VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTG #0429/01 1272122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 062122Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8074

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000429 
 
STATE FOR DRL/SEA 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL HO
SUBJECT: TEGUCIGALPA RESPONSE FOR THE DEMOCRACY AND DISSIDENTS 
OUTREACH REQUEST 
 
REF: (A) 2007 STATE 88465, (B) 2007 STATE 108924, (C) 2008 STATE 
44903 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  Embassy Tegucigalpa utilizes several strategies to 
advance the President's Freedom Agenda.  Post officials at all 
levels meet routinely with HR and democracy activists.  U.S. 
Government participation in bilateral and multilateral efforts 
strengthens nongovernmental and civil society organizations working 
on democracy and Human Rights (HR) issues.  More than anything, Post 
officials meet with NGOs and other advocates to learn about the 
needs of the country and then advocate for these issues with 
government officials and other important individuals.  Post 
officials arrange events on HR and democracy topics, attend events 
sponsored by NGOs and institutions, arrange Digital Video 
Conferences with experts, give speeches, and place interviews and 
op-eds in the media. Post is involved in training government 
officials, including police and military officials, judges, lawyers, 
and NGO workers.  Post is not aware of any dissents from un-free 
nations who are living in exile or seeking asylum in Honduras.  We 
have seen positive results, but Honduras still has systemic problems 
that stunt its advancement in these areas.  End Summary. 
 
Events with HR and Democracy Themes 
--------------------------------- 
¶2. (U) Post officials routinely meet with HR and democracy activists 
and attend events sponsored by these groups to show our support.  We 
attend virtually every HR event we are invited to.  Post officials 
have given public speeches on HR and related topics at least six 
times in the past year.  In addition, we sponsor luncheons, Digital 
Video Conferences (DVCs), and workshops and work with the media to 
publicize HR issues.  Post's program of meeting with the HR and 
democracy community centers around the yearly release of the HR 
Country Report for Honduras, when post hosts a luncheon with NGO, 
civil society, and governmental leaders in the HR field.  Through 
this formal event Post is able to make and maintain important 
contacts in this field.  The event also serves as an opportunity for 
post to plan additional activities with our contacts.  This year, 
post is organizing additional workshops on "Freedom of the Press" 
and "HR and Security" with HR NGOs and officials. In addition, Post 
representatives sponsored forums on electoral reforms, civil rights 
in the United States, and women's rights.  We organized DVCs on 
topics such as women in politics and prison reform (which included 
protecting the rights of prisoners).  In addition, Public Affairs 
(PAS) has worked hard to publicize HR and democracy issues, and has 
been able to place op-eds and interviews.  The Ambassador wrote an 
op-ed on labor day and labor rights. PAS organized a press 
roundtable on the eve of the President's speech on Cuba with the 
PolCouns who had served a tour there to dispel myths and detail 
human rights abuses in Cuba.  Through all of these activities, post 
has been able to reach out and address the needs of those previously 
unheard. 
 
