Human Rights Loses Again

The security forces in Honduras continue to be in denial about their trampling on the human rights of Hondurans. For the second week in a row, Ana Pineda, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, called on the Police and Military to change their procedures to comply with UN protocols and observe human rights to no avail.

In the council of ministers meeting yesterday Pineda pointed out that the security forces are using teargas "irrationally". They are, she asserted, violating UN protocols on how to use teargas on several fronts; foremost by launching the teargas canisters directly at people instead of into the air, which also makes the teargas less effective overall and is an improper use of force. She also noted that security forces were shooting teargas into enclosed spaces like offices and the interior of cars, causing more harm and damage than necessary. She noted that the security forces were violating UN protocols because they failed to initiate any form of dialogue with the protesters before resorting to force. The UN protocol states that force should only be a last resort after all attempts at dialogue are exhausted. Finally she noted that proper arrest procedures were ignored in the detention yesterday of Garifuna leader Miriam Miranda in Tela. Miranda was held 9 hours and her rights were violated numerous times during that detention.

Last week it was Oscar Alvarez, the security minister, who was in denial. It was Marlon Pascua who was in denial of the problems this time. Pascua, the defense minister and nominally in charge of the military asserted that it was the police and military whose human rights were being violated.

"Unfortunately human rights only work in one direction,"

said Pascua, ignoring the power differential between an unarmed public and the armed security forces. Pascua went on to remind the ministers of the three soldiers hospitalized with burns from Molotov cocktails. Perhaps not fully realizing the irony of his statements, Pascua noted that so far the international human rights organizations had not ruled in favor of the security forces. Gee, I wonder why?

Armando Caledonio, vice minister of Security read a letter written by Ramon Custodio, the Human Rights commissioner, to the security agency noting that the police use of wooden clubs (toletes y garrotes in Honduran Spanish) violated the UN conventions on the use of force and asked them to cease using them immediately. One wonders where this concern about the use of wooden clubs was during the de facto regime, but better late than never.

La Tribuna notes that Porfirio Lobo Sosa asked both sides to meet and work out their differences, perhaps appoint an ombudsperson and review the security force procedures in light of UN protocols. He called on the ministers to put aside their differences and work as a team. This is much the same thing he told them last week, so obviously it is working well as a plan.

Until there is a recognition on the part of the police and military that they are violating the human rights of the Honduran people, the problem will persist. The problem, caused by poor training, cannot be addressed until it is recognized as a problem by those who lead, and so far they are in denial. Until then, Honduras will continue to be called to task by the international community.

Jesus Not Mary in Zacapa, Santa Barbara

The bishop of western Honduras, Monsignor Luis Santos has visited the miraculous image in El Ocote, Zacapa, Santa Barbara and identified it as the image of Jesus of Nazareth. On March 24 Bishop Santos found the news stories in La Tribuna and pledged to visit. None of the local priests had notified him of the apparition.

"This is not the Virgin of Zacapa; this is the image of Jesus of Nazareth before Crucifixion,"

he said after examining the image.

La Tribuna reported that Monsignor Santos spent time viewing the image from several directions and talking with the residents of El Ocote. He told the gathered crowd to agree on a day and all pray the rosary and other prayers, preferably at 3 pm, agreeing that it was a sacred image, and that he would inform the catholic hierarchy of the events. Monsignor Santos noted that this is not anything new for those who believe because

"Jesus and Mary have always made themselves known to the people."

Bishop Santos urged the residents of El Ocote to take turns guarding the image against further vandalism.

Labor Code for Dummies

The Lobo Sosa administration can't quite figure out Honduran labor law. They haven't figured out all the steps they need to actually suspend or fire the teachers who are on strike. They've tried several times to suspend or fire the striking teachers, and appear to still not have done everything required under Honduran law to make it legal.

