Accompaniment needed in Honduras

[roody]

Father Ismael Moreno (Father Melo, pictured to the left) is a Jesuit priest, radio
host and important Witness for Peace partner in El Progreso, Honduras.

As an outspoken critic of last year's coup and its aftermath, he has also been a
target of death threats and has even had a bounty placed on his head. As a result of
Father Melo's work to protect Irma Melissa Villanueva, who was gang-raped by police
in the wake of the coup, *threats on his life are escalating.*

To ensure Father Melo's safety, our allies at the Quixote Center <
http://quixote.org / > are searching for individuals to accompany him in Honduras.

As of June 1, the people currently accompanying Father Melo will have to leave
Honduras. So far, no replacement as been found.

If you are interested in traveling to Honduras to accompany Father Melo, please
contact Jennifer Atlee at [e-mail] . Spanish-language capacity and
experience in accompaniment work are desirable.

If you're unable to offer solidarity through accompaniment, please consider calling
the U.S. State Department (Gabriela Zambrano at 202-647-3482 or Chris Webster at
202-647-4087) or the U.S. Ambassador in Tegucigalpa at 011-504-236-9320 ext #4268 to
express your concerns with human rights violations in Honduras.

Thank you for your solidarity with the people of Honduras.

Paz,


Galen Cohee Baynes
Witness for Peace Nicaragua Team

[Judi Lynn]

1. Father Melo is in this struggle for the duration, it appears. He has devoted his life to the people

and will stand by them.

He's willing to stake his life on his beliefs. How many people do we ordinarily see like that in our lifetimes, anyway?

Here's the link to your article, while I'm thinking of it:
http://quotha.net/node/950

It appears his home is in San Pedro Sula, the alleged home of that hissing demon who visited us to attack the elected Honduran President Zelaya just prior to his violent kidnapping and expulsion. From that example we saw for ourselves it's easy to see there are subhuman, deranged, self-absorbed, vicious idiots in that town who would be happy to see him destroyed any way possible.

Hoping it will be possible for some people who can swing it to step forward and assist him as their time allows. Presence of others moving in and out and around him would call attention to the fact he is known internationally and is a man whose disappearance would cause more problems for them than it's worth.

Best hopes for the survival of Father Melo.

~snip~
WE DEMAND that the regime of Porfirio Lobo Sosa and the repressive state bodies that only respond to the interests of the oligarchy to stop the persecution, harassment, death threats, and murders of journalists and members of the Popular Resistance on a regional and national level, in total disregard for freedom of expression and of life and proof is the violent deaths of journalists.

The station’s director, Father Ismael Moreno, SJ, better known as Father Melo, has also received death threats for providing protection to Irma Melissa, a girl who denounced that she was a victim of rape by the Honduran police during a protest. The blog of Sic Semanal – Centro Gumilla republished the statement by the Jesuits in Honduras calling on investigations on the threats against Father Melo.

President Lobo announced that he has asked for international help to investigate the crimes. Nevertheless, many feel that the state security forces are heavily involved in these threats against those who spoke out against the coup and against those that continue to call for Zelaya to return to the presidency. In the meantime, many in the Honduran media still feel that restrictions have been placed on their work and that this information is not being reported in the international press.

http://elitestv.com/pub/2010/05/honduras-7-journalists-killed-and-others-threatened

[Judi Lynn]

2. Recommending.

http://image.guardian.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/steve_bell/2008/02/13/WATERBOARD512.jpg

[EFerrari]

3. I will call, roody. Thank you for the heads up.

:grouphug: