Quixote Center, HRW: Honduras: Reject Amnesty for Abuses During Coup

[Downwinder]

Fri, 12/11/2009 - 4:34pm |

(Washington, DC) - The proposal by Porfirio Lobo, winner of Honduras' disputed presidential election on November 29, 2009, for an "amnesty for all" of those involved in the June coup d'état violates the country's international obligations and undermines the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said today.

The election was organized by the de facto government, and has been recognized only by the United States and four Latin American countries. The de facto government took over after the military coup, on June 28, ousted the sitting president, Manuel Zelaya. He urged his supporters to boycott the election.
"A blanket amnesty would flout Honduras' obligation to ensure that all victims of rights violations can obtain a remedy, and set a precedent for granting impunity to abusers," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch.

Honduras is party to several international legal treaties that impose an obligation to protect fundamental rights and to remedy their abuses, including by investigating and prosecuting the violators as appropriate. These treaties also guarantee victims an effective legal remedy, including justice, truth, and adequate reparations.

Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on the de facto government to repeal repressive decrees, stop blocking human rights inquiries, and investigate abuses -

including allegations of killings, excessive use of force, and illegal and arbitrary detentions.

"The abuses committed during the coup and its aftermath need to be investigated, not swept under the carpet," Vivanco said. "Without a full and impartial inquiry, the legitimacy of any government will be called into question."

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/11/honduras-reject-amnesty-abuses-during-coup

http://www.quixote.org/honduras-reject-amnesty-abuses-during-coup

[Peace Patriot]

1. The golpistas are just following Big Brother's lead--immunity for the really big criminals

--the mass murderers, the torturers, the rippers up of constitutions, the master thieves--the Bush's, Cheney's, Rumsfeld's and Mitcheletti's--while petty thieves and drug possessors and all the "little guys" get prosecuted to the max.

"We need to look forward, not backward"--but only when it comes to the heinous crimes of the uber-rich and uber-powerful. We "look backward" well enough at crimes committed by the poor IN THE PAST.

You know, people have vilified Bush as a poor speaker, and have praised Obama as a brilliant one. True enough. But I found that statement of Obama--"we need to look forward, not backward"--appallingly stupid, or, probably more accurate, an appalling insult to the intelligence of the American people. (Obama is not stupid--he's a constitutional scholar, for chrissake.)

Crimes that get investigated and prosecuted are all IN THE PAST. We NEED to look BACKWARD to enforce the RULE OF LAW. Or else we are creating a future of lawlessness--and in these two cases, golpista and Bushwhack crime--lawlessness AT THE TOP.

A nonsensical, stupid, insulting and appalling statement!

And how the golpistas--the Bushwhacks of Honduras--want the same for themselves.

---------------------------------

Zelaya broke no law, and murdered, tortured, raped, unfairly imprisoned, beat up, tear-gassed and threatened NO ONE. He was a very good president with a 67% approval rating. The golpista charges against him are bullshit. So, to speak of these things in the same breath--the awful crimes of the golpistas and the entirely trumped up charges against Zelaya--is, in itself, a "Big Lie." In a democracy, Zelaya would not need immunity or asylum or anything else. He did nothing wrong. They ousted him because he favored the poor--with policies like raising the minimum wage--and because the U.S. supported them in destroying Honduran democracy.