Report Details How US-Backed Coup Unleashed Wave of Abuses in Honduras [View all]

[Lodestar]

Survey by 54 civil society organizations and social movements presented to UN as alternative to official state report.

The U.S.-backed Honduran coup ushered in a wave of neoliberal policies that have systematically violated the economic, cultural, and social rights of the nation's Indigenous people, women, and farmers, while leaving activists and rights defenders—such as the late Berta Cáceres—vulnerable to criminalization and violence.

Such were the findings of a new report, prepared by a coalition of 54 Honduran social movements and rights organizations and presented as an alternative to the official government report submitted to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which began its 58th session in Geneva on Monday.

"The coup d'etat in 2009 meant an imminent reversal of human rights and a serious blow to the country's institutions," states the report (pdf), which is available in Spanish.

While the study does not single out international governments that supported the ouster of the country's democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya, it comes as former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepares to assume the role of Democratic nominee for president. Clinton's role in the coup has come under increased scrutiny since the assassination of Cáceres, a Honduran Indigenous rights and environmental activist, in March.

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http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/06/07/report-details-how-us-backed-coup-unleashed-wave-abuses-honduras