TFH01: G-16 MEETINGS WITH SUPREME COURT, ATTORNEY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000789 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/20/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM HO SUBJECT: TFH01: G-16 MEETINGS WITH SUPREME COURT, ATTORNEY GENERAL, AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 744 ¶B. TEGUCIGALPA 687 ¶C. TEGUCIGALPA 661 ¶D. TEGUCIGALPA 56 Classified By: Charge d'affairs Simon Henshaw, reasons 1.4 (d) ¶1. (U) Summary. Representatives of the Group of 16 donor countries (G-16) met on August 18 and 19 with the Supreme Court, the Attorney General's office, and the National Commission on Human Rights. The meetings were held in response to a G-16 letter raising concern about the human rights situation in Honduras. During the meetings, the Supreme Court indicated it will publically release its opinion of the San Jose agreement after an internal commission completes its work on August 20. In addition to providing updates on various human rights cases, Attorney General Luis Alberto Rubi made clear he does not support the amnesty proposed in the San Jose Accords, but acknowledged that Congress holds the power to grant amnesty. Human Rights Commissioner Ramon Custodio Lopez, as in the past, downplayed allegations of violations of human rights. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On August 18, PolOff and other G-16 donor country representatives met with Supreme Court President Jorge Alberto Rivera Aviles and the other magistrates of the Supreme Court. Court magistrates said that there was very little they could do to immediately protect human rights until a case makes its way through the judicial system. Rivera said that the Court's meeting with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was productive and that the Court established an emergency phone number to register any violations of human rights. He claimed that no calls have yet been received, but admitted this may be due to a lack of advertisement of the number. Rivera also announced that the Supreme Court will publicly issue their opinion of the San Jose agreement after the end of an internal commission review to be completed August 20. ¶3. (C) PolOff met on August 19 with the G-16 donor country representatives and the Attorney General's office. Attorney General Rubi stated unequivocally that his office opposed the amnesty proposed in the San Jose agreement and that he would remain opposed even if Congress did approve such a measure. Rubi said that President Zelaya "must return and face the charges," and that under no condition would the Attorney General support what he characterized as impunity. Rubi concluded with a laundry list of alleged incriminating evidence against the Zelaya government including large amounts of cash, jewelry, and music specially prepared for the celebration of a Constituent Assembly. ¶4. (U) Special Prosecutor for Human Rights, Sandra Ponce, updated the group on the status of various cases of alleged human rights abuses, most notably the cases of minors detained during August 13 protests in Tegucigalpa (Reftel A), as confirmed by the office of Attorney General. Two of the minors were returned to their parents and the third, a sixteen year old, has been charged with vandalism. Ponce confirmed the August 1 death of teacher Roger Vallejo (Reftel B) following injuries sustained in a Tegucigalpa protest on July 30. She indicated the initial investigation does not rule out that a police firearm was used. Finally, Ponce confirmed that Pedro Magdiel Munoz (Reftel C) did not appear in the police registry of arrests. Munoz was found dead near the border of Honduras and Nicaragua on July 25 with over 50 knife wounds. ¶5. (U) The Attorney General also confirmed that corruption Charges have been brought against President Zelaya and his cabinet, including Minister of the Presidency Enrique Flores Lanza, Minister of Energy Rixi Moncada Godoy, and Minister of Finance Rebeca Santos. The Special Prosecutor confirmed the arrest warrants have been sent to INTERPOL. ¶6. (C) Human Rights Commissioner Ramon Custodio Lopez explained to the representatives of the G-16 donor countries on August 19 that his organization continued to investigate all complaints of human rights violations. He minimized the situation, and stressed that there have only been a few TEGUCIGALP 00000789 002 OF 002 deaths, not hundreds, and that his organization had located the three people who were supposedly missing. The Commissioner spent a large portion of the meeting defending that his organization was not "part of the state," and complained that various international human rights observer groups produced critical reports of the human rights situation without meeting with him. As an example, he cited the Amnesty International report released on August 19. Custodio admitted there were limits on press freedom early after the coup, but said that there were no longer any violations of the freedom of expression. He also admitted there had been acts of police aggression early after the coup, but that this was mostly due to violent protestors. In response to questions about the August 1 death of teacher Roger Vallejo, Custodio stated that while he should not have lost his life, he should have been in the classroom and not protesting in the streets. ¶7. (C) On two occasions during the meeting, Custodio mentioned the United States. First, he described a phone call he received from the Ambassador during the negotiations in January 2009 to formulate a new Supreme Court (Reftel D). He characterized the phone call from the Ambassador as an attempt to impose candidates for the Supreme Court and concluded that if the make up of the Supreme Court had been different than it turned out, Honduras would be "worse off." Custodio also referenced the loss of his diplomatic visa to the United. He concluded his remarks by stating that his hope was that the crisis would result in Honduras being less dependent on the international community. ¶8. (C) Comment. The Supreme Court, Human Rights Commission, and Attorney General continue to defend the June 28 coup and the de facto regime. They continue to lobby against the San Jose Accords. Human Rights Commissioner Custodio, formerly an internationally respected human rights advocate, has become nothing more than a mouthpiece for the regime and has done nothing post-coup to promote human rights in Honduras. Elements of the Attorney General,s office, specifically the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights, appear to have put forth respectable efforts to address human rights violations, but continue to be plagued with a lack of personnel and resources. End comment. HENSHAW