Honduras: Harassment against Human Rights Worker

URGENT ACTION - THE OBSERVATORY

HND 002 / 9804 / OBS 026
Harassment
Honduras
22nd  April 1998

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint
programme of the FIDH and OMCT, requests your URGENT intervention in
the following situation in Honduras.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders has been
informed of acts of harassment against Dr. Ramón Custodio, President
of the Honduras Human Rights Committee (a member of the OMCT) on the
part of the Chief of the Honduran armed forces, General Mario Hung
Pacheco.

According to reports from various sources , including Amnesty
International, at the beginning of April Gen. Hung Pacheco filed a
judicial complaint against Dr. Ramón Custodio, accusing him of
falsifying documents.

The accusations against Dr. Custodio are alleged to be the same as
those formulated last January before the  Criminal Tribunal of the
First instance of Tegucigalpa. On that occasion  he was accused of
falsifying a memorandum ordering Hung Pacheco, in 1998, to hand over a
student, Roger González  (detainee, disappeared) to the head of
Battalion 3 - 16 ( counter-intelligence unit responsible for numerous
grave violations of human rights).

The accusation in question was rejected by the tribunal last February.

The Observatory considers  the harassment of Dr. Ramón Custodio as an
extremely perturbing act and part of a climate of persistent threats
and grave violations against human rights defenders. This situation
led to the summary or extrajudicial execution of the following
persons: Ernesto Sandoval Bustillo, regional president of the CODEH in
Santa Rosa de Copan (see Observatory appeal HND 001/9802/ OBS 011) and
Candido Amador Ortiz, indigenous leader Maya-Chortis (see Appeal case
HND 210497 of the OMCT) and to the threats against Liduvina Hernandez
y Bertha Oliva de Nativi, leaders of the COFADEH (Committee of
Families of Detainees Disappeared in Honduras - see OMCT Case HND
140497).

The Observatory is convinced that these actions are aimed at
preventing  human rights defenders  from exercising their legitimate
activities, especially in their struggle to elucidate dozens of cases
of grave violations and ensure application of sanctions against those
responsible.

Action requested:

Write to the Honduran authorities urging them to:

i.	adopt urgently all appropriate measures to guarantee the safety and
freedom of Ramón Custodio and put an end to all forms of persecution
or harassment directed at him and at the  other human rights
defenders;

ii.	Ensure that CODEH and its members, as well as the other non
-governmental human rights organisations and their members shall enjoy
the necessary conditions for the free exercise of their activities in
the promotion and defence of human rights;

iii.	in general abide by the provisions of the Universal Declaration
of  Human Rights and the  international Pacts and Conventions ratified
by Honduras.

Addresses:

Ing. Carlos Flores Facussé, Presidente de la República, Casa de
Gobierno, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  Fax (504) 237 85 21 /  235 69 49

Lic. Edmundo Orellana Mercado, Fiscal General, Fiscalía General de la
República, Ministerio Público, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Fax : + 504 239
36 97  // 239 36 98

Lic. Oscar Armando Avila, Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia,
Palacio de Justicia, Boulevard José Cecilio del Valle, Tegucigalpa,
Honduras.  Fax  (+ 504) 233 67 84

Lic. Leo Valladares Lanza, Comisionado Nacional para la Protección de
los Derechos Humanos, Edificio Las Cumbres, Quinto Piso, Ave.
Cervantes, Apdo. 2986, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Fax : (+ 504) 238 75 38

Dr. Wilfredo Alvarado, Director de la Dirección de Investigación
Criminal,, 7a Avenida, Comayagüela, Honduras. Fax (+ 504) 220 05 54

Embassy of Honduras in your countries


Geneva - Paris, 22 April 1998

Kindly inform the Observatory of any action undertaken, quoting the
code number of this appeal in your reply.

The Human Rights Action Network, a part of Derechos Human Rights, distributes appeals on behalf of victims of human rights violations. You are invited to join the network. Please check the date of the present action and do not write if it's over a month old.