Meetings with Officials and NGOs 
--------------------------------- 
¶3. (U)  In addition to the yearly lunch and other events,  a review 
of political section files shows that post officials meet with HR 
and democracy activists an average of ten to fifteen times a month. 
A representative sample of meetings includes everything from quick 
meetings to discuss specific issues to working with our HR partners 
on strengthening institutions, supporting investigations, and 
facilitating training.  Since the arrival of the Political Counselor 
in September 2007, post has met with HR and democracy activists over 
150 times.  Post officials traveled across Honduras to facilitate 
meetings with those who could not afford to travel to the capital 
city.  These visits included meeting with representatives of the 
various indigenous groups on the northern coast and in the Mosquitia 
region, and labor unions in the maquila plants around San Pedro 
Sula.  Post has almost daily communications with the HR Commissioner 
and HR Organizations and NGOs that support democracy in Honduras 
such as: Casa Alianza; the Permanent Forum for Civil Society; 
Democracy Without Borders; Catholic Relief Services; the three 
Prosecutors in charge of Children, Corruption, and Women's issues; 
the Association for a More Just Society; PROJUSH (NGO pushing for 
judicial reform); Save the Children Honduras; Cumple y Gana (labor 
rights NGO); Institute for Access to Public Information; the 
Federation of Organizations for Development in Honduras; the 
National Democratic Alliance; and the various unions (Confederation 
of Workers of Honduras, the General Confederation of Workers, and 
various individual unions, such as the one for the Honduran phone 
company workers). These wide arrays of meetings have given us a 
greater understanding of the needs of the country and allowed us to 
press authorities on these issues.  Post then takes up these issues 
with government officials and important individuals, including 
President Manuel Zelaya, Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez, Vice 
President Elvin Santos, government Ministers, members of Congress, 
Supreme Court justices, the Attorney General and other prosecutors, 
and National and Liberal Party leaders. 
 
Training 
----------- 
¶4.  (U) In the past year, Post sent twelve law enforcement officials 
to training courses that include a module on HR.  We also selected 
several candidates for International Visitor Leadership Programs in 
the HR field, including the HR Commissioner's right-hand person, and 
lawyers and judges who are intimately involved with reforming the 
judicial system.  We sent seven law enforcement officials and 
prosecutors to training programs in TIP and HR issues at the 
International Law Enforcement Academy in San Salvador, and we have 
provided transportation costs to two of the HR Prosecutors so that 
they could attend training programs in HR at American University in 
Washington, D.C.  Our joint efforts with DOD to transform the 
Honduran Armed Forces into a modern force have included mandatory HR 
training for hundreds of soldiers, especially for the Honduran 
Peacekeeping Unit, which hopes to deploy internationally in 2008 to 
support peacekeeping missions around the world. 
 
Results 
------- 
¶5. (U) Results in HR are hard to measure in Honduras, as there is a 
lack of reliable reporting by Honduran government institutions. 
However, in the past year, Post has seen a measurable increase in HR 
reporting in the local media, especially in regards to TIP issues. 
The increased media attention has, in turn, prompted police to 
increase its investigations and arrests under the new TIP law, and 
involve other GOH offices, like the Municipality of Tegucigalpa, 
which is currently sponsoring a program with an NGO to protect 
children living in the streets.  The GOH has made such advances, 
despite being the third poorest country in the hemisphere, that 
G/TIP is considering removing Honduras from the TIP Watch List. 
Post has also seen an increase in the number of HR cases being 
investigated and prosecuted, often to respond to our requests.  For 
example, Post intervened repeatedly to urge the Ministry of Security 
and the Attorney General's office to investigate and prosecute the 
perpetrators of the murder of Dionisio Diaz Garcia of the NGO 
Association for a More Just Society (ASJ).  After one year of 
pressure, the investigations have gone forward and the suspects were 
finally arrested and are awaiting trial.  In another example, 
PolCouns intervened to request that the Ministry of Security 
investigate the murder of the manager of a U.S.-owned lumber 
company.   The day following the request, the police sent a large 
team to the remote site and began a robust investigation.  These 
indicators suggest that our influence can and is wielded positively. 
 We believe that all these efforts have resulted in an increased 
awareness of HR and democracy issues, as well as increased capacity 
by police, prosecutors, and courts to investigate and pursue HR 
cases. 
 
¶6. (U) Comment.  Post believes its efforts in publicizing HR and 
democracy issues, sponsoring HR events, educating and training HR 
and democracy activists, and strengthening Honduran institutions has 
played a role in these increases.  At the same time, Honduras 
remains a country at a crossroads.  Although there is more awareness 
of HR abuses and a slightly more professional criminal justice 
system, there still remains a startling lack of transparency, rule 
of law, and high incidence of corruption and violent crime.  End 
Comment. 
 
FORD