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<font size=4><b>Killing Activists in Honduras<br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>Written by Joseph Shansky <br>
Wednesday, 23 December 2009<br>
<a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2278/1/" eudora="autourl">
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2278/1/</a> <br><br>
</font><font face="georgia" size=3><i>“As a revolutionary I will be
today, tomorrow and forever on the front lines of my people, all the
while knowing that I may lose my life." </i>- Walter Trochez, 25,
murdered in Tegucigalpa on 12/13/09 <br><br>
The bodies of slain activists are piling up in Honduras. While it's being
kept quiet in most Honduran and international media, the rage is building
among a dedicated network of friends spreading the word quickly with the
tragic announcement of each <i>compañero/a</i>. <br><br>
Now that the world heard from mainstream news outlets such as the <i>New
York Times</i> of a “clean and fair” election on Nov. 29 (orchestrated by
the US-supported junta currently in power), the violence has increased
even faster than feared. <br><br>
The specific targets of these killings have been those perceived as the
biggest threats to the coup establishment. The bravest, and thus the most
vulnerable: Members of the Popular Resistance against the coup. Their
friends and family. People who provide the Resistance with food and
shelter. Teachers, students, and ordinary citizens who simply recognize
the fallacy of an un-elected regime taking over their country. All
associated with the Resistance have faced constant and growing
repercussions for their courage in protesting the coup. With the
international community given the green light by the US that democratic
order has returned via elections, it’s open season for violent forces in
Honduras working to tear apart the political unity of the Resistance
Front against the coup.<br><br>
The killings are happening almost faster than they can be recorded.
<br><br>
On Sunday, Dec. 7, a group of six people were
<a href="http://www.tiempo.hn/secciones/sucesos/7055-se-hizo-la-muerta-para-sobrevivir-a-la-masacre">
gunned down</a> while walking down the street in the Villanueva
neighborhood of Tegucigalpa. According to sources, a white van with no
license plates stopped in front of the group. Four masked men jumped out
of the van and forced the group to get on the ground, where they were
shot. The five victims who were killed were:<br><br>
· Marcos Vinicio Matute Acosta, 39<br><br>
· Kennet Josué Ramírez Rosa, 23<br><br>
· Gabriel Antonio Parrales Zelaya, 34<br><br>
· Roger Andrés Reyes Aguilar, 22<br><br>
· Isaac Enrique Soto Coello, 24<br><br>
One woman, Wendy Molina, 32, was shot several times and played dead when
one of the assassins pulled her hair, checking to see if anyone in the
group was still alive. She was taken to the hospital and
survived.<br><br>
The Honduran independent newspaper El Libertador reports that the group
members were all organizers against the coup. According to a resident in
the area, "The boys had organized committees so that the neighbors
could get involved in the Resistance Front." <br><br>
This massacre was part of a string of Resistance-related murders during
the past few weeks alone. On December 3, Walter Trochez, 25 a well-known
activist in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community
was snatched off the street and thrown into a van, again by four masked
men, in downtown Tegucigalpa. In the report that he later filed to local
and national authorities,
<a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/honduras-full-and-prompt-investigation-needed-death-human-rights-campaig">
Walter said</a> he was interrogated for hours for information on
Resistance members and activities, and was beaten in the face with a
pistol for refusing to speak. He was told that he would be killed
regardless, and he eventually escaped by throwing open the van door,
falling into the street, and running away. <br><br>
It wasn't the first time Walter had been subject to these kinds of
threats. He was a much-loved organizer against the coup who had been
documenting human rights violations, particularly in the gay community.
