Congress Members Urge Obama to "Break the Silence" on Honduran Rights Violation

[Judi Lynn]

Congress Members Urge Obama to "Break the Silence" on Honduran Rights Violation
Submitted by rick on Wed, 10/28/2009 - 19:00.

Oct 27, 2009

Members of Congress wrote a strongly worded letter to President Obama,
urging him to denounce human rights violations under the Honduran coup,
saying it was time to "break the silence." The letter also seeks to
break the impasse that has thrust the Central American nation into
daily rounds of violence and violations under the military coup.

The
letter (full text below) applauds the Obama administration's
condemnation of the coup but notes that over the past months it has
remained silent in the face of human rights abuses, including deaths at
the hands of security forces. It also notes the special role and
responsibility of US influence in ending the de facto regime led by
Roberto Micheletti.

"Though we commend the administration for
having strongly stated their support for the restoration of democracy
in Honduras, we are concerned that neither you nor the Secretary of
State has denounced these serious human rights abuses in a country
where US influence could be decisive."

According to Capitol Hill
sources, the letter—signed by eight Congressional members and
leaders—was drafted and issued rapidly to respond to events in Honduras
that could reach a defining moment this week. Today State Department
envoy Tom Shannon will be in Tegucigalpa to seek a resolution to the
stand-off, caused by the coup's refusal to allow the reinstatement of
President Zelaya. A new delegation from the Organization of American
States will also converge on the beleaguered nation in a last-ditch
attempt at new negotiations.

The letter to Obama seeks to infuse the seemingly endless negotiations with the urgency they deserve. It says:

"It
is now more urgent than ever to break this silence. It is critical that
your Administration immediately, clearly and unequivocally reject and
denounce the repression by this illegitimate regime. We can say
sincerely and without hyperbole that this action on your part will save
lives."

With this letter, the Congressional group aims to break
the inexplicable silence of the State Department on human rights and to
break the political impasse.

The timeline on negotiations in Honduras has become a lit fuse.

President
Zelaya remains in the Brazilian Embassy, surrounded by military units
and threatened with immediate arrest by coup security forces.
Micheletti is betting that Nov. 29 elections—even without international
recognition, and without the participation of large parts of the
Honduran population—will still prove to be the whitewash of legitimacy
the coup leaders so desperately seek to maintain and consolidate power.

The
delaying tactics of the de facto regime—luring Zelaya and the
international community into mediation and talks that it never intended
to accede to—have pushed the crisis into four months, with just over a
month to election day. Many groups believe it will now be impossible
under any circumstances to organize free and fair elections.

The letter addresses the elections in no uncertain terms:

"It
is time for the administration to join this growing hemispheric and
international consensus and unambiguously state that elections
organized by an undemocratic government that has denied critics of the
regime the right to free speech, assembly, and movement, cannot and
will not be considered free and fair by our government."

As
rumors of an imminent breakthrough flood the Internet, frustration has
grown in Honduras and around the world. It wasn't supposed to happen
like this. Thousands of lives have been sacrificed in Latin America to
put the days of military coups behind us, and although we know that
history is not a linear progression toward civilization many of us
believed that the blatant subversion of democracy through a military
coup would no longer be acceptable. The international community
responded with a unified and firm condemnation of the coup. Yet somehow
a handful of wealthy Hondurans, backed up by a small military force,
have felt they had the power to confront their own people and the world.

This
letter calls on the Obama administration to state publicly and
unequivocally that it does not overtly or covertly support the coup,
that it will stand up for human rights, and that it will not support
elections under an illegal government. The Congress members' strong
words find echo among other members of Congress and growing organized
groups of constituents, including US human rights groups, faith-based
organizations, and common citizens who shudder at the prospect of a
return to a hemisphere where dictators are allowed to walk among
democracies.

The State Department stated it would not support
coup-run elections, but leaks indicate that at least some strong
currents within the Clinton team would indeed find even seriously
flawed elections to be a convenient out. This ambivalence, left
unclarified by State spokespersons, fuels suspicions in Latin America
that powerful Washington interests would prefer the coup to a
left-leaning democracy in Honduras, and are not afraid to support
subversion of democratic processes to do it.

It is time for the
Obama administration to draw together with a single voice for human
rights and democracy and end the Honduran stand-off by developing a
firm, coherent and non-violent strategy to assure the immediate
reinstatement of President Zelaya and constitutional order.

See the full text of the letter from Congress members to President Obama below.

More:
http://www.mediaisland.org/en/congress-members-urge-obama-quotbreak-silencequot-honduran-rights-violation

[Peace Patriot]

1. Hear, hear!

"This letter calls on the Obama administration to state publicly and unequivocally that it does not overtly or covertly support the coup, that it will stand up for human rights, and that it will not support elections under an illegal government."

:applause: