, everyone. I just received this from Abram Huyser Honig who lives and works in Honduras and I wanted to give you the opportunity to read it, be aware of what’s happening and take action if you have time and inclination. The Association for a More Just Society is doing wonderful work in Honduras and would value any kind of support you can offer. Please pray for peace and courage.
kirstin[/i:d0f5051d2a]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ and defenders of Justice,
On Monday morning Dionisio D?az Garc?a a lawyer who worked for the Association for a More Just Society (AJS) in Honduras defending the labor rights of poor Honduran workers, was gunned down in cold blood. Today Carlos Hernandez, the president of the board of AJS in Honduras, received an anonymous text message on his cell phone threatening that he would be next.
Please read the press release below and send it to as many people as possible.
Please visit www.ajshonduras.org/dionisio
Please send as many emails possible to the following Honduran government agencies:
[list:d0f5051d2a]
Office of the President: lmaldonado@presidencia.gob.hn, mzelaya@presidencia.gob.hn
National Human Rights Commission: custodiolopez@conadeh.hn
Office of the Public Prosecutor: njuarez@mp.hn
Supreme Court: vmorales@poderjudicial.gob.hn
National Congress: rmicheletti@congreso.gob.hn
[/list:u:d0f5051d2a]
And please call the US Embassy in Honduras to let them know people in North America are closely watching this situation: (504 country code) +236-9320 or +238-5114
Thank you, and may God bless you,
Abram Huyser Honig
Communications Coordinator, Association for a More Just Society
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Abram Huyser Honig, Communications Coordinator
Association for a More Just Society (AJS)
+504 (Honduras’ country code) + 239.4418
abram@ajshonduras.org
www.ajshonduras.org
"Lawyer of the Poor" murdered in Honduras; Associates Threatened
Tegucigalpa , Honduras , 7 December 2006. Honduras is in mourning. On Monday of this week it lost a great ally in the struggle for social justice and a great defender of the poor: Dionisio D?az Garc?a was shot to death in his pickup truck while driving to court by two masked gunmen on a motorcycle. The gunmen shot D?az in the head and chest from close range.
Since early 2006 D?az had served as the primary labor lawyer for the Association for a More Just Society’s Labor Rights for Vulnerable Populations program, which had been running since 2004.
D?az had received numerous threats in the months leading up to the murder. This morning Carlos Hern?ndez, the president of AJS’s board of directors, received a text mesage on his cell phone threatening: "you are the next."
D?az was in charge of providing legal defense and representation for the labor rights of hundreds of security guards employed by 13 different private security companies that routinely violated the legal rights of their employees. His humble, honest, steadfast dedication to the impoverished workers he represented earned him the nickname "the lawyer of the poor." He was known among his coworkers for answering phone calls from distraught clients at all hours of the night and routinely skipping lunch and working on holidays to fit in more meetings with beleaguered workers or more Labor Court audiences on their behalf.
There are over 200 private security companies in Honduras employing some 40,000 security guards. They are, for the most part, unregulated. Security guards are among the worst-paid and worst-treated employees in the formal sector of the Honduran labor market. Because of illegal pay deductions and withholdings, they often earn less than Honduras’ minimum wage requirement of approximately US$120 per month.
In the last three months thanks to D?az’s efforts AJS succeeded in opening dialogs with the owners of several of these companies. But this was not the case with the companies Delta Security Services and Service y Seguridad T?cnica de Honduras (SETECH).
Both of these companies (which are owned by the same individuals) refused at all times to accept citations for failing to respect the law. Instead they responded by undertaking a smear campaign against D?az and AJS.
Thanks to D?az and AJS’s insistent efforts to achieve social justice for security guards, the Honduran Court of Labor placed an embargo on two vehicles owned by Delta and SETECH in order to guarantee about $10,000 in benefits these companies owed to a group of current and former employees, all of them impoverished security guards.
D?az and inspectors from the Honduran Ministry of Labor also carried out numerous inspections of the areas in which guards employed by these companies worked. These inspections revealed that the labor rights of Delta and SETECH employees were regularly violated.
These violations of Honduran labor law included withholding of overtime pay and other benefits and forcing employees to sign letters of resignation?in Honduras, employees receive fewer severance benefits if they elect to resign than if they are fired by their employers.
As a response to these legal actions taken against them, on September 19, 2006, representatives of Delta and SETECH arrived at and attempted to forcefully enter AJS’s central office in Tegucigalpa.
Among the unusual visitors were Richard Swasey, owner of Delta; one of his legal representatives, Efr?n Aguilar; Robert F?nez, head of human resources for Delta; Roger Medina L?pez, head of operations for SETECH; and three other individuals, including one woman, who claimed to be lawyers.
Soon after this encounter a Honduran news website ran a paid advertisement falsely claiming that AJS did not pay social security for its employees and making other slanderous statements about the staff of Revistazo.com, AJS’s online investigative news journal, which had run numerous stories about Delta and SETECH’s labor violations. The photo of several AJS staff members published with the story appeared to have been taken from inside the car Swasey and his associates arrived in on their visit to AJS’s office on September 19.
From this date on, vehicles with tinted windows and no license plates began appearing frequently outside AJS’s office and following AJS staff members.
D?az received numerous threatening phone calls, and on Monday, November 27, 2006, a fellow AJS lawyer received a text message sent from the internet to his cell phone warning that D?az’s life was in danger.
AJS also has knowledge that SETECH and Delta hired private investigators to keep tabs on D?az and other AJS employees.
And several days ago Donaldo Burke, a former agent of the DGIC (Honduras’ General Bureau for Criminal Investigation?analogous to the United States’ FBI), arrived at AJS’s office insisting that he needed to meet privately and immediately with D?az, supposedly to give him information about the location of a seized vehicle that had been put in D?az’s custody but which had mysteriously disappeared and about labor violations committed against security guards.
There are many links between Honduras’ private security industry and its police and military forces. A number of security company owners are current or former army generals and police officials.
In response to being followed and threatened in various ways, and particularly in response to the robbery of the Delta vehicle that had been put in his custody, D?az registered official reports with the DGIC and with the Office of the Public Prosecutor for Common Crimes.
Negligence[/b:d0f5051d2a]
The DGIC made no move to act on D?az’s report, but it did act on a competing report filed by SETECH claiming D?az himself had stolen the vehicle.
Similarly, the Office of the Public Prosecutor patently ignored Diaz’s report while proceeding swiftly to take legal action against him in response to SETECH’s report.
For months AJS has been soliciting the Ministry of Security to undertake an in-depth investigation of the legality of Honduras’ private security firms in order to make sure they fulfill the requisites established by Honduran law.
AJS has also requested the Office of the Public Prosecutor to investigate possible links these firms may have with various illicit activities.
To date, not one of these requests to government agencies has been met with a positive response, thus strengthening the impunity and illegality that put Honduras among the most corrupt countries in the world.
Paradoxically, government agencies continue to sign contracts worth millions of Lempiras with security companies reported to be routine violators of Honduran labor law.
AJS confirms that in following God’s call to seek social justice all of its employees are at risk to violence committed against their persons?as D?az’s murder shows, the enemies of democracy and the common good have begun a violent attack.
We profoundly lament the fact that in Honduras defending human rights continues to put one in danger and that the constitution does not protect those who do right.
AJS expresses its sorrow and condolences for Lourdes Elvir, D?az’s widow, for his six-year-old son, and for the rest of his family. We pray that God will pour out his blessings upon them and that he will give them strength to bear this great loss.
AJS also demands that the appropriate agencies investigate Honduras’ private security companies to guarantee that they operate strictly within the limits defined by the law.
We call upon the president of the Republic of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Vilma Cecilia Morales; the president of the National Congress, Roberto Micheletti; the Human Rights Commissioner, Ram?n Custodio L?pez; the Attourney General, Leonidas Rosa Bautista; and the minister of Security, Alvaro Romero, to clarify with the greatest speed possible the death of our beloved and unforgettable coworker and ally of the poor.
The murder of defenders of human rights like Dionisio D?az Garc?a weakens and constitutes an attack against democracy in Honduras.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" ?Micah 6:8
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
For more information, contact:
info@ajshonduras.org
+504 (Honduras’ country code) + 239.4418 (AJS Honduras office phone)
Or visit www.ajshonduras.org
The Association for a More Just Society (AJS) – Honduras is a Christian nonprofit organization based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, dedicated to promoting justice in Honduras, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable people—motivated by God’s call in Micah 6:8 to "act justly and love mercy." AJS focuses on promoting just legislation and the just implementation of the law.
kirstin
Dec 07 2006
03:23 pm
, everyone. I just received this from Abram Huyser Honig who lives and works in Honduras and I wanted to give you the opportunity to read it, be aware of what’s happening and take action if you have time and inclination. The Association for a More Just Society is doing wonderful work in Honduras and would value any kind of support you can offer. Please pray for peace and courage.
kirstin[/i:d0f5051d2a]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ and defenders of Justice,
On Monday morning Dionisio D?az Garc?a a lawyer who worked for the Association for a More Just Society (AJS) in Honduras defending the labor rights of poor Honduran workers, was gunned down in cold blood. Today Carlos Hernandez, the president of the board of AJS in Honduras, received an anonymous text message on his cell phone threatening that he would be next.
Please read the press release below and send it to as many people as possible.
Please visit www.ajshonduras.org/dionisio
Please send as many emails possible to the following Honduran government agencies:
[list:d0f5051d2a]
Office of the President: lmaldonado@presidencia.gob.hn, mzelaya@presidencia.gob.hn
National Human Rights Commission: custodiolopez@conadeh.hn
Office of the Public Prosecutor: njuarez@mp.hn
Supreme Court: vmorales@poderjudicial.gob.hn
National Congress: rmicheletti@congreso.gob.hn
[/list:u:d0f5051d2a]
And please call the US Embassy in Honduras to let them know people in North America are closely watching this situation: (504 country code) +236-9320 or +238-5114
Thank you, and may God bless you,
Abram Huyser Honig
Communications Coordinator, Association for a More Just Society
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Abram Huyser Honig, Communications Coordinator
Association for a More Just Society (AJS)
+504 (Honduras’ country code) + 239.4418
abram@ajshonduras.org
www.ajshonduras.org
"Lawyer of the Poor" murdered in Honduras; Associates Threatened
Tegucigalpa , Honduras , 7 December 2006. Honduras is in mourning. On Monday of this week it lost a great ally in the struggle for social justice and a great defender of the poor: Dionisio D?az Garc?a was shot to death in his pickup truck while driving to court by two masked gunmen on a motorcycle. The gunmen shot D?az in the head and chest from close range.
