On June 28, 2009 a military coup was perpetrated in Honduras. This was unanimously condemned by the international community and even led the Organisation of American States, OAS, General Assembly to suspend Honduras in its participation in interamerican system on July 4, 2009 [1]. Nevertheless, the de facto government (chaired by Mr. Roberto Micheletti) insisted on arguing that what happened in this country was a "constitutional succession," a process, according to them, empowered by the Constitution of Honduras.
Since the breakdown of constitutional order, following the coup of June 28, there is in Honduras a political crisis, which has mostly been expressed in the flaw of the institutions. While it is true that before the coup the judiciary, prosecutors and the Attorney General's Office were already institutions controlled by groups of economic and political power, after the coup the little credibility and institutionalism broke down completely, especially because they supported and continue to support the thesis of "constitutional succession", in order to provide legitimacy to the events that led to the institutional breakdown.
In the case of the Supreme Court it is necessary to note that since the coup and during the de facto government five public statements were issued setting out their position in support of the coup [2]. To cite an example, in a statement dated July 20, 2011 states: "Our Constitution provides the mechanism for the replacement of the possession of the Presidency of the Republic, in order to uphold the rule of law and constitutional order , so we recognize the full functioning of the branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. "
Also, through the Personnel Office of the Supreme Court of Justice, an invitation was issued on June 30, 2009 for that all employees and judicial officers to participate, in working hours, to a support mobilization for the breaking the constitutional order, to which many of them attended. The literal text of the note reads [3]:
Since that moment, is very well known that the judiciary could not stand as an independent power, that is, to serve as a limit to the other powers; in fact, the same body has been willing and docile to the demands of the de-facto and political groups, and through its actions lacking legitimacy due to his role in the constitutional fracture and the poor protection of fundamental rights that the court has undertaken before, during and after the coup.
In particular, the Judiciary, through the courts and tribunals, failed in its duty to guarantee effective resources for the protection of people: hundreds of people filed for habeas corpus that were not solved in due time, numerous claims of unconstitutionality and writs of protection were dismissed by formal requirements or based on unfounded criteria. In this regard, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the following [4]:
"The institutions responsible for the protection of human rights and ensuring the rule of law in many cases failed to meet this mandate, mainly due to the lack of independence.
... In the period covered by this report, the lack of independence of the judiciary and unequal and discriminatory application and interpretation of the law has been evident. The prosecutors, judges and the Supreme Court, in general, have supported the de facto authorities defending restrictive measures at the expense of human rights protection and respect for the rule of law ..."
Also regarding the lack of fulfillment of its duty to guarantee the rights of citizens through the use of appropriate resources and visibly acting with parciality, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission [5] has stated:
"The actions of the Supreme Court present a striking contrast between the speed and diligence with which General Vasquez Velasquez was cleared and the multiple difficulties and delays imposed on the resources for the defense of other Honduran citizens. The day that the judiciary gets to protect all citizens as effectively as it did with the general, we could see an end to impunity in Honduras. "
Similarly, numerous reports of human rights violations have not been investigated by the General Attorney and the few criminal charges filed have been resolved by dismissals, as is the case of the Joint Chiefs of Command who carried out the capture and expatriation of Manuel Zelaya or the other military officers, to whom it is attributed the arbitrary closure of media stations.
In summary, contrary to what should be its role, the judicial apparatus has been manipulated to persecute people who opposed the coup, or that keep protesting today (teachers, trade unionists and peasants, for example), processing quickly dozens of criminal charges against the protesters, which constitutes the criminalization of social protest.
Furthermore, this manipulation of the institutions that had a duty to protect the rights of citizenship has involved, therefore, a pattern of political persecution [6] against sectors of the population opposed the coup and that continue, in different ways, to demand the return of constitutional order.
This biased action of the Supreme Court has been most evident in the arbitrary dismissal, in May 2010, of which we four judges were victims, due to their opposition to the coup [7], arguing that our actions were of a politically partisan, and therefore constituted misconduct justifying dismissal. However, all those judges who spoke out in public in favor of the coup and attend marches "for democracy" were not subject to any disciplinary action, but rather, many of them were "rewarded" by the Supreme Court of Justice with promotions or raises, or simply ensuring job security.
