Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!purdue!haven!adm!cmcl2!phri!ccnysci!cries@cdp.uucp From: cries@cdp.uucp Newsgroups: misc.headlines.unitex Subject: Hond:I/vw Ramon Custodio - CODEH Message-ID: <2871@ccnysci.UUCP> Date: 2 Sep 89 13:16:54 GMT Sender: patth@ccnysci.UUCP Lines: 223 Approved: patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu /* Written 6:06 pm Aug 30, 1989 by cries in ni:cries.regionews */ /* ---------- "Hond:I/vw Ramon Custodio - CODEH" ---------- */ HONDURAS: "EVERYDAY OUR PEOPLE GET POORER..." INTERVIEW WITH RAMON CUSTODIO - CODEH (cries.regionews from Managua August 30, 1989 Dr. Ramon Custodio is the founder and president of CODEH - Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras - and a prominent defender of citizens' rights in Central America. Although he and other CODEH members have received numerous death threats from para-military groups in Honduras, they haven't backed down from taking a stand against state sponsored repression and abuse of human rights. Interview by Edwin Saballos. >From Pensamiento Propio #62 August 1989. ***************** **Q. In the context of the recent regional negotiations, where does the human rights situation in Honduras fit in? **A. Point three of the Esquipulas II agreements [signed by the five Central American presidents in August 1987], states that the countries must pay more attention to human rights. When President Jose Azcona signed the accord, a state policy of human rights abuses was being practiced. Honduran governments have always been excused for these crimes by the international community. They cover themselves by saying that the state doesn't have the means to satisfy the rights that society demands. **Q. What form does this increase in repression take? **A. The Honduran Armed Forces have an assigned role in the policy of low intensity conflict promoted by the US in the region. Since 1988, society has been increasingly militarized. There are efforts to reorganize the self- defense groups, and in February, the Ministry of the Interior allowed the sub-director of the National Department of Investigations [DNI], Abraham Mendoza, to take over the National Penitentiary in Tegucigalpa. Another military officer took charge of the prison in Ceiba. They justify these actions by citing the high levels of corruption and drug-trafficking in the two prisons. For us, it's a violation of the Constitution because both institutions are supposed to be under civilian control. What's more, a decree was issued by the National Congress authorizing the presence of regular troops in the streets of the capital and San Pedro Sula. The top military leaders are starting to defend the doctrine of national security as a valid theory in the country, and they aren't concerned about the democratic image of Honduras anymore. Civilian power has been weakened in the eyes of the public, and this is accompanied by the resurgence of death squads. DNI agents have been murdering supposed criminals since 1987. Each series of crimes almost always ends with the death of a popular leader or opposition politician. This happened, for example, with student leader Edgardo Herrera and with the tobacco union leader from San Pedro Sula, Salomon Vallecillo. It's a clear message that the death squads are at work again. We also have testimonies about threats that were issued by members of Battalion 316 [a special unit of the Armed Forces intelligence services that was supposedly disbanded in September 1988] against other Honduran leaders. And while we denounce that there will be more victims, the police and Armed Forces keep saying that we're starting a new campaign to discredit the military. **Q. How have the human rights organizations and popular sectors responded? **A. Our response was to activate the action networks through the Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in Central America (CODEHUCA) and through our own direct contacts. However, the reaction of the popular sectors has been lacking. **Q. Within the duality of powers that exists in Honduras, which sector of the Armed Forces is the most repressive? **A. More than a duality of powers, there exists a hegemonic superposition of military over civilian power. The most repressive within the military are those who represent "Alvarism", the current of General Gustavo Alvarez Martinez. These are officers from the fourth, fifth, and a majority of the sixth graduating classes [of the military academy] who supposedly were to be a generation of patriotic soldiers. The system, however, has corrupted them. That's why we have an alliance of officers from different generations, united with the most corrupt, that represents the most repressive sector. **Q. What parties plan to campaign around the theme of human rights in the upcoming elections? **A. The National Party is the one that's using the human rights theme in its slogans and has claimed that there won't be any more political disappearances. But their declarations are a demagogic exploitation of the theme, since they've never approached us to ask for information. The Liberal Party is on the