An international network of human rights organizations has concluded its election observation mission to Honduras today. One hundred and eighty election observers from all over the world travelled to Honduras from November 17 to 27, 2013, to observe the November 24th general elections.
The Common Frontiers led delegation from Canada included CUPE 3903 member Peter Dawson and several representatives from labour organizations, community groups, academics and a former chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nations. The delegation travelled to various parts of the country and met with communities and groups adversely impacted by Canadian companies operating in the mining, tourism and maquiladora sectors of the economy.
In the lead up to the elections, observers everywhere faced intimidation and harassment while local activists were confronted with widespread violence. On November 23rd, Maria Amparo Pineda Eduarte, a rural Leader of Cooperativa el Carbón and member of the Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC), was working as president of a polling station for the LIBRE party in Cantarranas when she was assassinated, along with Julio Ramón Araujo Maradiaga, after leaving a polling station training. Many other such incidents have been documented throughout the country.
The Canadian delegation recorded evidence supporting claims of voting irregularities and are urging the Canadian government not to recognize the results of the Honduran elections. The observation mission took place on the heels of the Canadian government announcing the signing of the Canada-Honduras free trade agreement.
For more information about these elections and the Canadian election observer delegation click on the following link: http://www.commonfrontiers.ca/Honduras-2013/index.html
Some facts about Honduras:
- Honduras, which has a population of 8.2 million, is widely viewed as the murder capital of the world, reaching a record high of 7,172 homicides in 2012 (source: United Nations).
- Since 2010, there have been more than 200 politically motivated killings and Honduras is now widely regarded as one of the most dangerous places for journalists. According to a 2013 Human Rights Watch report, Honduras has the regions highest rate of journalists killed per population.
- The leading Honduran human rights group COFADEH has documented that at least sixteen activists and candidates from the main opposition party LIBRE have been assassinated since June of 2012.