Interview on Latino USA (NPR)
JASS ED Lisa VeneKlasen is interviewed by Latino USA's Maria Hinojosa about the women-led pro-democracy movement in Honduras. - Women have driven pro-democracy protests in Honduras and been targets of police repression. Listen now!
Op-Ed
Obama: Stand Up for Women's Rights in Honduras - Jody Williams of Nobel Women's Initiative and Lisa VeneKlasen of JASS, appear in the Christian Science Monitor
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"Women make up the majority of the vast resistance movement in Honduras, playing a critical leadership role in civil disobedience and citizen protection...For their tireless and courageous support of democracy, they have received death threats and been attacked with nail-studded police batons, tear gas, and bullets." ~ Jody Williams & Lisa VeneKlasen
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Gilda Rivera Tells Amnesty International of the Hidden Women’s Human Rights Crisis
Gilda Rivera - Petatera, director of the Centre for Women’s Rights (CDM), and a leader in the feminist resistance against the coup in Honduras - played a central role in organizing the women’s rights international delegation that visited Honduras in August, 2009. “Women are at higher risk because they are considered second class citizens,” she tells Amnesty International in an interview about the dangers women have faced since the coup in Honduras on June 28.
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"When the whole population is facing human rights violations, women are at even greater risk because we are considered second class citizens... The coup d’etat ruined much of what we had gained and achieved...all women have received is more violence." ~ Gilda Rivera
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Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Sham Elections in Honduras - by Laura Carlsen, The Nation
The Honduran elections were far from free, fair or peaceful. The coup regime rejected all diplomatic attempts to restore the nation's democracy before holding elections, keeping the constitutional president trapped behind barricades in the Brazilian Embassy. It then pretended that the elections themselves constituted a return to democratic order. Continue
Monday, December 7, 2009
Honduras and a Divided Latin America by Robert E. White
Despite many credible reports of violent crackdowns against supporters of ousted president, Mel Zelaya, the de facto government of Honduras has managed to hold presidential elections that came off better than most observers had expected. The easy victor was the conservative Nationalist Party candidate, Porfirio Lobo. The United States quickly recognized the election results. Continue
Monday, November 30, 2009
Honduran Elections Marred by Police Violence, Censorship, International Non-Recognition, CEPR Co-Director Says
Honduran "Electoral Observers" Launch Verbal Attack on Americas Program Director - Laura Carlsen
Lastest installment of the Honduran Feminist in Resistance Boletina (#17) in Spanish
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"Only a few governments that the U.S. State Department can heavily influence will recognize these elections. The rest of the world recognizes that you cannot carry out free or fair elections under a dictatorship that has overthrown the elected President by force and used violence, repression, and media censorship against political opponents for the entire campaign period leading up the vote, including election day." ~ Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic Policy Research
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Tuesday, November 25, 2009
More than 175 human rights and feminist leaders – including three Nobel Peace Prize winners, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, and leaders of national and international women’s organizations – sent an open letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on November 24, urging her to condemn widespread violations of women’s human rights that occurred in Honduras since the coup on June 28. Read the press release.
Open Letter to Secretary of State Clinton in Spanish
JASS Press Release - Women Nobel Peace Laureates, Leaders of Women’s Rights Organizations Urge Sec. of State Clinton to Condemn Violence Against Women and Human Rights Violations Under Honduran Coup
More than 175 human rights and feminist leaders--including three Nobel Peace Prize winners and leaders of national and international women’s organizations—today sent an Open Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today, urging her to condemn widespread violations of women’s human rights in Honduras. Read more
In Central America, Coups Still Trump Change - by Tim Padgett, Time Magazine
Friday, November 20, 2009
Honduran Dictatorship Is A Threat to Democracy In the Hemisphere - Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research
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"Free and fair elections are impossible in a context of repression. They will not be recognized as legitimate in Honduras or the rest of the world. The U.S. may be alone." ~ Adelay Carias
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Monday, November 12, 2009
U.S. State Department Sells out Honduran Democracy for Senate Confirmation - by Laura Carlsen
Honduras Revisted - by Robert White
Read more about the Honduran Feminists in Resistance
Women of Steel - United Steel Workers
Letter to U.S. State Department denouncing violence against women in Honduras - September 30, 2009
Letter to Secretary Clinton denouncing the violence against women by the Honduran de facto regime - August 31, 2009
Los Angeles American Federation of Teachers union passes Emergency Resolution on Honduras
Friday, November 6, 2009
Following 125 days’ unceasing citizen mobilization against the coup and an 11th hour negotiated agreement, Hondurans await the reinstatement of the democratically elected president and new elections. Honduran women’s rights advocates (including Honduran Feminists in Resistance) testified in Washington DC before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on women's human rights violations, met US Congress members and the State Department, and spoke at JASS co-hosted events.
