TEGUCIGALPA RESPONSE FOR THE DEMOCRACY AND DISSIDENTS

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000429 STATE FOR DRL/SEA SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL HO SUBJECT: TEGUCIGALPA RESPONSE FOR THE DEMOCRACY AND DISSIDENTS OUTREACH REQUEST REF: (A) 2007 STATE 88465, (B) 2007 STATE 108924, (C) 2008 STATE 44903 ¶1. (U) Summary. Embassy Tegucigalpa utilizes several strategies to advance the President's Freedom Agenda. Post officials at all levels meet routinely with HR and democracy activists. U.S. Government participation in bilateral and multilateral efforts strengthens nongovernmental and civil society organizations working on democracy and Human Rights (HR) issues. More than anything, Post officials meet with NGOs and other advocates to learn about the needs of the country and then advocate for these issues with government officials and other important individuals. Post officials arrange events on HR and democracy topics, attend events sponsored by NGOs and institutions, arrange Digital Video Conferences with experts, give speeches, and place interviews and op-eds in the media. Post is involved in training government officials, including police and military officials, judges, lawyers, and NGO workers. Post is not aware of any dissents from un-free nations who are living in exile or seeking asylum in Honduras. We have seen positive results, but Honduras still has systemic problems that stunt its advancement in these areas. End Summary. Events with HR and Democracy Themes -------------- ¶2. (U) Post officials routinely meet with HR and democracy activists and attend events sponsored by these groups to show our support. We attend virtually every HR event we are invited to. Post officials have given public speeches on HR and related topics at least six times in the past year. In addition, we sponsor luncheons, Digital Video Conferences (DVCs),and workshops and work with the media to publicize HR issues. Post's program of meeting with the HR and democracy community centers around the yearly release of the HR Country Report for Honduras, when post hosts a luncheon with NGO, civil society, and governmental leaders in the HR field. Through this formal event Post is able to make and maintain important contacts in this field. The event also serves as an opportunity for post to plan additional activities with our contacts. This year, post is organizing additional workshops on "Freedom of the Press" and "HR and Security" with HR NGOs and officials. In addition, Post representatives sponsored forums on electoral reforms, civil rights in the United States, and women's rights. We organized DVCs on �0A;topics such as women in politics and prison reform (which included protecting the rights of prisoners). In addition, Public Affairs (PAS) has worked hard to publicize HR and democracy issues, and has been able to place op-eds and interviews. The Ambassador wrote an op-ed on labor day and labor rights. PAS organized a press roundtable on the eve of the President's speech on CUBA with the PolCouns who had served a tour there to dispel myths and detail human rights abuses in Cuba. Through all of these activities, post has been able to reach out and address the needs of those previously unheard. Meetings with Officials and NGOs -------------- ¶3. (U) In addition to the yearly lunch and other events, a review of political section files shows that post officials meet with HR and democracy activists an average of ten to fifteen times a month. A representative sample of meetings includes everything from quick meetings to discuss specific issues to working with our HR partners on strengthening institutions, supporting investigations, and facilitating training. Since the arrival of the Political Counselor in September 2007, post has met with HR and democracy activists over 150 times. Post officials traveled across Honduras to facilitate meetings with those who could not afford to travel to the capital city. These visits included meeting with representatives of the various indigenous groups on the northern coast and in the Mosquitia region, and labor unions in the maquila plants around San Pedro Sula. Post has almost daily communications with the HR Commissioner and HR Organizations and NGOs that support democracy in Honduras such as: Casa Alianza; the Permanent Forum for Civil Society; Democracy Without Borders; Catholic Relief Services; the three Prosecutors in charge of Children, Corruption, and Women's issues; the Association for a More Just Society; PROJUSH (NGO pushing for judicial reform); Save the Children Honduras; Cumple y Gana (labor rights NGO); Institute for Access to Public Information; the Federation of Organizations for Development in Honduras; the National Democratic Alliance; and the various unions (Confederation of Workers of Honduras, the General Confederation of Workers, and various individual unions, such as the one for the Honduran phone company workers). These wide arrays of meetings have given us a greater understanding of the needs of the country and allowed us to press authorities on these issues. Post then takes up these issues with government officials and important individuals, including President Manuel Zelaya, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez, Vice President Elvin Santos, government Ministers, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, the Attorney General and other prosecutors, and National and Liberal Party leaders. Training -------------- ¶4. (U) In the past year, Post sent twelve law enforcement officials to training courses that include a module on HR. We also selected several candidates for International Visitor Leadership Programs in the HR field, including the HR Commissioner's right-hand person, and lawyers and judges who are intimately involved with reforming the judicial system. We sent seven law enforcement officials and prosecutors to training programs in TIP and HR issues at the International Law Enforcement Academy in San Salvador, and we have provided transportation costs to two of the HR Prosecutors so that they could attend training programs in HR at American University in Washington, D.C. Our joint efforts with DOD to transform the Honduran Armed Forces into a modern force have included mandatory HR training for hundreds of soldiers, especially for the Honduran Peacekeeping Unit, which hopes to deploy internationally in 2008 to support peacekeeping missions around the world. Results -------------- ¶5. (U) Results in HR are hard to measure in Honduras, as there is a lack of reliable reporting by Honduran government institutions. However, in the past year, Post has seen a measurable increase in HR reporting in the local media, especially in regards to TIP issues. The increased media attention has, in turn, prompted police to increase its investigations and arrests under the new TIP law, and involve other GOH offices, like the Municipality of Tegucigalpa, which is currently sponsoring a program with an NGO to protect children living in the streets. The GOH has made such advances, despite being the third poorest country in the hemisphere, that G/TIP is considering removing Honduras from the TIP Watch List. Post has also seen an increase in the number of HR cases being investigated and prosecuted, often to respond to our requests. For example, Post intervened repeatedly to urge the Ministry of Security and the Attorney General's office to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the murder of Dionisio Diaz Garcia of the NGO Association for a More Just Society (ASJ). After one year of pressure, the investigations have gone forward and the suspects were finally arrested and are awaiting trial. In another example, PolCouns intervened to request that the Ministry of Security investigate the murder of the manager of a U.S.-owned lumber company. The day following the request, the police sent a large team to the remote site and began a robust investigation. These indicators suggest that our influence can and is wielded positively. We believe that all these efforts have resulted in an increased awareness of HR and democracy issues, as well as increased capacity by police, prosecutors, and courts to investigate and pursue HR cases. ¶6. (U) Comment. Post believes its efforts in publicizing HR and democracy issues, sponsoring HR events, educating and training HR and democracy activists, and strengthening Honduran institutions has played a role in these increases. At the same time, Honduras remains a country at a crossroads. Although there is more awareness of HR abuses and a slightly more professional criminal justice system, there still remains a startling lack of transparency, rule of law, and high incidence of corruption and violent crime. End Comment. FORD