojes, El Paraíso: in the entire year, on 58 days of class have been held and since June 28, 2009 only six days; Instituto José Castro López, Cofradía, Cortés: a stoppage was declared for an indefinite period of time; Centro Básico Rogelio Pineda Muñoz, Saba, Colón: only 2 of the 10 teachers are giving class and are being threatened; Instituto 21 de Febrero, Colonia 21 de Febrero, Comayagüela, DC: classes are only held on Tuesday and Wednesday; Escuela La Libertad, village of Guanijiquil, Reitoca, FM. Classes are not held; Escuela Salvador Corleto, Aldea Suntule, Azacualpa: classes have not been held in over a month; Escuela Francisco Morazán, village of La Montera, Zambrano, FM. Only the 4th, 5th and 6th grade teacher is holding classes; Escuela Juan Ramón Molina, Colonia San Miguel, Tegucigalpa, DC: classes have not been held for a month; Escuela Jorge Fidel Duron, Colonia Las Ayestas, Comayagüela, DC: the teachers who want to hold classes are receiving death threats; Instituto Luis Alfonso Santos, Colonia 3 de mayo, Comayagüela, DC: the teachers who want to hold classes are receiving death threats; Instituto José Santos Guardiola, Gravembe, Roatán: classes are not given routinely; Escuela Ramón Rosa, Langue, Valle: only 3 of the 23 classes are giving classes; Olanchito, Yoro: classes are not being held in this municipality; Instituto Héctor Pineda Ugarte, Tegucigalpa: some teachers are not showing up for school; Escuela Alvaro Contreras, Bo. Abajo, Tegucigalpa: classes have not been held for a month; Instituto El Bosque, El Bosque, Tegucigalpa: classes have not been held for a month; Instituto 4 de septiembre, Saba, Colón: no classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela Marco Aurelio Soto, village of Guasculile, DC, FM: no classes have been held for a month; Escuela Centro Básico Agusto C. Coello, village of Las Flores, DC, FM: only three days of class have been held since June 28, 2009; Instituto Técnico Nueva Suyapa, Colonia Nueva Suyapa, Tegucigalpa: classes are not routinely held; Escuela La Fraternidad, Colonia La Fraternidad: only one teacher is not holding class; Instituto San José del Pedregal, Colonia El Pedregal, Comayagüela, DC: prior to June 28, 2009, more than two weeks of classes were lost and only three days of classes have been held since; Escuela Los Angeles, Valle de Angeles, FM: classes are not being held; Instituto Nimia de Baquedano, Villa Olímpica, Tegucigalpa: classes have not been held for a month now; Centro Básico Emilio Larach, Montes de Sinaí, Comayagüela, DC: classes are not routinely held; Instituto Patria, La Lima, Cortes: only three days of classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela Gabriela Mistral, La Lima Cortés: only three days of classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela José Trinidad Reyes, Colonia 11 de abril, Choloma, Cortés: four men threatened the teachers who wanted to hold classes; Escuela José C. del Valle, Bo. Guanacaste, Tegucigalpa, FM: only grades 1 to 4 are having classes;  Instituto Jesús Aguilar Paz, Comayagüela, DC, FM: no classes have been held since the start of April and since June 28, 2009, only two days of class have been held;  Escuela Rafael Pineda Ponce, Colonia La Independencia, Comayagüela, DC: one teacher does not want to have class; Escuela Manuel Zelaya Rosales, Colonia Calpules, Comayagüela, DC: three teachers are not holding classes; Escuela Juan Lindo, La Laguna de El Chaparral, Danlí: teachers are holding class from Tuesday to Thursday; Escuela Manuel García, Locomapa, Yoro: no classes are held on Mondays and Fridays; Escuela República de Chile, Colonia Flor #2, Comayagüela, DC: only three teachers are not holding classes; Escuela Gral. José San Martín, Colonia Ayestas, Tegucigalpa: classes are not being held; Escuela Miguel Paz Barahona, Los Encinos, Santa Ana, FM: classes have not been held since June 28; Instituto 21 de Octubre and Escuela República de Honduras, Marcala, La Paz: classes are not being held; Instituto Rafael Pineda Ponce, Colonia Villa Nueva, sector 2: only two days of classes have been held since June 28, 2009; Escuela Pablo Pérez Murillo, la Unión Trinidad, Santa Bárbara: classes are not being held; Escuela Centro Básico Manuel Paz Barahona, Hoya Grande, Moroceli, El Paraíso: classes are held only two days a week; Escuela República de Brasil, Bo. Guacerique, Tegucigalpa: only six days of classes have been held since June 28. Memorandum from the Office of the Special Prosecutor for the Protection of Children, No.  299-FEN-2009, dated August 10, 2009.  Information received by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 20, 2009 (No. 174).