Honduran Coup Violates Women's Human Rights - by Laura Carlsen
Wednesday, November 3, 2009
Four prominent human rights advocates, including two members of Honduran Feminists in Resistance, testified before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission on Monday November 2nd on the precise nature and scope of human rights violations that women have experienced at the hands of the police, military and other security agents of the defacto regime. Violence against women has increased in the past four months as women’s leadership in the resistance to the coup has grown. As part of the testimony, the Honduran Feminists in Resistance presented a summary of a report compiled from a fact-finding mission and from the Observatorio de Trangresión Feminista (Feminist Transformation Watch) organized by the Petateras, Radio Feminista, JASS, and other allies. The advocates also met with members of Congress and the US State Department on Tuesday November 3rd to caution them that elections held in a context of repression and without the reinstatement of constitutional order will not be legitimate and could only lead to further unrest.
Restitution of Democracy in Honduras - Jessica Sanchez, Honduran Feminists in Resistance
Honduras' Most Prominent Human Rights Expert Calls on Obama Administration to Denounce "Grave Human Rights Violations" - PRWeb
Zelaya Asks Clinton for Clarification: Complete Translation - by Laura Carlsen
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"People cannot have an electoral campaign when they don't even have the right to freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, or freedom of the press." ~ Bertha Oliva, COFADEH
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Friday, October 30, 2009
Conceding to international and national pressure, the defacto regime finally allowed the Honduran congress vote to restore the democratically elected President they ousted on June 28th. Despite continued uncertainty, the powerful combination of grassroots resistance, global solidarity and diplomacy has proven inspiring and instructive. From November 2nd to 5th, four women – all human rights advocates, including JASS allies, in the group Honduran Feminists in Resistance – will be in Washington DC to testify before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission about rights violations over the past 125 days. The group will also attend other briefings and events, including a JASS-hosted women’s rights gathering and an event JASS is co-sponsoring with The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) and Quixote at Busboys & Poets.
Further information:
Executive Summary of COFADEH report on Human Rights Abuses to be presented by Bertha Oliva to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission
Bertha Oliva (COFADEH) and Daysi Flores (Honduran Feminists in Resistance and Petateras, a JASS ally) appear in Fault Lines' "100 Days of Resistance"
Agreement to Restore Zelaya, if Honored, Will Be a Victory for Democracy in the Hemisphere, Center for Economic and Policay Research
Quixote Center - Honduras Accompaniment Project
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"The rapid deterioration in respect for women's rights in Honduras can only be halted by an immediate return to a constitutional government." ~ Laura Carlsen
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Pressure to hold elections on November 29th continues. While polls indicate that Hondurans generally support elections, it is also clear that a large swath of civil society will not participate if there is no negotiated political solution between the Micheletti and Zelaya camps. Civil society representatives point out that ongoing repression and censorship make elections impossible in this time frame and indicate they will boycott if constitutional order is not returned. After the conditional withdrawal from the elections by more than 300 mayors, many analysts conclude that elections in the current time frame will not produce a legitimate result and may generate further unrest. It was precisely this assessment that led the Carter Center (following a visit to Honduras in mid-October) to decline a request to participate as official observers of the elections.