defensive. It is guilty of human rights abuses but is trying to place the blame on the military. We've produced an in-depth document about the civilian- military government's responsibility for these acts. We insist that the government - including the two political parties that lead the country - are responsible for these abuses. Recently, I said that President Azcona was allowing himself the right to be calm about these human rights violations. But I also said that his culpability won't end when he leaves the presidency, but instead his responsibility will begin when he is brought before the common courts for the crimes committed. What the president and the military haven't become aware of is that they have committed crimes that violate the Constitution of the republic. **Q. What effect does drug-money have on the human rights situation? **A. It's said that only five military officers are involved in drug-trafficking, but I don't believe it. Honduras, which is a transshipment point for international drug-running, has to have a complete bureaucratic-military infrastructure that allows free transit of drugs through the country. This business produces fabulous profits for the traffickers and those who serve them. It's one of the sources of corruption in the Armed Forces. I fear that in the next civilian government, drug-money will have even more weight in political decisions, especially in the elite circle of executives around [National Party presidential candidate] Rafael Leonardo Callejas. They'll try to get even richer, and in an impoverished country, they'll have to look for money from wherever they can, and that source could be drugs. This skeleton is only just beginning to come out of the closet: it may get worse during the next administration. **Q. What are the chances of the Honduran government discussing the theme of human rights and drug-trafficking in the context of the Central American summits? **A. Nicaragua introduced these themes at the last presidential summit meeting. The other governments have kept absolutely silent, particularly Honduras, since it isn't convenient for them to have resolutions made about them. The president knows that - even though he may not comply with a commitment of this nature - just the signing of such a document would be a slap in the face of the military. The president is very careful not to generate any friction. **Q. How do you evaluate the governments of Central America when it comes to human rights? **A. Based on events, figures, and documents, we can say that there is a crisis because a state policy of abusing human rights exists. In descending order, there are human rights violations in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. In Nicaragua, although there are violations, they are infrequent and do not form part of a policy promoted by the state. There are violations in Costa Rica as well, but to a lesser extent. The thing that makes Nicaragua's case different is that many of the violations are committed by the contras. When we denounce the violations by the contras to regional and international organizations, they tell us that they can't do anything because the contras aren't a government and aren't subject to the norms of international rights. **Q. How can democracy and human rights be combined according to the Esquipulas accords? **A. Point three of the Esquipulas accord clearly defines what the presidents understand democracy to be: a process in which human rights are respected and free elections are held. But any electoral process, however legitimate it may be, will be discredited if it doesn't favor US strategic interests. Nicaragua is trying to complete its democratization process. After the 1984 elections, it wasn't a matter of pushing for democratization, but of reaffirming democracy. If we compare the electoral process of Nicaragua to that of Honduras, Nicaragua comes out ahead. Honduras is plagued by the voter registration of foreigners. It's calculated that some 200,000 have been illegally registered. No one has given the US the authority to decide which elections are good and which are bad. But a high political price must be paid for this self-determination. **Q. What implications does the foreign debt have for human rights? **A. The International Monetary Fund is a relentless collection agency. The problem of every Central American country is that its right to develop is being blocked. With 20% of our exports going to pay the foreign debt, in effect we don't have the right to develop. This means that we have a growing population in extreme poverty in Central America. Consequently, the problems of unemployment, malnutrition, and housing are made more acute. We are selling our raw materials at cheaper prices and buying at more expensive prices all the time. Every day our people get poorer as a consequence of an unjust international economic order. This is a flagrant violation of the economic, social, and cultural rights of our people. (We encourage feedback. Send comments, suggestions, etc. to us via e-mail. Address cdp!ni!cries) --- Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-