HONDURAS:
Prosecutors on Hunger
Strike against
Corruption
By Thelma Mejía
TEGUCIGALPA (IPS)
- Prosecutors in
Honduras are on hunger
strike to demand the
dismissal of the
attorney general and his
deputy, for failure to
investigate cases of
corruption. Tension
mounted when the
president of Congress
warned of possible
intentions to break with
the "constitutional
order."
The 30-day fast on a
liquid diet undertaken
by 25 prosecutors has
not yet been lifted in
spite of 10 days of
negotiations.
The president of the
Honduran Congress,
Roberto Micheletti,
accused the
demonstrators Sunday of
"attempting to ride
roughshod over the
constitutional order,"
and said "we shall
defend the rule of law."
"Democracy is based on
the respect for rights,
but also the fulfilment
of our duties. We have
consented to enter into
dialogue with the
prosecutors involved in
the protest, we have
showed them we want to
comply with their
petitions, but they
cannot ask us to violate
the constitution and the
laws," Micheletti, of
the governing Liberal
Party (PL), said in a
statement that was
broadcast by TV and
radio stations.
The demand that Attorney
General Leónidas Rosa of
the opposition National
Party (PN), and his
deputy Omar Cerna of the
PL, be removed from
office is
unconstitutional, in
Micheletti’s view.
Rosa and Cerna are
accused of
administrative
negligence for stalling
investigations into
alleged acts of
corruption for years.
Implicated in the cases
are important figures in
the political and
business world, linked
to the PL and the PN,
the two parties that
have ruled Honduras for
decades under a
basically bipartisan
political system.
The prosecutors are
demanding justice in the
same cases that brought
about the resignation of
then Attorney General
Ovidio Navarro and his
deputy Yuri Melara in
2005. Congress replaced
them with Rosa and Cerna,
in a vain attempt to
shore up the
deteriorated image of
the Attorney-General’s
Office.
The prosecutors on
hunger strike say that
the new officials were
irregularly appointed --
although they did not
impugn the nominations
at the time, as provided
by law -- and today they
allege lack of due
diligence in following
up prosecutions for
corruption.
They are demanding the
dismissal or suspension
of Raso and Cerna and an
audit of the cases that
have been stalled.
Micheletti, who headed
the negotiations with
the hunger strikers,
accompanied by members
of three of the five
parties represented in
parliament, said he was
in favour of the audit
of the case files, and
of creating a "special
commission of notables"
to work alongside a
technical committee of
legal experts to review
all cases involving
alleged corruption.
"But we cannot remove
authorities from their
posts because that would
violate the constitution
and the internal
regulations of the
Attorney General’s
Office," Micheletti
said. In March 2009,
according to law,
parliament must appoint
new Attorney General’s
Office authorities, a
new Supreme Court, new
magistrates for the
Court of Auditors, and
others. At the same
time, the country will
embark on the process of
electing a new
government.
The hunger strikers, who
are camping in a tent in
front of Congress, are
supported by members of
the public,
representatives of
social and indigenous
groups, and Catholic and
Protestant church
leaders, like the
superior of the Jesuit
order in Honduras,
Ismael Moreno.
Jari Dixon, one of the
prosecutors, called for
the congressional
steering committee
presided by Micheletti,
and Congress itself, to
be dissolved, because
"this Congress does not
want to serve the people
and its needs, and
conspires with the
powers-that-be and
covers up their acts of
corruption."
"The constitution says
we have the right to
rise up in
insurrection," he said.
The president of the
Honduran Association of
Prosecutors (AFH),
Víctor Fernández, who is
among the protesters,
called for support for
the protest actions
being organised this
week by the National
Coordinating Unit for
Popular Resistance (CNRP),
an umbrella group for
social and workers’
organisations.
The "dignity tent" the
hunger strikers are
living in is visited
daily by ordinary
citizens, many of whom
sign a book to register
their protest against
corruption. Two weeks
ago, President Manuel
Zelaya went there to
express his support for
their cause, and even
called for the
resignation of Deputy
Attorney General Cerna,
a member of his own
party.
Zelaya’s statement was
backed up by PL party
president Patricia Rodas,
which gave rise to
doubts about the
authenticity of the
hunger strikers’
protest, to the extent
that analysts, members
of Congress and
opposition leaders
warned that the
president may be seeking
to perpetuate himself in
power, an allegation he
robustly denies.
In Honduras, presidents
may not stand for
re-election. Analyst
Olban Valladares told
IPS that Zelaya made a
serious mistake when he
called for the deputy
attorney general’s
resignation, "because he
showed lack of respect
for the justice system
and the rule of law, and
lent himself to the
games played by groups
who want to discredit
the country’s
institutions."
"If there are signs that
Zelaya wants to stay in
power, he had better
leave the country,"
Valladares said.
Archbishop of
Tegucigalpa Óscar Andrés
Rodríguez said that
"when the legal
structures are
destabilised, false
leaders or a ‘caudillo’
(strongman) can arise
out of the resulting
anarchy."
The talks between the
prosecutors and Congress
have been marked by acts
of religious fanaticism,
statements discrediting
individuals and
institutions, suspicions
that the movement and
its negotiating team are
being infiltrated, and
even attacks on the
press for failing to
report "objectively."
Evangelical sects
carried out a symbolic
exorcism of the press,
burning piles of
newspapers. Roadblocks
have been mounted at the
home of the attorney
general and at
congressional parking
lots to prevent members
of Congress from
leaving.
Attorney General Rosas
told IPS that "we are
willing to grant
everything the hunger
strikers ask, within the
limits of the law. We
are open to the audit,
we have conceded
everything they want,
but they won’t budge.
This raises suspicions
that someone is
determined to break with
the constitutional
order."
National Commissioner
for Human Rights
(Ombudsman) Ramón
Custodio told IPS that
the rule of law cannot
be overthrown, and
warned that "those who
stand to gain the most
from a state of anarchy
are the ‘parallel
powers’ linked to drug
trafficking, that want
Honduras to become a
narco-state. I have been
saying this for days,"
he said. |
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