HONDURAS UPDATE AUGUST 17 2009

By Emile Schepers

1. HUMAN RIGHTS FACT FINDING MISSION ARRIVES IN HONDURAS. A delegation of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights, an OAS entity, arrived in Honduras today to look into charges of human rights abuses by the coup regime headed by Roberto Micheletti. The group will meet with coup government officials, members of the opposition and human rights organizations in sessions that will last all this week. The Honduran coup government says that it is probable that the group will come to unfair conclusions. On the other hand, civil society groups in Honduras such as the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared Detained in Honduras and the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, as well as the umbrella group leading opposition protests, the National Front Against the Coup d’Etat, members of president Zelaya’s government and others will present evidence of disappearances, beatings, arrests and murders.

2. ON THE STREETS AGAIN. The protests against the coup and for the return of Manuel Zelaya to the presidency continue in Honduras. The National Front Against the Coup d’Etat and the Unified Workers’ Federation (FUTH) marched again yesterday to greet the delegation of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. The protesters stress that they are not giving up on the idea of a constituent assembly to reform the constitution. The coordinator of the Front and president of the FUTH, Juan Barahona said that protests will continue as long as it takes to achieve victory, according to Prensa Latina.

3. U.S. MILITARY SAYS NOT INVOLVED IN LOGISTICS OF OUSTING ZELAYA. The U.S. government says that the U.S. was in no way involved in the logistics of kidnapping President Zelaya and whisking him out of the country on June 28. Previously members of the Zelaya government had said that the airplane that moved Zelaya from Tegucigalpa to San Jose Costa Rica had made a fueling stop at the Palmerola (Soto Cano) air force base, which is jointly run by Honduras and the United States, suggesting collusion by U.S. personnel there.

4. STATE DEPARTMENT TO MEET WITH COUP DELEGATION. A delegation from the Micheletti coup government is in Washington D.C. this week to carry out individual meetings with representatives of the member governments of the Organization of American States. A State Department representative will meet with them, but state says that he will meet with them just as individual Honduran public figures and will not recognize them as officials of the Honduran government. State says it will keep pushing the Arias plan.

All for now.