Former President Zelaya's Report on the Situation of Honduras 1
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Appendix 3 – Former President Zelaya’s Report on the Situation of Honduras ORIGINAL TEXT IN SPANISH REPORT ON THE SITUATION IN HONDURAS Santo Domingo, July 9, 2010 Regarding the resolution adopted at the fortieth regular session of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States “[t]o form a High-Level Commission composed of persons appointed by the Secretary General to analyze the evolution of the situation referred to in Resolution AG/RES.1 (XXXVII-E/09).” FACTORS AND BACKGROUND WORTH NOTING The report of the OAS Secretary General on the status and situation of the resolution on the coup d’état in Honduras (AG/RES.1-XXXII-E/09), which he submitted to the OAS General Assembly at its fortieth regular session in Lima, Peru states and concludes that all the efforts and initiatives undertaken by the Organization to comply with the mandate assigned therein were in vain. Tegucigalpa/San José Agreement. The Agreements and suggestions promoted by diplomatic efforts and initiatives, backed by governments, were never implemented because of the de facto regime’s radical refusal to comply with them, which effectively doomed them to failure. That was what happened with the so-called Tegucigalpa/San José Agreement or “Guaymuras Dialogue,” the main purpose of which was to restore President Zelaya to office, along with other related obligations, such as the establishment of a Commission to verify compliance with the Agreements, the organization of a Government of Reconciliation and Unity, the holding of elections under the reconstituted rule of law, and the installation of a Truth Commission. Since the principal obligation related to the OAS mandate of restitution of the Constitutional President was not met, the legitimate Government denounced the Agreement to the OAS because of noncompliance with the Agreement on the part of those who had perpetrated the coup d’état. Consequently, all the obligations derived from the Agreement were then null and void. ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION REFERRED TO IN OAS RESOLUTION AG/RES.1 (XXXII-E/09), COUP D’ÉTAT IN HONDURAS 1. The restoration of democracy and the rule of law (AG/RES.1 / XXXII-E/09) According continuity to the coup d’état, and in violation of all the resolutions adopted and the mandates contained therein, the de facto regime of Roberto Micheletti Baín 1 Appendix 3 – Former President Zelaya’s Report on the Situation of Honduras managed to achieve its goal of holding elections under duress and handing over government to his successor, Porfirio Lobo Sosa. Having assumed office, and despite acknowledging that there had been a coup d’état in Honduras, Lobo Sosa has neither made an effort nor complied with even elementary requirements to restore democracy and the rule of law and thereby achieve international recognition. During Mr. Lobo Sosa’s government, the immunities, privileges, and impunity of the perpetrators and instigators of the violent disruption of the constitutional order have been systematically reinforced. The institutional integrity of the Honduran State is still being usurped by the perpetrators and accomplices of the coup d’état, who continue to hold public office and take steps impeding the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Honduras. The most glaring evidence of that is the following: No punishment has yet been meted out to those who violated State institutions by forging, executing, legitimizing, and justifying the coup d’état of June 28, 2009 and all the offenses and breaches of the law that went with it. The National Congress appointed Roberto Micheletti Baín a Congressman for life, as a reward for having violated the constitutional order; suspended constitutional rights and guarantees; permitted and abetted falsification of the Constitutional President's signature in order to publish his fictitious resignation; allowed and attempted top legitimize the kidnapping, expulsion, and persecution of President Zelaya and senior officials in his government, and installed a regime for massive and selective repression of peacefully demonstrating citizens: a flagrant violation of human rights and crimes against humanity, in this case against the Honduran people, as well as other related crimes and offenses. The National Congress adopted an amnesty decree applicable only to the perpetrators of the coup d’état, granting impunity to the most abominable crimes and violations of human rights to the detriment of the defenseless population of Honduras. The Supreme Court dismissed all proceedings against the military command responsible for executing the coup d’état and for crimes against humanity. The Supreme Court dismissed judges opposed to the coup d’état. Perpetrators and accomplices of the coup d’état remain in office and unpunished, as do the Attorney General and the Magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, who are engaged in politically motivated judicial prosecution of President Zelaya and senior officials in his government. Proceedings fabricated after the coup d’état are 2 Appendix 3 – Former President Zelaya’s Report on the Situation of Honduras still running their course. The Government of Porfirio Lobo Sosa has incorporated into his government perpetrators and accomplices of the coup d’état, who are currently performing the most important functions directly for the Executive Branch. The wave of repression, persecution, and political crime which began on June 28, 2009 has systematically increased and become consolidated and institutionalized. No initiatives have been taken that suggest a political will to restore democracy and reconciliation by re-establishing the freedoms, rights, and civil and political guarantees of President Zelaya, senior officials in his Government and opponents of the coup d’état and current regime who are members of the National Popular Resistance Front and victims of repression and politically motivated judicial persecution, of defamation in the media, and of threats to their physical safety and honor, as a means of intimidating and sidelining them proper to the reign of terror created in Honduras. 2. Restitution to office of the Constitutional President, José Manuel Zelaya. AG/RES.1/XXXII-E/09): President Zelaya was not restored to the office to which he was elected, in free, transparent, and legitimate elections, by the Honduran people, in the presence of OAS, United Nations, and European Union observers. Valiant efforts by the international community and governments in the Americas, mediation initiatives, and agreements to that end were all totally in vain and were never implemented. Before and after his government was installed, Porfirio Lobo Sosa publicly acknowledged that a coup d’état had been carried out in his country and, in the Agreement signed with the President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández, on January 20, 2010, he recognized the ongoing validity of the investiture of José Manuel Zelaya Rosales as Constitutional President. Nevertheless, nothing has yet been done to restore the rights and guarantees that, in his own right and because of that investiture under the Constitution, pertain to former President Zelaya after the conclusion of the period for which he was elected legitimate representative of the sovereignty of the people. On the contrary, like other senior officials in his Government, President Zelaya remains in exile, still deprived of his constitutional rights and guarantees. He and his officials are being persecuted politically with judicial proceedings invented after his kidnapping and expulsion from his country, in an attempt to justify the coup d’état. Meanwhile the repressive regime remains implacable in its flagrant violation of the human rights of the population in general and of the regime’s opponents in particular. 3. Refusal to recognize the regime that arose from a rupture of the constitutional order (AG/RES.1 (XXXII-E/09) 3 Appendix 3 – Former President Zelaya’s Report on the Situation of Honduras Although the international community resolutely refused to recognize the de facto regime led by Roberto Micheletti Baín, the elections of November 30, 2009 created a transition to impunity and contempt of international opinion that is still in effect today. The elections were challenged as illegal and not recognized by the majority of Hondurans, and as having taken place without the participation of a considerable number of candidates for elected office, who decided not to run. The elections were held without the presence of international observers to validate the results and in violation of international treaties and conventions to which Honduras is party (Vienna Convention, human rights, and democratic rights). The elections of November 30 were held in the midst of a bloody repression, with civil rights suspended and harassment of the opposition media, in a militarized country subjected to systematic violation of human rights. The opposition in resistance had no part in the elections, after hundreds of candidates elected in primaries the year before resigned, and the Constitutional President was exposed, along with his family, fellow citizens, journalists and embassy officials, to constant harassment and torture in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. IN CONCLUSION 1. The initial coup d’ état, assessed as such by the OAS and condemned by all, could not be reverted, due to the failure of all the diplomatic moves undertaken by the Organization of American States, despite all its efforts to “achieve the restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Honduras and the reinstatement