Walter had just published two articles. One following the elections was
titled "<a href="http://quotha.net/node/645">The Triumph of
Abstentionism</a>", on the success of the effort by the Resistance
to encourage citizens to refuse to vote. The other was called
<a href="http://quotha.net/node/634">“Escalation of Hate and Homophobic
Crimes against the LGBTT Community Rooted in the Civil-Religious-Military
Coup d'état in Honduras”.<br><br>
</a>In both, he concludes: "As a revolutionary I will be today,
tomorrow and forever on the front lines of my people, all the while
knowing that I may lose my life". <br><br>
On Dec. 13, one week later, Walter was shot in the chest by a drive-by
gunman while walking home. He died at the hospital. <br><br>
On Dec. 5, Santos Garcia Corrales, an active member of the National
Resistance Front, was
<a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/63551-NN/muere-decapitado-miembro-de-la-resistencia-hondurena-de-manos-de-la-policia/">
detained</a> by security forces in New Colony Capital, south of
Tegucigalpa. He was then tortured for information on a local merchant who
was providing food and supplies to the Resistance. After reporting the
incident to local authorities, Santos’ body was found five days later on
Dec 10, decapitated. <br><br>
There have been others as well, notably a rise in murders in the LGBT
community since the coup. In particular, several transvestites have been
recently killed in similarly gruesome ways. Human rights advocates
<a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/81019.html">report</a>
that “up to 18 gay and transgender men have been killed nationwide as
many as the five prior years in the nearly six months since a political
crisis rocked the nation.”<br><br>
The latest victim, Carlos Turcios, was kidnapped outside his home in
Choloma Cortes, at three in the afternoon of Wednesday Dec. 16. He was
<a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/noticias/secciones/nota/63551-NN/muere-decapitado-miembro-de-la-resistencia-hondurena-de-manos-de-la-policia/">
found dead</a> the next day, with his hands and head cut off. Carlos had
been vice-president of the Choloma chapter of the Resistance Front, a
town located a few hours outside of the capital. Andres Pavón, president
of CODEH (Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Honduras),
commented: "We believe this horrendous crime joins others where the
bodies show signs of brutal torture…This aggression is directed to the
construction of collective fear.”<br><br>
It is a sinister effort to shake up a community that is now in fact
stronger than ever. As Walter Trochez noted (and CNN
<a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/11/29/honduras.election/index.html">
confirmed</a>), most of the country refused to go to the polls that day.
Many of the world’s governments, including most of Latin America, refused
to recognize the results. <br><br>
In this climate of fierce repression, citizens can no longer depend on
authorities for the most basic protective rights, and those fearful for
their lives cannot report to the police. Complaints they file, such as
those of Santos and Walter, could soon become signatures to their own
death letters. Many believe with good reason that the killings are
state-sponsored. At the very least, they are the result of new conditions
which allow for the widespread deterioration of state protection.
<br><br>
Pavón and other human rights leaders in Honduras have been extremely
vocal in denouncing these atrocities, but the story has remained under
the radar for most Hondurans and almost all international media. At the
time when Hondurans most need exposure to these abuses, they’ve been left
to fend for themselves. <br><br>
How did this happen? Why are people being randomly executed in dark
corners of the country for simply standing in opposition to a military
coup? <br><br>
Most of the bloodshed is on the hands of coup president Roberto
Micheletti and other leaders of the regime. However, President Barack
Obama and the US State Department played a major role in allowing
conditions to get to this point. The US government took no concrete
action against the thousands of documented violations since the coup took
place June 28. It’s no shock that the violence has worsened dramatically
with the eyes of the world now averted. <br><br>
In a recent interview, Francisco Rios of the National Front Against the
Coup reiterated Frente communiqués which stated that the Resistance,
though now lying low, is preparing a massive organization effort for next
year and beyond. Rios reported that they have stopped meeting publicly as
a safety measure for now, but will soon begin dividing into chapters
around the country with plans to emerge as a new, strengthened political
force. Walter, Santos, Carlos, and all of the Resistance fighters who
gave their lives have inspired others in the movement to continue the
struggle for justice in Honduras.</font> <br><br>
Joseph Shansky was reporting from Honduras during the recent military
coup, and can be reached at
<a href="mailto:fallow3@gmail.com">fallow3@gmail.com</a>.<br><br>
<br><br>
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