[633] Testimony of the Federación de Sociedades de Padres de Familia en Defensa de la Educación Nacional [Federation of Parents Organizations in Defense of National Education], taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 20, 2009 (No. 174).

[634] Testimony of the Executive Board of the Sociedad de Padres de Familia [Parents Association], taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 20, 2009 (No. 174).

[635] COFADEH, Informe preliminar [Preliminary Report], op. cit.

[636] Testimony of A.I.L., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 2).

[637] Testimony of V.L.F.L., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 3).

[638] Testimony of M.N.A.M., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 21, 2009 (No. 233).

[639] Testimony of R.A.T.H., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 272).

[640] Testimony of M.J.Z., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 441).

[641] Testimony of L.O., cited in CIPRODEH, Reporte de Violaciones [Report on Violations], op. cit. Testimony of E.S., taken by the IACHR in El Paraíso on August 20, 2009. Testimony of M.E.M., taken by the IACHR in El Paraíso on August 20, 2009. Testimony of H.R.N.Z., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 21, 2009 (No. 228).

[642] Testimony of D.A.C., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 19, 2009 (No. 307). Testimony of O.R.R.M., taken by the IACHR in El Paraíso on August 20, 2009.

[643] Information that COFADEH supplied to the IACHR on November 5, 2009.

[644] Observations made by the State of Honduras to the IACHR’s Report, dated December 22, 2009 and signed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, p. 18, paragraph 45. 

[645] Testimony of L.O. and F.P. Information received by the IACHR on November 3, 2009. 

[646] Note from J.J.M.Z., dated August 24, 2009.  Information received by the IACHR on November 3, 2009.

[647] Public Prosecutor’s Office, record of the inspection of the Escuela Urbana Juan Manuel Galvez on August 3, 2009.  Information received by the IACHR on November 3, 2009.

[648] Juvenile Court Judge, record of August 21, 2009.  Complaint from N.M.P.P., dated August 24, 2009.  Information received by the IACHR on November 3, 2009.

[649] Office of the Special Prosecutor for Children, Memorandum of August 17.  Information received by the IACHR on November 3, 2009.

[650] Secretariat of Security, National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Memorandum of July 28, 2009.  Memorandum from the Public Prosecutor’s Office dated August 6, 2009.

[651] Testimony of G.L.G., S.F., G.P., cited in CIPRODEH, Reporte de violaciones [Report on violations], op. cit. CONADEH, Memorandum 45 CONADEH D.R.L.A. dated July 24, 2009.

[652] Office of the Departmental Director of Education of Atlántida, Memorandum 061-DDEA-09 of July 17, 2009.

[653] Memorandum from the Public Prosecutor’s Office to the Departmental Director of Education of Atlántida, dated August 14, 2009.

[654] Superior Court of Accounts, Memorandum 251/2009-DPC, dated August 28, 2009.  Information received by the IACHR on November 3, 2009.

[655] Superior Court of Accounts, Memorandum 251/2009-DPC, dated August 28, 2009.  Information received by the IACHR on November 3, 2009.

[656] Information supplied to the IACHR during the meeting with the Office of the Attorney General in Tegucigalpa on August 18, 2009 (No. 485).

[657] Testimony of M.A.P.M., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 20, 2009 (No. 271).

[658] Case Files LNR 0101-2009-00108, Judgment of September 11, 2009, La Ceiba Trial Court for the Protection of Children and Adolescents.

[659] CODEH, e-mail received at the IACHR on September 1, 2009.

[660] “Maestros no deben cobrar salario: Custodio” [Custodio: Teachers Ought Not to Be Paid], El Heraldo, July 15, 2009.

[661] “El 31 de octubre termina año escolar en Honduras” [School year ends on October 31 in Honduras], El Heraldo, October 5, 2009. Executive Decree PMC-M-021-2009 was published in the Official Gazette on October 7, 2009.

[662] Testimony of M.A.P.M., taken by the IACHR in Tegucigalpa on August 20, 2009 (No. 271).