ACT members strongly condemn Coup d’Etat in Honduras
NEWS STORY | UPDATED: July 2, 2009
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — On Sunday 28 June, the state of law in Honduras was violated by the Honduran army, interrupting the constitutional order, and violently expelling President Manuel Zelaya Rosales from the country, transferring him to Costa Rica.
In Honduras demonstrations against the coup are taking plane all over the country, and main roads are blocked by demonstrators.
“We strongly condemn this Coup d’Etat, and question the legitimacy of the democratic institutions and the civil mechanisms for the resolution of political and social conflicts. In these moments, it is most urgent to request those who today are in possession of the power to respect the Human Rights and all the constitutional guarantees of Honduran citizens”, a statement from ACT Honduras Forum says.
The official declarations of the Organizations of American States (OAS), the United Nations, the European Union and the International community all coincide with the need to reestablish the State of Law and that President Zelaya return and continue his constitutional mandate.
It is in the light of these events, members of the ACT Honduras Forum declare their rejection of the method that has been used to try to solve the political conflict and which means a serious and dangerous backward step for the democratic system in the country, violating the Constitution of the Republic.
Furthermore, the ACT Honduras Forum urges the media to develop a critical, formative and information sharing role, and not to let themselves embark on a path that could have no way back and that could, later, turn against themselves.
There is an immanent need to a re-establishment of all democratic rights and liberties in Honduras, including freedom of expression, the right of the Honduran people to mobilize, organize and to access information.
The ACT Forum will remain in close contact with its members in order to know what is happening in the rural areas and with the civil society organizations, to communicate whatever violation of their Rights or any type of action that could put their life at risk.
Members of the ACT Honduras Forum are Christian Aid, Comisión Cristiana de Desarrollo, Comisión de Acción Social Menonita (CASM), Dan Church Aid, Ayuda de las Iglesias Protestantes de Suiza (HEKS), Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
