| Honduras: Prosecute Post-Coup Abuses | Attacks and Threats Remain a Very Serious Concern
| | In the aftermath of Honduras's 2009 coup, security forces under the de facto government beat demonstrators, detained people arbitrarily, and shut down media outlets. Since the inauguration in January of President Porfirio Lobo, who was elected after the coup, at least 47 journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists have been threatened or attacked -- 18 of them killed. Circumstantial evidence in most of these cases suggest that victims were targeted because of their political views. No one has been held accountable for these acts, nor for what happened in the coup's aftermath. Court cases concerning crimes committed after the coup have been stalled – in part because various state agencies won't cooperate with Honduras's human rights unit. Security forces have failed to turn over firearms for ballistics tests and ignored requests to identify officers accused of crimes. Investigations into the officers' actions lack independence. The Supreme Court endorsed the military's actions during the coup and fired four judges who questioned the coup's legality, creating a climate that discouraged lower-court judges from ruling against the de facto government. Until Honduran authorities take concrete steps to hold people accountable for past actions and to stop the attacks, it will be difficult to restore trust in the country's democratic system. 
| | Attacks on human rights defenders, journalists and activists » | Photo: © 2009 Stephen Ferry
|  | | Obama Repeals "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" | Human Rights Watch urges the Defense Department to implement rapidly the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010." As documented in our 2003 report, "Uniform Discrimination: the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy of the US Military," men and women who have served their country with courage, skill, and distinction have been discharged from the US military simply because of their sexual orientation. Since the policy was enacted in 1993, 14,000 service members have been wrongfully discharged.
President Obama's repeal of the discriminatory legislation was a major step forward in affording equal rights to lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and corrects a serious injustice inflicted upon men and women by the country for which they were willing to sacrifice their lives.
| | Read more » | Photo: © 2010 Reuters
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