Another case that reveals the bias of the Honduran justice is the one involving the Attorney Enrique Flores Lanza, former Minister of the Presidency of José Manuel Zelaya Rosales: With his house arrest and the imposition of a fine of approximately 1.5 million dollars - under the threat that if he does not pay it he will be sent to prison - the hopes of the Honduran people to move forward on a path of understanding and reconciliation have been tarnished, breaching the Agreement for National Reconciliation and Consolidation of the Democratic System in the Republic of Honduras, better known as the "Cartagena Agreement" [8]. And, moreover, it has clearly been shown that judges and magistrates in Honduras are obeying the orders of political groups of power who developed, implemented and maintained the breakdown of constitutional order in our country.
In addition, since the coup multiple violations have been perpetrated against the population that, as noted by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights [9], includes "serious violations of human rights of its inhabitants, including deaths, arbitrary declaration of state of emergency, repression of public demonstrations by a disproportionate use of force, criminalization of social protest, arbitrary detention of thousands of people, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and poor detention conditions, the militarization of the territory, an increase in incidents of racial discrimination, violations of women rights, serious and arbitrary restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and serious violations of political rights. The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights also established the inadequacy of legal resources to protect human rights ". Noting that this report was published in December 2009 and, from that date, the violations have continued and expanded.
With all these problems and with a system of "injustice" as it exists in Honduras at this time, only driven by politically motivated acts and therefore with no willingness to investigate and punish the perpetrators of the coup and the multiple human rights violations as well, it is important that we can count on the instances that the Inter-American Human Rights Commission has, which at the end will condemn the Honduran State for not accomplishing its commitments to the protection and surveillance of human rights of its own population.
But it is also very important the existence of the International Criminal Court, through which it can be possible to deduce criminal liability to persons who has undertaken or directed these actions that constitute crimes against humanity. Since last November 2010 the preliminary examination is open to Honduras and during the first days of October this year visited the country, as representation to the General Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court, the Judge Baltasar Garzon and the attorney Eugenia Valenzuela, thus opening a possibility to find justice, that should be driven by everyone in the world that struggles for a true democracy.
The fight against impunity is long, difficult and with many sorrows, however, we know that with the joint efforts of Hondurans in resistance and with the support of the peoples of the world, we will make true the words of Salvador Allende [10]: "Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a better society."
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[1] Resolutions AG/RES. 1 (XXXVII-E/09) y AG/RES. 2 (XXXVII-E/09), from 1 and 4 of july respectively, of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States, resolution 63/301 dated July 1, 2009, General Assembly of the Organization of American States, notice 42/09 June 28, 2009 emitted by the Inter-America Human Rights Commission.
[2] Five official statements from different dates: June28, 2009 statement; June 30, 2009 special statement; July 20, 2009 statement; July 31, 2009 statement; y Institutional approach of the Supreme Court of Justice, August 21, 2009.
[3] See numeral 83 of the preliminary observations of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission from its visit to Honduras on May 15-18, 2010.
[4] See report of the High Commissioned of human right of the United Nations about the human rights violations since the coup of June 28, 2009, numerals 67 and 68.
[5] See “Para que los hechos no se repitan: Informe de la Comisión de la Verdad y la Reconciliación”, published July 2011, Volume I, page 372
[6] See “Cronologías de los Hechos: Informe de la Verdad y la Reconciliación”, July2011, Volumen II, pages 536 - 539.
[7] See “Observaciones Preliminares de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos sobre su Visita a Honduras realizada del 15 al 18 de mayo de 2010”, subsection D. Harassment and persecution of judges and magistrates, numerals 77 al 86.
[8] the Agreement for National Reconciliation and Consolidation of the Democratic System in the Republic of Honduras, signed past may 22 by Porfirio Lobo Sosa and the former president, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, and as witnesses the presidents of Colombia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Juan Manuel Santos and Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, establish on one of its sections: “ the commitment of the Government of Honduras to guarantee the former President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales and the other former members of his government, the exercise of all their liberties and political action of all the guarantees provided in the Constitution of the Republic and the laws of Honduras, for that taking necessary special measures for personal safety " also: " 3. Deepening the guarantees for the return in safety and freedom to the former government officials of former President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales and others affected by the crisis who are now outside the country, with full recognition of their rights under the Constitution and laws of Honduras "
[9] See the Inter-American Human Right Commission Report “Honduras: Derechos Humanos y Golpe de Estado”, VI. Conclusions, numeral 551
[10] Taken by the last words of the president of Chile, Salvador Allende, on September 11,1973, when he lost his life in the Palace of La Moneda at been overthrown by the military coup of Augusto Pinochet.
