[WASHINGTON, 8 March 2010] - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has condemned the murders of three people in Honduras last month who had actively opposed, or were related to people who opposed, last year's coup d'etat.

It has also deplored the kidnappings, arbitrary detentions, acts of torture, sexual violence, and illegal raids to which members of the resistance have been subjected.

Threats against activists' children

The Commission has recently received information indicating that the children of activists are being threatened and harassed, and, in two cases, killed, as a strategy to silence opponents.

In one such instance, on 17 February 2010, 17-year-old Dara Gudiel was found hanged in the city of Danlí, in the department of Paraíso. Dara Gudiel was the daughter of journalist Enrique Gudiel, who runs a radio programme called “Siempre al Frente con el Frente” (“Always Upfront with the Front”), which broadcasts information about the resistance. Days before she was found dead, Dara Gudiel had been released after having been kidnapped and held for two days, during which time she was alleged to have been physically mistreated.

These events are taking place in a context of grave harassment directed against active members of the resistance in Honduras. More than 50 detentions, eight cases of torture, two kidnappings, two rapes, and one raid have been reported by members of the resistance in the last month.

Commission presses for immediate action

The Commission urges Honduras to adopt immediate measures to guarantee the rights to life, humane treatment, and personal liberty of all its citizens, stating that all persons, without distinction, must be equally protected in the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and political participation.

The IACHR finds it necessary to reiterate that political and social participation through public demonstration is essential in the democratic life of societies. People from all political sectors have the right to fully and freely exercise their right to freedom of expression and their right to assembly, without violence and in accordance with the law and with inter-American standards for the protection of human rights. As the Commission and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights have indicated, States not only must not interfere with the exercise of these rights, but they must also adopt measures to ensure that these rights can be exercised effectively.

Read more here.

Further information

• Honduras: NGO statement on children's rights (Coordinadora de instituciones privada pro las niñas, niños, adolescentes, jóvenes y sus derechos, octubre de 2009)
• HRC: Council bars Honduras ambassador  (September 2009)
  
• Honduras: Inter-American Commission requests measures to protect child rights advocates (July 2009)
• More on child rights in Honduras
  

Organisation Contact Details:

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
1889 F St. N.W.
Washington DC
Tel: +1 202 458 6002
Email: cidhoea@aos.org

Last updated 09/03/2010 05:40:19