“No elecciones, si constitituyente” is a popular slogan of the resistance movement in Honduras, calling not only for the return of constitutional order and the return of the democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya to the presidency, but also demanding a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution – a long-time demand of many Honduran citizens. Daysi Flores of Honduran Feminists in Resistance and las Petateras, a JASS ally, remarked in an interview with Fault Lines, that Constituyente (the assembly for the proposal of a new Honduran constitution) represents the best hope for participation by all sectors of society.
Fear of the Constituent Assembly was one of the reasons that Zelaya was ousted in a coup on June 28th, the same day that his government had planned to hold a non-binding public consultation to ascertain whether the electorate support changing the constitution. And the Constituyente is one of the causes of the stalemate in the negotiations between Zelaya and Roberto Micheletti’s non-constitutional, non-elected, de facto regime. At issue is the return of Zelaya to the presidency, a move that the oligarchy, armed forces, and church hierarchies see as a threat to the status quo. Civil society has mobilized as a result of the coup, and the demand for more equitable terms is increasing.
The Obama administration sent a delegation to Honduras to encourage both sides to be flexible and return to the negotiating table. The administration and many in Congress embrace Honduran elections on November 29th as a solution to the crisis, in spite of the continued human rights violations by military forces. While the Obama administration has not taken a firm enough stance against the coup, eight members of Congress sent a letter to Obama this week, urging his administration to break its silence and “immediately, clearly and unequivocally reject and denounce the repression by this illegitimate regime.”
Thousands of human rights violations by the military against those who oppose the coup have been documented, including sexual aggression against women. Bertha Oliva of the Committee of Families of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) commented, “What we have documented is a national emergency in human rights. It’s a war, of armed men in uniform against civilians who have decided to protest and demand, without violence, the return of constitutional order and the return of President Manuel Zelaya.”
According to Oliva, international solidarity is having a huge impact on Honduran society, and is putting pressure on the coup government. Calls or notes to the State Department (202-647-4000), National Security Council, and Congress are critical. Messages should urge the Obama administration to denounce the human rights violations by the military and push for a return to constitutional order.
Friday, September 25, 2009
101 women’s organizations in 24 countries sent this appeal to the UN Security Council
Thursday, September 24, 2009
On September 21st, democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted by a coup 13 weeks ago, returned to Honduras. His return, supported by the Brazilian government, was greeted by the mobilization of thousands of Hondurans from all over the country eager for a return to constitutional order. Since his return, JASS has received numerous calls for help and solidarity from our Honduran allies as reports of brutal military and police crack-downs pour in. Citizens who have come to support Zelaya, or to call for the return to constitutional order, have been met with tear gas and bullets. Hundreds have been detained - many transported to a stadium in the capital city. The de facto government has shut down the media, blocked cell phone coverage and imposed mandatory curfews. Women from the Honduran Feminists in Resistance and numerous other Hondurans are under siege without food, water or electricity and are asking for solidarity from the international community.
We ask you to communicate with your government leaders, elected representatives and the international community to denounce the violence in Honduras. To those of you who are American citizens, we urge you to take action by contacting President Obama, the US State Department, and your Congressional Representatives, urging the US government to send a firm message to the coup leaders that the US will not accept the removal of a democratically-elected government. While the US government has condemned the coup publicly, it has not taken the decisive steps necessary - such as economic sanctions - to communicate unequivocally that we stand with democratic institutions and against violence.
To hear live interviews (in Spanish) with women under siege in Honduras, visit Radio Feminista's website
The Road to Zelaya's Return: Money, Guns, and Social Movements in Honduras by Benjamin Dangl
Clinton, Speak Clearly Now to Avoid a Massacre in Honduras by Laura Carlsen
Democracy Now - Report from Honduras: Ousted President Manuel Zelaya Returns to Honduras in Defiance of Coup Government
Honduras Fact Sheet
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“We call for support for all the people who are being protected by Feminists in Resistance and for the compañeras who are doing everything possible to get us humanitarian aid despite the fact that the armed forces won't let anyone through, not with medicines or food or anything. We're completely isolated; we want everyone to contribute by denouncing the violation of basic human rights being perpetrated by the military forces of the de facto regime." ~ Daysi, Feminists in Resistance
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Honduran Women Continue Resistance
in Spite of Increased Aggression
Honduran women continue their resistance on
the frontlines this week, marching today, as they have every day since
the de facto regime overthrew the democratically elected president in a
coup d'état on June 28th. Last week an international delegation
organized by JASS and allied organizations traveled to Honduras and
accompanied Honduran Feminists in Resistance, an alliance of feminists
and women’s organizations, on a mission to increase awareness of the
impact of the crisis on women.
The delegation convened a local and virtual
Observatorio (Feminist Transformation Watch) from August 17-21 to
document the human rights violations against Honduran women that have
occurred since the coup. They interviewed women who have been involved
in the resistance, collected testimonies from women and organizations,
and discussed strategies of resistance and actions in response to the
coup with feminists and other Honduran women.
They found that the military under the de facto government is
committing serious human rights violations against the protestors
including sexual violence and threats against women. “The police are
targeting young people and women, abusing them physically and verbally.
The violence against women in resistance is often sexual in nature
(their verbal abuse and the way police use their batons – hitting their
breasts and other private parts, etc.),” reported a Honduran woman.
Even in the face of increased aggression, the Feminists in Resistance show up each day and march in protest of the coup. They are courageous, risking bodily injury as they march down the street in solidarity with other Hondurans who hope to see democracy returned to their country. They raise their voices in defiance of the military, shouting “nos tienen miedo porque no tenemos miedo,” which translates as “they fear us because we are not afraid.”
The international delegation convened by JASS, Honduran Feminists in Resistance, Petateras,
Radio Feminista, and the Consortium
for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equality, included women's
rights activists, researchers, legal experts and journalists from
Central America, Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
Read the preliminary observations of the international delegation
to Honduras. Check back for a more detailed
report on the findings of the delegation.
Read the Statements of
Solidarity with the Honduran Women from Rigoberta
Menchú (Spanish) and the Nobel Women’s Initiative
Observatorios
de la Transgresión Feminista are activated to make visible
and protect women’s actions and struggles in increasingly repressive
and dangerous contexts. JASS, Las
Petateras, and Radio
Feminista partner with the Nobel
Women’s Initiative in the Observatorios to draw greater
public and media attention to women’s actions.
Delegation News
Group Says Honduran Cops on Rape Spree Since Coup - August 25, 2009
Coup
Catalyzes Honduran Women's Movement by Laura Carlsen - August 20, 2009
Feminists in Resistance by Carrie Wilson -
August 18, 2009
Media Ignores Escalating Sexual Aggression
Against Honduran Women Protesters by Margaret Thompson - August 17, 2009
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Police methods include physical and
psychological intimidation: using control over women’s bodies to
terrorize them and sexist words to delegitimize women’s roles and
participation in politics ~ Honduran woman in resistance
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Advocacy & Action by JASS and Allies
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JASS continues to use its networks to promote international solidarity and awareness of the threat to democracy in Honduras through newsletters, bulletins and actions.
Fact-Finding Mission & Observatorio de la Transgresión Feminista (Feminist Transformation Watch):
An international delegation of women from Cenral America, Mexico, Spain, Canada and the United States gathered in Honduras to document women's human rights violations and to call for a return of the rule of law and respect for human rights. Organized in collaboration with Honduran Feminists in Resistance, JASS, Petateras, Radio Feminista, and other allies, the fact-finding mission and Observatorio involved a virtual network of supporters and media activism that shone a spotlight on women on the frontline of the resistance in Honduras.
Solidarity Rallies:
On July 22nd, in solidarity with the Honduran Feminists in Resistance, JASS and feminist allies organized and participated in simultaneous demonstrations in front of U.S. government institutions in more than 10 cities throughout the Americans demanding the Obama administration firmly condemn the coup and demand the reinstatement of the President Zelaya.
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"Women have walked this country from end to end, raising consciousness about what is happening and connecting women and movements. Like the "grandmother", an old woman who, in El Paraíso, took a megaphone and for 18 hours straight stood in front of the military and told stories and parables. Or the young women who challenge the military head-on, pushing their bayonets out of the way so that they don't use them on anyone again.... those women who have been raped, verbally and emotionally tortured, the political prisoners... those women who refuse to stop honoring life through their actions." ~ María Suárez, Radio Feminista
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Honduran Feminists and Women Resist
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JASS joins allies around the globe
in expressing our solidarity with feminist and women's organizations
and social justice movements of Honduras in repudiating the coup
against democratically elected President Zelaya. The coup, orchestrated
by the armed forces, powerful business elites, and the president of
Congress, Roberto Micheletti, with the support of corporate media and
sanctioned by church hierarchies, has created a climate of fear and
oppression through curfews, police presence, electricity cuts,
detentions, brutal beatings, and the repression of the voices of
thousands of citizens who have mobilized in the street to express their
opposition to the coup and their demands for respect for constitutional
order.
Honduran feminists and women continue on the
frontlines of this resistance, marching everyday since the coup.
Approximately 15,000 nurses and other hospital workers joined the tens
of thousands of public school teachers who have been on strike in
opposition to the coup since the beginning of July. Women’s
organizations are under surveillance and members’ lives continue to be
threatened as they practice non-violent resistance to the repression
and demand a return to the rule of law, an end to violence, and respect
for human rights.
Honduran Feminists in Resistance, a
co-coordinator of the Observatario in Honduras (August 17-21, 2009),
have organized demonstrations, worked in communities to provide
information and design actions, initiated letter writing campaigns, and
coordinated with national, regional and international networks and
social movements to promote international solidarity with their
struggles.
A central imperative of the Honduran
Feminists in Resistance is that the perspectives of Honduran feminists
and women must be included in the resolution to the current crisis.
Systematic violations of women’s rights in Honduras can be traced back
to the dictatorships of the 1980s, with the cycle of violence and
oppression continuing today, and a culture of impunity surrounding
violations of women’s human rights. In a ruptured democracy, these
systematic violations and abuses have increased under the de facto
regime. Without a commitment to breaking the impunity, there can be no
sustainable democratic resolution in Honduras.
We ask you to send
an electronic message or write a letter to President Obama
urging him to ACT NOW
to speak out against the human rights violations of the de facto regime
and to push for the reinstatement of the democratically elected
President Manuel Zelaya.
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"The police are targeting young people
and women, abusing them physically and verbally. The violence against
women in resistance is often sexual in nature: both verbally and in the
way the police use their batons – hitting women’s breasts and private
parts." ~ Observatorio participant
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What You Can Do
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"Friendly governments, who hold
democratic ideals, simply cannot allow this to happen here. Democracy
is not a word. Democracy is actions." ~ Bertha Oliva, Founder and
Coordinator, Committee for the Disappeared, Honduras
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A Threat to Democracy Everywhere
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For women in the Americas, democracy is a
life and death issue as they struggle against impunity, the dismantling
of secular states, and unchecked violence. Without democratic
institutions women have limited chance of advancing equality and
justice for women and for all. If the international community and the
US government do not firmly reject the coup and the de facto regime, it
sends a message to the powerful forces operating behind the scenes
throughout Central America – including business elites, organized crime
and the religious right – that a coup is an acceptable way to operate.
The Obama administration’s support for the
reinstatement of Zelaya has cooled recently as evidenced in a letter
written by the State Department to Senator Richard Lugar
(http://www.theblahblog.com/). The letter criticizes Zelaya for taking
“provocative actions” that “led” to his removal by the Honduran
military. And clearly states, that as a result of his “provocative
actions,” U.S. policy toward Honduras is focused on mediation [rather
than sanctions], in order to find a peaceful resolution that restores
democratic order and rule of law.
Sending
an electronic message or writing a letter to President Obama
urging him to ACT NOW
to speak out against human rights violations of the de facto regime and
to push for the reinstatement of the democratically elected President
Manuel Zelaya will influence U.S. policy.
