US embassy cable - 05TEGUCIGALPA476

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000476 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/PDA, WHA/PPC, WHA/CEN, AND DRL/CRA 
FOR IIP/G/WHA AND IIP/T/ES 
EMBASSIES FOR PAOS, IOS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP, PHUM, PREL, KPAO, HO 
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT, MARCH 2, 2005 
 
 
1. On 3/1, the evening television newscast "Hoy Mismo" on Channel 
3 broadcast a statements by: 
- President Ricardo Maduro: "For the first time in history, we 
did a report on the execution of minors and we created a special 
commission which has brought to justice many policemen who have 
been accused of wrongdoing...  We should ask ourselves, has 
Honduras improved in the fight against human rights violations? 
Has the government proved its will to work on it?  I think we 
have," 
- Supreme Court President Vilma Morales: "I think we all know who 
are responsible of the executions, there's no State policy or any 
law that allow executions of any kind," 
- Attorney General Ovidio Navarro: "I believe we have seen this 
report every year, the State Department is presenting to the 
international community a report which is almost the same for two 
or three years," and 
- Bertha Oliva: director of the NGO Committee of Relatives of the 
Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), "Summary and 
arbitrary executions are a reality in Honduras and we can't hide 
this fact...  the Honduran State is responsible of protecting 
human rights of all Hondurans." 
 
2. On 3/1, the evening television newscast "Vica Noticias" on 
Channel 9 broadcast a statement by Oscar Alvarez, Minister of 
Public Security, "Some human rights organizations have accused 
the country without having actual proof of those facts, and they 
done so to get financial aid especially from European 
countries...  the State Department has based its findings on 
information from those organizations, they haven't done their own 
investigation...  the State Department has recently signed a 
three-year agreement for 2.4 million dollars to support the 
Ministry of Public Security, and they wouldn't give us any aid if 
they believed these accusations were true." 
 
3. On 3/2, the Tegucigalpa-based moderate daily "El Heraldo" 
published a half-page article quoting the head of the General 
Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DGIC) Napoleon Nazar 
entitled "State Department report is reckless" with the 
subheading "The security and judicial institutions rejected the 
report on human rights violations." 
 
4. The San Pedro Sula-based liberal paper "Tiempo" carried 
several articles, one of them with a statement by Minister of 
Public Security Alvarez, titled "Honduras doesn't have a policy 
of executions" with the subheading "Human rights organizations 
make these accusations to get money from abroad."  It also ran 
statements by President Maduro entitled "Maduro: Many policemen 
are being processed for the death of minors", by Supreme Court 
President Morales titled "Violent deaths can't be regarded as 
human rights violations", and by COFADEH leader Oliva, entitled 
"The report reflects the reality in Honduras" with the subheading 
"The authorities should start by respecting the life of the 
citizens and the Constitution." 
 
It also published an editorial entitled "Summary Executions." 
"The State Department report on Human Rights reflects the 
situation of violence and terrorism in Central America, 
especially in Honduras.  From the summaries published by several 
news agencies, we can conclude that there are severe flaws in the 
justice systems throughout Central America, all of them 
influenced by corruption, as well as a marked abuse from police 
forces." 
 
"We are aware of that reality, even though this document isn't 
supposed to go into specific details.  However, this information 
has to be taken seriously, since it has been properly evaluated, 
and its importance can't be overlooked because it aims to promote 
changes on the attitude of the government and a critical 
viewpoint from society." 
 
"Nevertheless, the response from the authorities in question has 
been the usual, trying to conceal the truth, which has been 
demonstrated by the statements of the Minister of Security Oscar 
Alvarez, who brags of teaching the American police on how to deal 
with juvenile gangs.  Meanwhile, the Honduran government, 
especially the Ministry of Security and its head Oscar Alvarez, 
have actually tarnished the image of Honduras abroad." 
 
Palmer