Sending Office: Honorable Janice D. Schakowsky
Sent By:
Aaron.Weinberg@mail.house.gov
Deadline: COB Monday, October 22, 2018
Current Signers: Jan Schakowsky,
Edward J. Markey, Richard J. Durbin, Patrick Leahy, Jack Reed, Jeffrey A. Merkley, Benjamin L. Cardin, Robert P. Casey, Jr., Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr., Marcy Kaptur, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Keith Ellison,
Adriano Espaillat, James P. McGovern, Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Barbara Lee,
Luis V. Gutiérrez, Mark Pocan, Yvette D. Clarke, Bobby L. Rush, Peter Welch, Danny K. Davis, Jimmy Panetta, Jared Huffman,
Anna G. Eshoo, Paul D. Tonko, Joseph P. Kennedy, III, José E. Serrano, Frederica S. Wilson, Bill Foster
Dear Colleague,
Please join us in sending a letter to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressing concern about the false accusations and threats against human rights defenders, journalists, and international human rights observers in Honduras,
including threats against U.S. citizens. A recent wave of smear campaigns have escalated the danger facing Hondurans and others who document or attempt to speak out against abuses to their land rights, freedom of association and the press, and other basic
rights.
Journalists have received death threats. Tegucigalpa police chased and attacked a journalist who refused to hand over his camera, and beat and teargassed another reporter while she was covering a student protest. Multiple social media attacks have been launched
against journalists covering illegal mining and hydroelectric dam projects.
Threats have been levied against human rights advocates, including Americans such as Annie Bird, the director of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission Smear campaigns have extended to targeting U.S. human rights groups, including delegations led by Witness
for Peace. The Honduran government has also denied entry or expelled non-Hondurans (including Americans) for documenting human rights violations.
The letter requests that the Trump administration:
- communicate concern to the Government of Honduras and request that it investigate these attacks, determine if state security was involved, and bring the perpetrators to justice;
- provide Congress with a detailed assessment of the efficacy of current Honduran government efforts to protect freedom of expression;
- reassess its certification of human rights conditions in Honduras;
- immediately investigate threats against American citizens;
- report the findings of the investigation to Congress;
- include in the report what actions the administration has taken in response; and
- forcefully issue a public statement of concern regarding the pattern of attacks, making clear that violations of basic human rights are unacceptable and contrary to human rights conditions placed on U.S. security assistance.
For more information or to sign on, contact Syd Terry with Rep. Schakowsky (Syd.Terry@mail.house.gov or 52111) or Satrajit (Jitu) Sardar with Sen. Markey (Satrajit_Sardar@markey.senate.gov
or 42742).
Sincerely,
|
Jan Schakowsky Member of Congress |
Edward J. Markey United States Senator |
October XX, 2018
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Trump:
We are deeply troubled by the false accusations and threats against human rights defenders, journalists, and international human rights observers in Honduras, including threats against U.S. citizens. A recent wave of smear campaigns[1]
escalated the danger facing Hondurans and others who document or attempt to speak out against abuses to their land rights, freedom of association and the press, and other basic rights. We request your immediate assistance to address four specific issues.
First, journalists have received death threats[2], including Sandra Maribel Sánchez[3], the long-time Tegucigalpa correspondent for the Jesuit-owned station
Radio Progreso. The station and its staff, including director Rev. Ismael Moreno Coto, S.J.[4] (Padre Melo), have also been threatened. Tegucigalpa police chased and attacked a journalist[5]
who refused to hand over his camera and beat and teargassed another reporter[6] while she was covering a student protest. Multiple social media attacks have been launched against journalists covering illegal mining
and hydroelectric dam projects. Those defending against these projects—in particular, members of the Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ)—have also faced serious attacks.
Second, threats have been levied against human rights advocates, including Americans. Smear campaigns have extended to targeting U.S. human rights groups, including delegations led by Witness for Peace. Ongoing public intimidation campaigns continue
against the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and the family and an attorney of murdered environmentalist Berta Cáceres.
Third, the Honduran government has denied entry or expelled non-Hondurans for documenting human rights violations.[7] Those have included citizens from[8]
the United States[9], Spain, Italy, Germany, France and Canada. In February, three reporters from the Associated Press who reported that the leadership of the National Police had engaged in drug trafficking, were
threatened with severe legal action and seizure of their phone records[10]. Additionally, Billy Joya, the reported death squad leader, has threatened political opposition leaders and Bertha Oliva, the director
of the Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH).
Fourth, in late September, a U.S. citizen, Annie Bird, the director of the Guatemala Human Rights Commission, and a British citizen, Nina Lakhani, a reporter for
The Guardian, were subjects of an intimidation campaign in the press that, falsely accused them of fomenting armed rebellion.[11] For more than a decade, Bird has been documenting human rights abuses in
Honduras, focused on the Aguán Valley. She has twice previously been the subject of verbal threats from Colonel German Alfaro, former director of the Honduran military in the Aguán and presumed head of military intelligence for the
Honduran Armed Forces. Lakhani is the most prominent foreign journalist writing about the Cáceres case.
This is an alarming pattern that continues to escalate. We ask that
you immediately communicate your concern to the Government of Honduras and request that it investigate these attacks, determine if state security were involved, and bring the perpetrators to justice. Furthermore, we ask that you direct
the State Department to provide Congress with a detailed assessment of the efficacy of current Honduran government efforts to protect freedom of expression and that the State Department reassess its certification of human rights conditions in Honduras.
We also request your administration immediately investigate threats against American citizens, report the findings to Congress, and include in the report a description of the actions taken in response. Finally, we request that you immediately
and forcefully issue a public statement of concern regarding the pattern of attacks. The statement must make clear that violations of basic human rights are unacceptable and contrary to conditions placed on U.S. security assistance.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Members of Congress
CC: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
[1] http://defensoresenlinea.com/las-campanas-de-descredito-y-de-odio-siempre-preceden-la-muerte/
[2] https://criterio.hn/2018/08/23/oacnudh-expresa-su-preocupacion-ante-amenazas-contra-la-periodista-sandra-maribel-sanchez/
[3] http://www.canadianjesuitsinternational.ca/2018/08/27/threat-against-honduran-journalist/
[4] http://www.pasosdeanimalgrande.com/index.php/en/contexto/item/2268-gobierno-orquesta-campana-de-odio-y-desprestigio-en-contra-de-defensores-de-ddhh
[5] http://www.clibrehonduras.com/index.php/alertas/agresion-fisica/880-antimotines-golpean-a-camarografo-que-realizaba-cobertura-a-manifestacion
[6] http://www.conexihon.hn/index.php/libertad-de-expresion/748-brutalidad-policial-contra-periodista-de-conexihon
[7] https://www.cjr.org/analysis/honduras-us-embassy-journalists-election.php
[8] http://defensoresenlinea.com/carta-abierta-a-los-respetables-miembros-del-cuerpo-diplomatico-internacional-y-organismos-internacionales-con-presencia-yo-enfoque-en-honduras/
[9] https://twitter.com/reedlindsay/status/938507810970710016
[10] https://www.ap.org/ap-in-the-news/2018/ap-objects-to-honduran-top-cop-s-ask-for-phone-records
[11] https://cpj.org/2018/09/freelance-reporter-covering-environmental-activist.php
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