First on March 18, Lobo Sosa declared an education state of emergency, abusing the emergency declaration laws, and threatened to replace the striking teachers. Five days ago, on March 22, the Lobo Sosa administration tried to suspend 1200 teachers who are participating in the strike. The declaration came from the Secretary of Education. Only one problem; that declaration violated the Codigo de Trabajo, Honduran labor law. Oops. The teachers then filed a legal challenge with the Supreme Court.

Today the Lobo Sosa government tried again, issuing a declaration that they were suspending them under Article 571 of the Codigo de Trabajo, the labor code. Article 571 states that once a strike is declared illegal (and article 570 covers who declares it illegal and how) the government has the right to dismiss the strikers and suspend for two to six months labor leaders who lead the strike.

To be valid, an act using Article 571 as the justification requires, under the rules of Article 570, that the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare have issued a prior finding of illegality using the criteria spelled out in Article 569. Once such a declaration is made, and communicated, the workers must cease their strike immediately or they may be dismissed or suspended. Without the Article 570 finding by the proper government official, Lobo Sosa's emergency decree replacing them, and today's firing of them does not comply with Honduran labor law.

So, has such a finding been made and communicated as Article 570 requires? I would have to say "no" based on the wording of today's declaration, which starts:

The Government of the Republic of Honduras to the National and International opinion, ..... declares the illegality of this collective suspension of work, the same that by virtue of law and by Administrative resolution, has already been declared, since the seventh of March of 2011...

So that would imply there has been no finding of illegality by the required party. It appears that Lobo Sosa has declared it illegal, not the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, as required by law.

It is Felícito Ávila Ordóñez, Minister of Labor, who has been busy trying to negotiate the new minimum wage and being part of the government commission that took over running the Instituto de Prevision Magesterial (INPREMA) earlier this month who needs to issue the Article 570 declaration that the strike is illegal. He's made no pronouncements about the teacher's strikes, let alone issued a declaration that they are illegal. He's not been involved in mediating the strike, as required by law. He's not been involved at all. Sigh

Once again it would appear the Honduran government has failed to comply with, or even read and understand, its own labor code. Lobo Sosa cannot invoke Article 571 when the proper Article 570 declaration has not yet occurred.

Do over?

"They're making them in the laboratory...."

It would be funny if it weren't serious; General René Osorio, head of Honduras's Armed Forces, believes one needs a university laboratory to make Molotov cocktails, or so he says in Saturday's Tiempo

"they're making them [Molotov cocktails] in the laboratory of the Teaching University."

Rather than explain the simple components of a Molotov cocktail, something anyone can manufacture in seconds from simple household ingredients, without a university laboratory, I would recommend General Osorio learn what's involved in their fabrication; no laboratory needed.

Speaking of fabrications, the spectre of Nicaraguans invading to disrupt Honduran society has been raised again. First Oscar Alvarez, and now General Rene Osorio claim that foreigners are infiltrating the teacher's protests to cause chaos. Alvarez was specific; they're Nicaraguans. Just last December Alvarez announced that Nicaraguans were importing thousands of weapons and arming and training the FNRP in the Bajo Aguan. Although they announced several times they knew where the arms were (apparently in the local INA office, which they occupied for two months), no arms, or Nicaraguans, were ever found. Only the land titles which show INA owns some of the lands claimed by Miguel Facussé.

When an otherwise seemingly intelligent person, like General Osorio, makes a ridiculous claim in the press, one must look beyond the claim, to its implications, to understand why they might be asserting it. In this case General Osorio almost certainly knows better than to believe Molotov cocktails require a laboratory to manufacture. So what could actually be behind this profoundly outlandish statement? It is likely to be about creating an excuse to move troops and police onto the Teaching University campus. The police used an almost identical claim to justify moving troops and police onto the Autonomous University campus (an illegal act) during the de facto regime. It wasn't true that time, either.

Hey, it worked once....

