TFHO1: THIRD ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001204 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM HO PHUM SUBJECT: TFHO1: THIRD ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1120 ¶B. TEGUCIGALPA 1121 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY. The third annual Honduran National Human Rights Conference was held in Tegucigalpa on November 18 and 19 with a theme of "Strengthening our Culture in Human Rights Towards Peace and Democracy." In the opening session, university professor Ramon Romero and political consultant Efrain Diaz argued that weak institutions in Honduras could not handle the political crisis before June 28, but that elections should be part of the solution to the crisis. In a later panel on the role of human rights organizations, various conflicting, polarized, and some anti-U.S. views were shared. The Special Prosecutor for Human Rights defended her office's response to the crisis in the face of criticism from the human rights community. During a final panel on press freedom, a group of academic experts argued that the role of the media since June 28 has been activist and not objective. END SUMMARY. Democracy According to Academics -------------- ¶2. (U) The inaugural session of the conference on November 18 was entitled, "The Democratic Culture in Honduras" and was presided over by National Autonomous University Professor Ramon Romero and political consultant Efrain Diaz Arrivillaga. Romero argued that his research had shown a slow deterioration in public confidence of government institutions based on the latest data from 2008 and that the organizations with the highest public confidence in Honduras were the press and the Catholic Church, which are those organizations that influence thinking and shape public opinions. Professor Romero said that the events of June 28 demonstrated that Honduran institutions were not strong enough to withstand the political crisis that took place between the branches of government. The other presenter, Efrain Diaz, was much more theoretical in his presentation and stated that Honduras needs a hopeful vision for the future, similar to the recovery efforts Honduras experienced after Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Honduras in 1998. He described the crisis as the culmination of the long held conflict between "those that want change and those that do not want change." ¶3. (U) During the question and answer period, both Romero and Diaz said that elections have to be considered as part of the solution to the crisis along with the restoration of the constitutional order and the restitution of President Zelaya. They asserted that the presence of military at the polls should not be allowed to rob citizens of the right to vote. They encouraged participation in the elections because voter turnout can provide legitimacy and in turn a solution to the crisis. They noted that Hondurans are the ones that render the election legitimate, not the OAS or anyone else. Diaz closed the presentation by suggesting that the resistance movement should continue as a social movement and possibly even formulate a more formal political character. He encouraged young people, in particular, to take on leadership roles in this movement. The Role of Human Rights Promoters -------------- ¶4. (U) Poloff attended on November 19 a panel discussion entitled, "Institutional Crisis and the Role of Human Rights Promoters," which included The Special Prosecutor for Human Rights Sandra Ponce and the major human rights groups in Honduras and was moderated by Reina Rivera, the executive director of the Center for the Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights (CIPRODEH). The executive director of the Committee for the Family of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH),Berta Oliva, proved to be the most vocal critic of Ponce's response to the crisis. ¶5. (U) During the conference panel, Oliva was outspoken and passionate about the inability for free and fair elections under the current political situation. She said that she thought the conference was a waste of time and that all her other colleagues want to do was "talk," instead of acting in the protection of human rights. With the exception of Special Prosecutor Ponce, all of the panelists made the argument that the de facto regime had a formal policy of violating human rights. TEGUCIGALP 00001204 002 OF 002 ¶6. (U) In response to the criticism of the panel, Ponce defended her office's work in the period following the coup d'etat by saying that the bar is high for the type of evidence they must submit to a judge showing abuses and that due diligence in this regard takes time. Special Prosecutor for Human Rights Johny Cezar Mejia, who works in Honduras, second largest city, San Pedro Sula, affirmed that prosecutors had not been ordered to ignore human rights violations. In an effort to show results, Mejia pointed out that contrary to popular belief, the Public Ministry has completed investigations that have led to serious charges against high level officials (reftel A & B). Blaming the US -------------- ¶7. (U) Dr. Eliomara Lavaire, a staff member of the Center for the Treatment of Victims of Torture and their Families (CPTRT),was critical of the US. During her public presentation, she said that Honduran security forces had been "trained in torture" at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) and that this implicitly "involved the armed forces of the United States" in the repression. (Note: This opinion was markedly different from that of the organization's director, Dr. Juan Alemendares, who told Poloff in October that he appreciated US leadership on the human rights issue since the coup. End Note (ref A).) During her presentation, Lavaire alleged that, since the coup, there have been 4,000 thousand arbitrary detentions, 475 cases of torture and "thousands and thousands of other human rights violations." Freedom of the Press -------------- ¶8. (U) The conference concluded with a panel entitled, "The Role of Media Outlets in the Management of Information in a State of Crisis and Instability." The panel included professors Daniel Matamoros, Sergio Bahr, Vilma Gloria Rosales, and the former director of the Honduran IRS (DEI), Armando Sarmiento (who is completing a PhD in journalism in Argentina). The panel was in agreement that most of the press in Honduras since June 28 has not been objective, instead acting as activists for the de facto regime. Saramiento presented data developed from press coverage of President Zelaya's proposal to hold a constituent assembly, in order to argue that the press coverage in Honduras leading up to June 28 was also biased. Vilma Gloria Rosales, who also sits on the board of directors of the press freedom NGO, Committee for a Free Press, argued the most convincing evidence of the media,s anti-Zelaya bias was its June 28 treatment of the coup as a normal event. LLORENS