CLASHES AT BORDER PROTESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000661 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/27/2019 TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI DS SNAR HO SUBJECT: CLASHES AT BORDER PROTESTS Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b & d). ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Conditions along the Honduras-Nicaragua border where pro-Zelaya demonstrators have congregated across from the encampment of President Zelaya have become a potential flash point for an escalation to violence in the Honduran political crisis. Human rights groups have lodged protests that the de facto regime's security forces, both police (HNP) and military (HOAF),are denying freedom of movement throughout the country, and at the border area have prevented protestors, human rights activists, and relief workers passage in or out of the cordoned-off areas. Post is seeking further information and clarification on numerous reports of possible violence attributed to the situation along the border, and will continue to report on matters as we learn more. End summary. -------------- CONDITIONS ALLEGEDLY GET VIOLENT -------------- ¶2. (SBU) HNP used non-violent and allegedly violent means to break up protests urging the return of President Zelaya near the Nicaraguan border on July 24 and 25. According to human rights organizations, three Hondurans were injured after police opened fire on protesters gathered at the Nicaraguan border on July 24. (Comment: Post is currently trying to verify these reports and get the names of those injured. End Comment) Similar reports indicate that approximately 30 protesters were arrested that same day and later released. The body of Pedro Ezequiel (also identified as Pedro Magdiel Munoz Salvador),age 24 from Tegucigalpa, was found on the morning of July 25 with a multitude of knife wounds which some are reporting are proof that he was tortured. These same human rights groups claim that they have testimony and possibly a video as evidence indicating that the HNP did in fact detain Ezequiel. HNP spokesperson Orlin Cerrato denied that Ezequiel had been detained and maintained that Gerson Evenor Vilches Almendarez was the only protester arrested on Friday. (Note: While the appearance of a body so close to the border area is in itself suspicious, such deaths are also common within the context of gang violence nationwide. Honduras has one of the highest murder rates in the hemisphere. Post is continuing to pursue more reliable information on this case. End note.) -------------- REGIME TRIES TO CONTROL PROTESTERS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Throughout the weekend, there were reports of various well-known Zelaya-supporters being detained including agrarian leader Rafael Alegria and twelve members of the Coordinating Group of Honduran Indigenous Populations (COPINH). Security forces have set up approximately 20 roadblocks along the border across from Zelaya's encampment in Nicaragua and a 24-hour curfew has been put in effect in the area to control and limit the crowds of protesters. Reports indicate that throughout the country, security forces have commandeered buses of protesters to stop them from arriving at the border area. The First Lady Xiomara Castro and her family were prevented from reaching the border by authorities, allegedly out of fear for their safety, but have not/not been detained as some groups allege. ¶4. (C) Protesters who successfully reached the border have been prevented from leaving the area by security forces, who also prevented resupply of food or water to the groups. Embassy contacts say the exact number of protesters stranded is difficult to tally, because they are in isolated clusters cut off from each other by security forces. On July 26, the HNP and HOAF allowed the Honduran Red Cross to deliver food and water to the protesters stranded in the border zone. Special Prosecutor for Human Rights German Enamorado has been delayed at numerous roadblocks en route as he works to reach the zone with six Honduran human rights lawyers in order to verify the alleged human rights violations taking place. (Note: Enamorado is currently replacing Sandra Ponce who was abruptly sent to Chile for training on July 17. End note.) ¶5. (C) Comment: These events are especially troubling as they TEGUCIGALP 00000661 002 OF 002 appear to represent a further deterioration in the human rights situation. We will continue to press the Attorney General, HNP and HOAF regarding allegations of human rights abuses, as well as liaise with human rights NGOs who are working in the border area. Even those elements of the GOH who were once impartial defenders of human rights have become highly partial, even apologists for the de facto regime since June 28, making the work of verifying claims of abuse even more difficult. Up to this point in the crisis, there has been only one death that can be attributed to the crisis with certainty. Nationwide, both the protests and the responses from security forces have been surprisingly peaceful, but as conditions worsen for both sides in the remote border zone, the potential for violence and violent repression becomes much greater. End Comment. LLORENS