In pursuing this policy, the Obama
administration is giving legitimacy to an illegitimate regime while
ignoring the facts. What the letter refers to as “provocative actions,”
was a legal public consultation to measure public opinion on a policy
issue. The myth machine has fabricated misinformation that claims the
Sunday vote would have allowed President Zelaya to run for re-election.
While the truth is that the results would have been a non-binding
survey asking the electrorate if they would be interested in adding a
fourth ballot or “cuarta urna” to the November general election, which
would measure support for the idea of convening a Constituent National
Assembly to approve a new constitution. Public consultations of this
sort are perfectly legal. Under Article 5 of Honduras’ “Civil
Participation Act,” approved in 2006 by the National Congress,
non-binding public consultations can be carried out in order to measure
public opinion on a policy issue.
We ask you to send
an electronic message or write a letter to President Obama
urging him to ACT NOW
to speak out against human rights violations of the de facto regime and
to push for the reinstatement of the democratically elected President
Manuel Zelaya.
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“The police are targeting young people
and women, abusing them physically and verbally. The violence against
women in resistance is often sexual in nature (their verbal abuse and
the way police use their batons – hitting their breasts and other
private parts, etc.)” – Observatorio delegate
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Context
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JASS and our Mesoamerican allies Las
Petateras express our solidarity with feminist organizations
and social justice movements of Honduras in condemning and repudiating
the coup against democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya. The
coup, orchestrated led by the armed forces, powerful business elites,
and the president of Congress, Roberto Micheletti, with the support of
corporate media and sanctioned by church heirarchies, occurred in the
early hours of June 28th, 2009.
Since the coup, the de facto regime has
created a climate of fear with curfews, police presence and electricity
cuts, repressing the voices of thousands of citizens who have mobilized
into the street to express their opposition to the coup and their
demands for respect for constitutional order.
"Our office is under surveillance every day
by police or civilian operatives in vehicles with tinted windows … We
are taking part in demonstrations hemmed in by heavily-armed soldiers
and police with riot shields, there are tanks and cannon, and there are
snipers on the roofs." ~ Mirta Kennedy, Executive Direcor, Honduran
Women’s Studies Centre
Read more >>>
View the video the Military Coup in Honduras
Democracy Now: Honduras Coup
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"When all was said and done, many of
the actors in the play seem to have overstepped their legal
authorities. In this story, there are no heroes of democracy." ~ Joy
Olson, Executive Director, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
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Honduran Feminists in Resistance
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Hondura Feminists in Resistanct is a diverse confluence of feminist and women's organization and activists collectively resiting the coup. Visit the Honduran Feminists in Resistance page.
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"No one owes allegiance to an usurping
government nor those who assume public office via force of arms or
utilizing means and procedures that violate or circumvent what is in
the Constitution and established by law. The acts taken by such
authorities are null. The people have the right to recur to
insurrection in order to defend the constitutional order." ~ Honduran
Constitution, Article 3
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Reading List
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Honduras: Rights Report Shows Need for
Increased International Pressure - Human Rights Watch - August 25, 2009
Honduras: Coup d’Etat in Constitutional
Clothing? by Doug Cassel - July 29, 2009
Apparel
Brands Speak Out on Honduran Coup - Maquila Solidarity Network - July
28, 2009
Time for President Zelaya to Return to
Honduras by Madea Benjamin - July 23, 2009
U.S. Can Repair Democracy, Not Settle
Scores, speech given by John Kerry - July 15, 2009
Why
the Coup in Honduras Won't—and Shouldn't—Succeed by Robert E. White -
July 14, 2009
Testimony of Joy Olson
Executive Director, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) - July
10, 2009
Honduran Constitution
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"Repression increases. Our
organization and others have documented more than 1,000 human rights
violations in the weeks since the coup started. The [Roberto]
Micheletti government and the military are chasing people and going
into their homes, including many women’s – they’re restricting movement
[of people]." ~ Gilda Rivera, Center for Women's Rights, Honduras
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info@justassociates.org
www.justassociates.org
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