Zelaya Case Continues

Radio Globo just reported that Supreme Court Judge Oscar Chinchilla has ordered that Manuel Zelaya Rosales stand trial for the charges of "fraud" and "abuse of authority", but has dismissed the arrest warrants. Zelaya is free to return to Honduras without fear of being arrested, but the case brought by the Public Prosecutor, Luis Rubi, continues.

Intransigence

Intransigence is a terrible thing in managers, presidents, heads of security. It means an unwillingness to listen, to reconsider your position. It's a sign of a bad manager, bad president, bad cop.

Honduras has intransigent leadership. Porfirio Lobo is intransigent; Oscar Alvarez is intransigent. Intransigence will not resolve the strike or the human rights problem it reveals; it's an unwillingness to resolve; it is a child's tantrum. Porfirio Lobo Sosa said, "I won't talk to them until they go back to work" and then ordered the police to shut down the protests. That's not good government, that's a tantrum.

Today's La Tribuna carries a story of a split in the Tuesday cabinet meeting allegedly between those who support the teachers and those who support the security services. That sounds like a mischaracterization from the rest of the story. It sounds like the split is between those who believe the security forces are violating the protester's human rights, and those who believe the police can do no wrong.

On the side of the police is Oscar Alvarez, who asserts that he leads a force that is among the most professional police forces in the world. Really? Hands up anybody who believes that.

Alvarez says all the police actions were carried out under the constitution, citing Articles 78 and 58. He says Article 78 guarantees the right of free assembly, but also the right to freely walk around, for everyone. He then cites (according to the article in La Tribuna) Article 58 as allowing all people free transit (the right to walk around) anywhere in the country and that the Police have the obligation to support that right.

Article 78 does in fact allow for freedom of assembly and association provided it does not contravene the public order. Article 58 however, says that ordinary courts, regardless of privilege, will know all electoral crimes and misdemeanors. Oh my. Perhaps he meant Article 81, which does say that everyone has the right to circulate freely.

So Alvarez isn't so good at his constitution. Furthermore he ignores the rights of the teachers to assemble and protest peacefully. He ignores good police procedure, which is to negotiate with protesters to guarantee everyone's rights are observed. He needs a remedial police work course on crowd control, and his police force needs one as well.

On the other side of the argument is Ana Pineda, says La Tribuna. She apparently pointed out the negative effects of the death of Ilse Ivania Velásquez for the efforts of the government to establish a good human rights record. After all, they'd just finished earlier in the week whitewashing Honduras's human rights record before the UN (see our previous post where the government admits to only investigating 3.8 percent of crimes).

"With these events, (Mr.) President, our country is exposed, not only nationally and internationally, but it weakens our level of credibility which we had obtained in front of the members of the UN and other forums of human rights."

Oops. She said the Police and Armed Forces need an operational norm that regulates their operation so that they respect the human rights established in the constitution, international treaties, and Honduran law. She said that the indiscriminate use of explosives, guns, and other things in protests, which have been seen in the videos and still photos available, can wound and even kill. She said that before resorting to force, the security forces need to exhaust all possibility of dialogue with the protesters. She noted that the Channel 36 reporter had been attacked without justification. In short, she acknowledged that the security forces are violating human rights, something the international press already knows.

Pineda is right; there's a training issue which Alvarez refuses to recognize. The police aren't trained to respect the human rights of anyone; they're trained to use force to solve any problem. Training police cadets to sing "...we will bathe in a swimming pool full of blood..." is not a sign that they know to protect human rights. It glorifies the bloodshed they cause. Until Alvarez can recognize, and address this problem, Honduras will be deficient in human rights protection.

At the end of the discussion, Porfirio Lobo Sosa said:

"I maintain my position: street taken; I will dislodge them."

Intransigence.

Education as Social Emancipation

"Education as Social Emancipation." That's the phrase from the Ley Visión de País y Plan de Nación that is used to justify the Ley de incentivo a la participación comunitaria para el mejoramiento de calidad educativa. This is the law, being debated by the National Congress, that is part of the reason the teachers unions are out on strike. So let's examine this law.

