Initial
Findings:
Human rights delegation finds disturbing evidence of
US involvement in killings of Moskito people in Ahuás
A delegation of academics, human rights and
labor activists, Canadian and U.S. citizens, many with extensive experience in
Honduras, organized by U.S. and Canadian-based human rights groups Rights
Action and Alliance for Global Justice, visited the community of Ahuás in the
Department of Gracias a Dios in a region known as La Moskitia located in
eastern Honduras on May 22-23, 2012.
On May 11, 2012 four helicopters conducted an
apparent drug interdiction near the town of Ahuas. At least one of the helicopters opened fire
on a passenger boat killing two pregnant women, a 14-year-old boy and a
21-year-old man, while seriously injuring at least four more. The purpose of the visit was to inquire into
this tragedy.
According to press reports, the United States
State Department acknowledges that participating helicopters were titled to the
State Department but were piloted by Guatemalan military and contractors. The
DEA confirms that a DEA Foreign-Deployed Advisory Support Team (FAST)
participated in the operation supporting a Honduran National Police Tactical
Response Team, while U.S. military’s Southern Command claims that no U.S.
military personnel or contractors participated in the action.
Our delegation interviewed local
community representatives, injured survivors, family members and eyewitnesses
on the scene as well as a Honduran military officer.
Based on
our investigation, we are able to confirm that:
§
Following
the massacre the helicopters landed to seize drugs from a boat near the
massacre site. All those who exited the
helicopter were identified as tall, light-skinned English speakers with limited
Spanish proficiency wearing military uniforms, appearing to be U.S. military
personnel. They carried out all actions
on the ground, appearing to play much more than a support role in the
operation.
§
These
security forces identified as Americans aimed guns at, threatened to kill, and
handcuffed local residents who were attempting to assist those wounded in the
massacre during approximately 2 to 3 hours while military personnel retrieved
the drugs by forcing at gunpoint a relative of some of the victims to ferry
drugs from a boat to the helicopters. In
this way security forces actively prevented emergency medical attention to the
victims who lay on the banks of the river and in the water until after
helicopters departed. One injured and
bleeding victim clung to weeds in the river for as long as three hours before
being assisted.
§
All
witnesses stated independently that all shots fired came from overhead from a
helicopter.
§
Neither
the U.S. nor the Honduran government has interviewed the eye witnesses or secured
evidence at the crime scene which indicates that no serious investigation has
been conducted into the massacre that was carried out from one of the U.S.’s
own helicopters with participation of U.S. Security Forces.
§
Since
the massacre Ahuas has been occupied by several dozen Honduran troops who
patrol the unpaved streets and state they will stay as long as necessary. We received reports that the U.S. military
presence in the vicinity of Ahuas is increasing, a center of U.S. military
operations has been established in nearby Brus Laguna and a permanent U.S.
military base in Caratasca, roughly an hour boat ride from Ahuas.
Our visit
to the Moskitia region in Gracias a Dios has raised a number of concerns.
§
We
are extremely concerned by the lack of credible investigation. The U.S. government categorically denies the
possibility that its security forces were involved in the killings, or that the
United States shares responsibility.
Rather, the State Department claims it is ‘cooperating’ with Honduran
investigations and is referring all inquiries to the Honduran government
officials; this despite the fact that the Honduran public prosecutor’s office,
National Police and military are widely reputed to be corrupt.
§
We
are alarmed by the distorted response to the massacre by the Honduran and U.S.
governments' and much of the media coverage.
US and Honduran officials have blamed and criminalized the victims, the
population in general and local authorities.
§
We
are deeply concerned by the militarization that we observed. U.S. military and
civilian security forces in Honduras are applying counterinsurgency tactics to
combat drug trafficking and militarizing regions where there are significant
natural resources. Thus, today we are
witnessing a resurgence of death squads and the remilitarization of Central
America such as occurred in the 1980s. We are alarmed by press reports of the
recent transfer of counterinsurgency tactics and personnel from Iraq and
Afghanistan to Central America. By characterizing the general population and
local authorities as drug traffickers, indigenous communities have become the
focus of counterinsurgency actions.
§
Many
people we spoke with, including representatives of indigenous organizations,
are deeply concerned that militarization and violence generated by the ‘drug
war’ is negatively impacting their communities and is focused where there are
significant natural resources, rivers with hydroelectric potential, petroleum,
gold, and forests. Texas-based Honduras
Tejas Oil and Gas Company, a joint venture with concessions in the Moskitia,
estimates there are six to eight billion barrels of oil reserves in the Moskitia.
§
Our
group was outraged that this is the role our government is playing and at how
our tax dollars are used. We wonder what our country is doing bringing a
counterinsurgency model to a country where U.S. backed covert counterinsurgency
has caused so much suffering in the past.
§
What
we saw in the Moskitia was dire poverty and an atmosphere of terror being
generated in an area where the indigenous people are now losing control of
their resources, which are key to the development of their economy.
In light of what we
observed on our visit and the concerns raised, we demand:
§
That
the U.S Congress investigate and hold hearings about the U.S. role in the
events of May 11, 2012 in La Moskitia.
§
That
serious and independent investigations take place exploring the role and
responsibility of agents of the U.S. government in the May 11 massacre in
Ahuas, be they DEA agents, private security contractors under the direction or
contracted by agencies of the U.S. government or other security forces. This
investigation should include identifying criminal responsibility of specific
individuals.
§
That
the rights and decisions of indigenous communities and popular movements be
respected rather than treated as drug traffickers and insurgents with complete
disregard to fundamental human rights.
§
That
the U.S. government speak out publicly against the presence of individuals
widely known to have involvement in drug trafficking and death squads within
the Honduran justice system today.
§
That
in light of the abuses we documented, the U.S. government must withdraw all
U.S. security forces including DEA and private contractors from Honduras, cease
military assistance and training, and stop promoting remilitarization in Central
America.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
May 27, 2012
Irene
Rodriguez, Boulder, CO
John Walkey,
Boston, MA
Maria
Robinson, California, CA
Judith
Ancel, Kansas City, KS
Greg McCain,
Chicago, IL
Mary Dean,
Chicago, IL
Karen
Spring, Toronto, ON
Alice
Kitchen, Kansas City, MO
Melissa
Stiehler, Kansas City, MO
Jean
Grahame, Farmington, IL
Susan Cole,
Lafayette, LA
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