Honduran human rights organizations have yet to locate alleged war criminal

Note: This article was translated from the Honduran national daily newspaper El Tiempo print edition for Wednesday, August 10th. We were not able to find the article on the digital edition of El Tiempo at http://www.tiempo.hn. The original title of the article in Spanish is Organismos humanitarios todavía no ubican a supuesto criminal de guerra.

Honduran human rights organizations have yet to locate alleged war criminal

Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Tegucigalpa

Francisco Rodríguez

Human rights organizations plan to ask the Government of Canada for detailed information regarding ex-Batallion 3-16 member Cristóbal González Ramírez, an alleged war criminal.

The Canadian Border Services Agency deported González Ramírez, age 44, on August 2nd, but his whereabouts are not known by humanitarian organizations in Honduras.

The coordinator of the Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH), Bertha Oliva, says that González Ramírez's deportation was announced August 2nd in Canada.

"We are going to approach the Canadian government for detailed information regarding why they have him on a list of 30 war criminals," says Oliva.

She indicated that all they know is that the individual was deported, but that they have not been informed of the specific charges against him nor his whereabouts. "He must be here (in Honduras), but we don't know where exactly," she added.

According to reports in the hands of the Canadian Government, approximately eight Honduran ex-military linked to extrajudicial executions in the 1980s are residing as undocumented in Canada.

[The information below was included as a separate insert to the print edition of the article. A reproduction of other names on Canada's list of alleged war criminals was also included in the El Tiempo article.]

Rejected:
In August of 2008, González Ramírez moved from Vancouver to Edmonton, and in January of 2009 he was told that his application for refugee status had been rejected due to suspician that he had participated in crimes against humanity in Honduras.

Harper Trades in Human Rights for Economic Concessions in Honduras

Versión en español abajo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2011

Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network
Location: 608 College St. West Toronto, M6G 1A1

Media Contact: Raul Burbano
Tel: +(416) 522-8615, E-mail: rburbano(at)hotmail.com or lacsncanada(at)gmail.com

HARPER TRADES IN HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ECONOMIC CONCESSIONS IN HONDURAS

Investment and trade interests trump Human Rights concerns in Honduras

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has undertaken a tour through Latin America with stops reportedly including Honduras. The goal according to Harper is “expanding and enhancing market access to create jobs, economic growth, and opportunities for Canadians”. Some believe he will take the opportunity to announce a Free Trade Agreement or significant trade deals between both countries, despite repeated and serious concerns highlighted by both Honduran and International Human Rights organizations.

The Harper Government has consistently downplayed and at times even ignored what many believe to be a state organized campaign of intimidation, violence and murder of Human Rights defenders in Honduras since the June 28, 2009 military coup d’état. The coup was painted by its perpetrators as a constitutional succession undertaken by the Supreme Court and National Congress.

One could say the Harper government has gone as far as enlisting the support of coup conspirators here in Canada. It’s no coincidence that this week the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade along with the International Development Research Centre have invited the Attorney General, Luis Alberto Rubí of Honduras to speak as part of a panel on “Confronting Crime and Impunity in Central America”.

According to multiple news, academic and diplomatic sources say Rubí was a key figure in the manipulation of the legal system that helped pave the way for the 2009 military coup d’état. In fact Wikileaks and the El Faro declassified cables reports show Rubí was “directly involved in the decision to remove Zelaya and used the “legal apparatus under his control to stifle dissent and intimidate/persecute members of Zelaya’s team”.


Additional information:

• The government of Canada supported a Truth and Reconciliation Commission convened by the current Lobo regime in Honduras that issued it's final report July 7th and Former Canadian Diplomat Michael Kergin (of law firm Bennet Jones - based in Ottawa -) was a member of that Commission.
• Honduran Human Rights organizations convened a seperate Commission of Truth, supported by international civil society organizations and some European governments, whose report is due in November 2011, and York University Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Craig Scott is a member of that Commission.

Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network (LACSN)

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COMUNICADO
9 de agosto, 2011

Red de Solidaridad con América Latina y el Caribe (LACSN)
608 College St. West Toronto, M6G 1A1

Contacto: Raul Burbano (español o inglés)
Tél: +416-522-8615 (Toronto, Canadá)
E-mail: rburbano@hotmail.com or lacsncanada@gmail.com

PRIMER MINISTRO CANADIENSE SACRIFICA DERECHOS HUMANOS A CAMBIO DE CONCESIONES ECONÓMICAS EN HONDURAS

Intereses económicos valen mas que el respeto de los derechos humanos en Honduras

El Primer Ministro canadiense Stephen Harper está de gira esta semana en América Latina. Conforme a la página web oficial de su oficina, contempla una parada en Honduras el viernes, 12 de agosto. Según Harper el objetivo del viaje es de "ampliar y mejorar el acceso al mercado para crear empleo, crecimiento económico, y oportunidades para canadienses." Se espera que anuncie la firma de un tratado de libre comercio (TLC) con Honduras u otros acuerdos económicos importantes, a pesar de inquietudes y denuncias destacadas por organizaciones de derechos humanos hondureñas y internacionales.

De manera sistemática, el gobierno de Harper ha minimizado e incluso ignorado una denominada campaña estatal de intimidación, violencia y asesinato a defensores de derechos humanos en Honduras desde el golpe de Estado militar que se dio el 28 de junio de 2009. Los que ejercieron y avalaron el golpe de Estado lo han pintado como sucesión constitucional realizada por la Corte Suprema y el Congreso Nacional.

Se puede decir que el gobierno de Harper ha llegado al punto de reclutar el apoyo de los golpistas aquí en Canadá. No es una coincidencia que también esta semana el Departamento de Asuntos Exteriores y Comercio Internacional, junto con el Centro de Investigación sobre el Desarrollo Internacional (International Development Research Centre) han invitado al Fiscal General de Honduras, Luis Alberto Rubí, para exponer como parte del panel "Enfrentando el Crimen y la Impunidad en América Central."

Según varias fuentes mediáticas, académicas y diplomáticas, Rubí fue una figura clave en la manipulación del sistema legal que facilitó el golpe de estado militar en el 2009. Informes de Wikileaks y El Faro demuestran que Rubí fue directamente involucrado en la decisión de quitar el Presidente Zelaya de su puesto y usó el aparato legal a su alcance para reprimir la oposición y intimidar o perseguir miembros del equipo de Zelaya.

Información adicional:

• El gobierno de Harper apoyó oficialmente a la Comisión de la Verdad y la Reconciliación del régimen de Lobo, que emitió su informe el 7 de julio pasado. Ex-diplomático canadiense Michael Kergin (del bufete legal Bennet Jones con base en la capital canadiense) fue miembro de esa Comisión.
• Catedrático y jurista canadiense Craig Scott, de la Facultad de Derecho Osgoode Hall de la Universidad de York en Toronto es miembro de la Comisión de Verdad, la comisión convocada por organizaciones de derechos humanos en Honduras y con el apoyo de la sociedad civil internacional que va a entregar su informe en noviembre de 2011.

Red de Solidaridad con América Latina y el Caribe