© Mike Kollöffel
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| Man carrying automat pistol by the riversite of Rio Sico and Rio Paulaya village of Tocamacho at border of Colon and Gracias a Dios |
In a letter to the European Union from the European NGOs and their Latin American counterparts, attention is called to the fact that the human rights situation in Honduras has deteriorated substantially since the Coup D’etat last year.
The NGOs and their network urge the European Union to put Honduras high up on the agenda and address the situation in the poor Central American country.
Put Honduras on the agenda
| CSO letter to the EU |
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In a letter to Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the civil society organizations (CSO) network ALOP, APRODEV, CIDSE, CIFCA, FIAN International, Grupo SUR and OXFAM also express their concern regarding Honduras' low profile on the agenda of the European Union.
“The human rights situation in Honduras continues to be extremely serious,” the letter says, emphazising that Honduras is far from attaining a state of normality.
Increase in killings and threats
“In the context of the Universal Periodic Review of Honduras at the United Nations Human Rights Council on 4 November 2010, we would like to draw your attention to a number of serious concerns regarding the human rights situation in Honduras, and urge the EU to take concrete actions to improve the situation.”
The letter mentions that since the coup d’état on 28 June 2009 and the taking office of the Government of Porfirio “Lobo” Soza “there has been an increase in threats, harassment and killings of human rights defenders, social leaders, journalists and members of the National Popular Resistance.”
Alarming that financial support continues
The Government of Honduras has also installed a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”
However, "this Commission has a series of limitations that compromise the seriousness of its functioning and the results that it can obtain,” the NGOs state in their letter.
They call it “alarming” that the EU has continued its financial support to certain sectors in Honduras.
“In the context of the foregoing, we are profoundly concerned that the EU, despite the coup d’état and the current situation in Honduras, has not changed its development cooperation policy towards Honduras. It is especially alarming that the EU has continued its support to the Programme of Support to the Security Sector (PASS) with planned support of 44 million euros.”