Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Legal News Blogs -> JURIST - The Paper Chase

Legal News

: JURIST - The Paper Chase

Honduras interim government skeptical of pending OAS rights report

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Honduran Interim Deputy Foreign Minister Martha Alvarado said Monday that she expects a biased report from the international panel that arrived Monday to investigate alleged human rights abuses. A delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH), which is part of the Organization of American States (OAS), arrived in the Honduran capital of Tegucigulpa Monday to assess the human rights situation in the wake of the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. Alvarado said at a news conference that she is skeptical of the panel's report because the OAS has already called the ouster a coup and called for Zelaya's reinstatement, expelling Honduras last month. The OAS delegates met with a Honduran human rights group, but refused to meet with members of the interim government, led by Roberto Micheletti. Also Monday, delegates from the interim government went to Washington, DC, to continue talks with the OAS. Last week, the Honduran Office of the Prosecutor of Common Crimes indicted 24 Zelaya supporters on charges of sedition and damaging public property. All 24 were accused of robbery, sedition, damages to private property, and illegal demonstrations stemming from recent protests. Zelaya was ousted on June 28 following a judicial order asserting he had broken Honduran law by attempting to conduct a controversial referendum on constitutional reform contrary to a Honduran Supreme Court ruling. The US has condemned Zelaya's removal and supports his return.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on August 18, 2009 (boomark / email).