The law is guided by two guiding principles from the Plan de la Nación, "citizen participation in government as a generator of governability", and "decentralization of efforts and decisions related to development." These two principles directly derive from the Organización de Demócrata Cristiana de América's (ODCA) guiding planning document, El Nuevo Centro Humanista y Reformista, which we wrote about earlier this month.

Article 1 tells us the motivation is to promote participation by the family and local community in improving the quality of education, and then defines the measures of improvement: complying with the academic calendar (number of days of classes), improved student performance (in some undefined way), fewer dropouts, and less grade repetition.

Article 2 also deals with the objectives of the law, but in this case, the practical objectives. It allows parents to be part of the committee that designs the Proyecto Educativo del Centro (PEC) which is the ideal set of goals that guide education in the center. It establishes two oversight committees, the Consejo Municipal de Desarrollo Educativo (COMDE) and the Consejo Escolar de Desarrollo.

The municipal level council, COMDE, has as its purpose the "social oversight of the effective teaching of the teacher in the classroom", the fulfillment of the academic calendar, and meeting the educational goals set in the municipality in conformity with the national education goals. It is responsible for the financial auditing of all of its schools. Article 5 sets the composition of the committee of eight members, appointed by the municipal government. Article 6 sets a series of specific goals and tasks for the committee. Article 7 says that COMDE has to coordinate with the Consejos Regionales de Desarrollo (regional development committees). The COMDE is responsible for making education sustainable, whatever that means.

The Consejo Escolar de Desarrollo is at the school level and is designed to promote community participation among the different actors surrounding the school. Article 8 describes the composition of this seven member committee. These groups participate in the institutional PEC, support the teachers, have oversight responsibility for the use of funds and take attendance of all school staff, and to report back to the local COMDE.

In turn, the government will offer the communities the following incentives: financial resources assigned by the central government to the Minister of Education, from there assigned to the schools through the school's Consejo Escolar; learning aids such as equipment, computers, internet connections, etc. to improve the quality of education; and recognition by the Minister of Education.

Article 13 tells the municipalities to assign resources to COMDE and the Consejos Escolares through their development committee. Article 14 says that Congress will assign, each year, a budget to provide the educational incentives to the best schools, the ones that meet or exceed their goals to provide incentives for the municipalities.

Article 14 will have an effect of preserving the status quo. Good public schools in rich communities will continue to receive the most, because they will be able to do the most, and have the lowest dropout rates, best performing students, etc. Poor schools in poor communities will get next to nothing under this system.

This law has been presented by the government as essentially giving the municipality a block grant for them to staff schools, buy educational material, and pursue their own education goals. Teachers have claimed that it will allow for the privatization of schools. The rhetoric from both sides, the government and the teachers, doesn't match what the law says, so its hard to say who is right here.

There are no funding statements in this law, apart from the requirement that Congress fund the educational incentives. There is no statement about how municipalities will fund the work of these committees, which is considerable, other than the requirement that they appropriate funds in their development budget for this purpose. In the US, this would be called an unfunded mandate. The law also does not appear to give local control over the hiring and firing of teachers.

What this law does do is transfer the auditing and accountability functions previously held by the central government and the Ministry of Education, to the municipalities, without proposing to fund them to do it. It has a little sugar in the form of education incentives, but the article structuring their award seems to preserve the status quo, with rich schools in the best position to reap these rewards. It provides the spectre of more local control over education while politicizing that control by putting the composition of the committees in the hands of the local government.

Juan Orlando Hernandez met with representatives of the Associacion de Municipios de Honduras Monday to explain the law. He said there will be an open meeting with all of the 298 municipal governments on April 2 to explain the law. At this Monday meeting he professed not to understand why the teachers are opposed to this law since it guarantees they get paid. One of the many problems with the current Ministry of Education is that it either fails to pay teachers or pays them three months in arrears.

This law should make municipal governments nervous.