ࡱ> @B?'` bjbj 7*08 8 8 8 $\ 0d _ _ _ $"h V_ _ VV PVF  V:,Q x ?<8 " }Hd#. ! !Q !Q,_ ,a I_ _ _ _ _ _ dVVVV000000000 H.E. Mr. Thomas Mayr-Harting Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations 600 Third Avenue, 31st Floor New York, N.Y. 10016 24 September 2009 Open Letter to Security Council Members on Addressing the Crisis in Honduras Dear Ambassador, As feminist organizations and networks and womens groups working to address the crisis caused by the recent coup dtat in Honduras, we look to the United Nations Security Council urgently to act to address this crisis. We call on the Security Council to condemn the repressive actions and human rights violations committed by the coup government against the Honduran people, to protect the civilian population of Honduras and to support an immediate return to constitutional order, in accordance with existing international treaties and agreements to which the state of Honduras is a signatory. We look forward to your government, as a member of the Council, supporting a strong and compelling statement from the international community. We also look forward to your support for urgent and immediate measures to address the security situation in Honduras and to protect and safeguard the rights of the Honduran people, including women who are being particularly affected by this crisis. This support would be an affirmation of the Security Councils commitments expressed in resolutions 1325 and 1820 on women, peace and security. Since the return of democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya to Honduras on September 21, the country has seen a dramatic rise in violence by the military and police forces causing further insecurity for the people of Honduras and a suspension of their civil liberties, following the orders of the de facto regime: An unjustified curfew was decreed, beginning September 21, 2009, to suppress the peaceful gatherings in support of President Zelayas return including the violent suppression of a large gathering outside of the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. Electrical power was cut off for 48 hours and there are widespread reports of human rights violations committed in response to these gatherings. At 5 a.m. on September 22, police and military contingents, using tear gas, dyed water, shrill alarms, beatings and bullets, forcibly removed those who remained in front of the Brazilian embassy. There are preliminary reports of three people being killed by gunshots to the head and reports of many others being assaulted; including an eight-year-old boy who died due to tear gas asphyxiation. Those remaining near the embassy, including many children, are under siege conditions and are not being allowed access to food or water. Furthermore, press freedoms are being severely restricted and members of the international media who were at or near the Brazilian Embassy have been beaten and forcibly removed by the police. People who were making their way towards the Brazilian embassy from different parts of the city and from throughout the country have been detained on the road and prevented from moving freely. The military has set up roadblocks to prevent convoys from entering the city. Those who were detained or injured are being held in illegal detention centers, such as those set up at Chochi Sosa stadium and at San Francisco military base. In San Pedro Sula, detainees are being taken to the Olympic Stadium. Reports as to the number of detainees vary between 150 and 1,000. The military has even detained people who were in hospitals. This situation is reminiscent of the coup dtat in Chile in 1973, when thousands of innocent people were captured and detained at the stadium in Santiago. In all of this, Honduran women have found themselves in a particularly vulnerable situation both as participants in the resistance and as families of detainees. The preliminary results of the Feminist Fact-Finding Mission that was carried out in August by a delegation of human rights defenders from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America documented numerous cases of abuse and sexual harassment committed by the police force. These facts and other reports from numerous other international fact-finding missions to Honduras in the wake of this coup confirm that bold action is needed. We look forward to receiving your support in urgently addressing this crisis. Sincerely, eh mVm *urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags PostalCode9*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagsplaceB*urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttagscountry-region 8U &.  E 3311ss||IIffzz00  F F   A A ..0000..q 'HX ^`OJQJ^J 88^8`OJ QJ ^J% ^`OJ QJ ^J% ^`OJQJ^J pp^p`OJ QJ ^J%   ^ `OJ QJ ^J% @ @ ^@ `OJQJ^J   ^ `OJ QJ ^J% ^`OJ QJ ^J%88^8`OJPJQJ^Jo(-^`OJQJ^Jo(hHo  ^ `OJQJo(hH  ^ `OJQJo(hHxx^x`OJQJ^Jo(hHoHH^H`OJQJo(hH^`OJQJo(hH^`OJQJ^Jo(hHo^`OJQJo(hHq 'WW8Num1 l        s~[9f+Q 1!@@UnknownAlePeaceWomen Project WILPF G:Ax Times New Roman5Symbol3& :Cx Arial9GaramondkMTimesNewRomanPSMTTimes New RomanO& k9Lucida Sans Unicode?5 :Cx Courier New5& :[`)Tahoma;Wingdings_ OpenSymbolArial Unicode MSBqhFfFfOOx24d 2qHX ?U6_2 United Nations Security Council:Alejandra BergemannAle  Oh+'0 , L X dpx$United Nations Security Council:Alejandra BergemannNormalAle2Microsoft Office Word@F#@-<@-<O՜.+,0  hp  JASS' !United Nations Security Council: Title  !"#$%&'()*+,-.012345689:;<=>ARoot Entry FZ?<CData 1Table4!WordDocument7*SummaryInformation(/DocumentSummaryInformation87CompObjq  FMicrosoft Office Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q