Secretary of State Clinton Should Promote Thorough Accountability for Human Rights Violations in Honduras

WASHINGTON D.C. (March 4, 2010):  Human rights organizations today called on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to use her visit to Central America this Friday to urge that the Honduran Truth Commission carry out a thorough and independent study of all abuses. This investigation should include human rights violations, since June 2009 coup, as a step forward combating impunity.

Secretary Clinton is expected to meet with Central American leaders, including newly installed Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, in Guatemala on March 5. The letter sent has been signed by the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF).

A Truth Commission, coordinated by former Guatemalan Vice-President Eduardo Stein, is expected to begin work in Honduras later this month to look into events surrounding the coup.  Since the coup, at least seven people died and thousands faced illegal arrest and ill-treatment. Further investigation on these human rights violations must be examined by the Truth Commission and those responsible brought to justice.

The human rights organizations, however, are concerned that these human rights violations will be ignored.  Recent steps strengthening impunity suggest that powerful forces still oppose any form of accountability for the coup and its accompanying repression.  In January, former coup leader Roberto Micheletti was named “congressman for life,” effectively barring him for prosecution for his role in the coup.  Military officers, charged with abuse of authority for the capture and forced exile of the president, were granted a stay of proceedings and a blanket amnesty was enacted with ill-defined terms.  On February 22, a trial court judge in Tegucigalpa, unquestionably terminated the process of two other military officers who had illegally seized Radio Globo’s equipment, a local media radio station, on the basis of the new Amnesty Law.

In this climate, it is especially urgent that the international community support Mr. Stein in his work to carry out his independent investigation. To guarantee its integrity the human rights groups argue that the truth commission must not be a substitute for judicial action.  Instead, it should be a step toward ending the impunity that human rights violators have traditionally enjoyed in Honduras.

In addition, based on lessons learned from previous truth commissions, the human rights coalition called on Secretary Clinton and the international community to ensure that the following lessons from previous truth commissions are incorporated:

1. Function:   the work of the commission must contribute to establishing the facts of the events surrounding the coup; acknowledge how individuals’ rights were violated; and provide recommendations that will prevent further violations.

2. Competence:  the mandate of the commission must be clearly defined, sufficiently broad, and must be centered on the victims of human rights violations.  It should have the authority to determine the facts and assign individual or institutional responsibility for human rights violations as well as the structural weaknesses that allowed the coup to take place.

3. Prerogatives:  the commission must have the power to gain access to all testimonies, documents, and other evidence that can contribute to establishing the facts.  Those individuals or institutions assigned responsibility for human rights violations must be given opportunity to defend their actions.

The work of the truth commission should be transparent and widely publicized. It should hold public hearings in which victims or their relatives are encouraged to testify. Adequate conditions must be created so that those giving testimony feel psychologically and physically safe to do so. There also must be adequate available to protect witnesses.  When necessary, the commission should be able to take confidential testimony from witnesses and victims.

4. Structure:  Victims and organizations of civil society should be widely consulted on the design, implementation, and evaluation of the work of the Truth Commission in order for it to have the necessary legitimacy. The process for choosing members of the commission should be transparent and consultative.  Criteria for members should include experience, independence, and high ethical standards.

5.  Resources and Powers:  The Commission should be fully staffed with expert investigators with the technical expertise needed for the task.  Once the members have been selected, they should have complete autonomy to name their staff.

The human rights groups argue that the Truth Commission must not be a substitute for judicial action. Instead, it should be a step towards ending the impunity that human rights violators have traditionally enjoyed in Honduras.

Contacts in Washington D.C.:

Vicki Gass, Senior Associate on Rights and Development.

(202) 797-2171/ vgass@wola.org

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)

Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director.

(202) 546-7010/ lisah@lawg.org

Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF).

Mauricio Herrera, Director of Communications.

(202) 319-3000/ mherrera@cejil.org

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)