{"id":10499,"date":"2009-08-25T20:13:51","date_gmt":"2009-08-26T01:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=10499"},"modified":"2009-08-25T20:17:25","modified_gmt":"2009-08-26T01:17:25","slug":"laura-carlsen-honduran-society-faces-contradictions-of-illegitimate-institutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=10499","title":{"rendered":"Laura Carlsen: Honduran Society Faces Contradictions of Illegitimate Institutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Americas Program<\/a> Coverage of the Coup in Honduras<\/em>
\nPart 1: The Coup’s Version of ‘Order in the Court’
\nLaura Carlsen
\n25 August 2009<\/strong><\/p>\n

The workings of a modern-day democracy depend on the open and orderly day-to-day functions of institutions based on law. The international community has unanimously agreed that this does not exist in Honduras. But few people outside Honduras really understand what it means to live in a society where the institutions are in the hands of the same people who broke with the rule of law.<\/p>\n

Tuesday was the preliminary hearing for 24 people arrested during protests held Aug. 11-12. The press and statements from those released on bail has confirmed that the day security forces picked up the prisoners they took them to an illegal detention center, improvised behind the Congress where, in another farce of justice, members rubber-stamped the ouster of the elected president Manuel Zelaya with ad hoc charges and a falsified letter of resignation. Men and women of all ages were thrown in together. They were stripped semi-naked, laid face down on the floor, and in many cases beaten.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Raquel Hern\u00e1ndez’s son Alan, was taken away that day. She says, in tears, \u201cHe told me, \u2018Mama, I was taking photos and a soldier grabbed me in the march, but I wasn\u2019t doing anything wrong\u2026\u2019 He\u2019s just a university student. When I heard this it gave me chills, a sense of impotence with this government…”<\/p>\n

This is not a normal trial. Armed police officers refused admittance to the lower court where the preliminary hearing is being held. The court is militarized. In the hallway outside the hearing, four soldiers in camouflage surreptitiously snap photos of family members and supporters as more soldiers fill the courtroom\u2014an ominous reminder that institutions in the hands of the armed forces have lost all semblance of real institutionality or justice.<\/p>\n

Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n

Laura Carlsen is Director of the Americas Program (www.americaspolicy.org<\/a>). She was in Tegucigalpa this past week as a member of the international delegation of Women’s Human Rights Week in Honduras.<\/em><\/p>\n

Further coverage of the coup in Honduras on the Americas Blog:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coup Catalyzes Honduran Women\u00b4s Movement
\nhttp:\/\/americasmexico.blogspot.com\/2009\/08\/coup-catalyzes-honduran-womens-movement.html<\/a><\/p>\n

An Open Letter to President Obama on “Hypocrisy”
\nhttp:\/\/americasmexico.blogspot.com\/2009\/08\/open-letter-to-president-obama-on.html<\/a><\/p>\n

In Mexico, Zelaya Criticizes “Weakness” of the International Community
\nhttp:\/\/americasmexico.blogspot.com\/2009\/08\/in-mexico-zelaya-criticizes-weakness-of.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Third Stage of Operation Crack the Coup: Popular Mobilization
\nhttp:\/\/americasmexico.blogspot.com\/2009\/07\/third-stage-of-operation-crack-coup.html<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Americas Program Coverage of the Coup in Honduras Part 1: The Coup’s Version of ‘Order in the Court’ Laura Carlsen 25 August 2009 The workings of a modern-day democracy depend on the open and orderly day-to-day functions of institutions based … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdXTf-2Jl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10499"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10507,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10499\/revisions\/10507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}