Since early 2006 D?az had served as the primary labor lawyer for the Association for a More Just Society’s Labor Rights for Vulnerable Populations program, which had been running since 2004.
D?az had received numerous threats in the months leading up to the murder. This morning Carlos Hern?ndez, the president of AJS’s board of directors, received a text mesage on his cell phone threatening: "you are the next."
D?az was in charge of providing legal defense and representation for the labor rights of hundreds of security guards employed by 13 different private security companies that routinely violated the legal rights of their employees. His humble, honest, steadfast dedication to the impoverished workers he represented earned him the nickname "the lawyer of the poor." He was known among his coworkers for answering phone calls from distraught clients at all hours of the night and routinely skipping lunch and working on holidays to fit in more meetings with beleaguered workers or more Labor Court audiences on their behalf.
There are over 200 private security companies in Honduras employing some 40,000 security guards. They are, for the most part, unregulated. Security guards are among the worst-paid and worst-treated employees in the formal sector of the Honduran labor market. Because of illegal pay deductions and withholdings, they often earn less than Honduras’ minimum wage requirement of approximately US$120 per month.
In the last three months thanks to D?az’s efforts AJS succeeded in opening dialogs with the owners of several of these companies. But this was not the case with the companies Delta Security Services and Service y Seguridad T?cnica de Honduras (SETECH).
Both of these companies (which are owned by the same individuals) refused at all times to accept citations for failing to respect the law. Instead they responded by undertaking a smear campaign against D?az and AJS.
Thanks to D?az and AJS’s insistent efforts to achieve social justice for security guards, the Honduran Court of Labor placed an embargo on two vehicles owned by Delta and SETECH in order to guarantee about $10,000 in benefits these companies owed to a group of current and former employees, all of them impoverished security guards.
D?az and inspectors from the Honduran Ministry of Labor also carried out numerous inspections of the areas in which guards employed by these companies worked. These inspections revealed that the labor rights of Delta and SETECH employees were regularly violated.
These violations of Honduran labor law included withholding of overtime pay and other benefits and forcing employees to sign letters of resignation?in Honduras, employees receive fewer severance benefits if they elect to resign than if they are fired by their employers.
As a response to these legal actions taken against them, on September 19, 2006, representatives of Delta and SETECH arrived at and attempted to forcefully enter AJS’s central office in Tegucigalpa.
Among the unusual visitors were Richard Swasey, owner of Delta; one of his legal representatives, Efr?n Aguilar; Robert F?nez, head of human resources for Delta; Roger Medina L?pez, head of operations for SETECH; and three other individuals, including one woman, who claimed to be lawyers.
Soon after this encounter a Honduran news website ran a paid advertisement falsely claiming that AJS did not pay social security for its employees and making other slanderous statements about the staff of Revistazo.com, AJS’s online investigative news journal, which had run numerous stories about Delta and SETECH’s labor violations. The photo of several AJS staff members published with the story appeared to have been taken from inside the car Swasey and his associates arrived in on their visit to AJS’s office on September 19.
From this date on, vehicles with tinted windows and no license plates began appearing frequently outside AJS’s office and following AJS staff members.
D?az received numerous threatening phone calls, and on Monday, November 27, 2006, a fellow AJS lawyer received a text message sent from the internet to his cell phone warning that D?az’s life was in danger.
AJS also has knowledge that SETECH and Delta hired private investigators to keep tabs on D?az and other AJS employees.
And several days ago Donaldo Burke, a former agent of the DGIC (Honduras’ General Bureau for Criminal Investigation?analogous to the United States’ FBI), arrived at AJS’s office insisting that he needed to meet privately and immediately with D?az, supposedly to give him information about the location of a seized vehicle that had been put in D?az’s custody but which had mysteriously disappeared and about labor violations committed against security guards.
There are many links between Honduras’ private security industry and its police and military forces. A number of security company owners are current or former army generals and police officials.
In response to being followed and threatened in various ways, and particularly in response to the robbery of the Delta vehicle that had been put in his custody, D?az registered official reports with the DGIC and with the Office of the Public Prosecutor for Common Crimes.
Negligence[/b:d0f5051d2a]The DGIC made no move to act on D?az’s report, but it did act on a competing report filed by SETECH claiming D?az himself had stolen the vehicle.
Similarly, the Office of the Public Prosecutor patently ignored Diaz’s report while proceeding swiftly to take legal action against him in response to SETECH’s report.
For months AJS has been soliciting the Ministry of Security to undertake an in-depth investigation of the legality of Honduras’ private security firms in order to make sure they fulfill the requisites established by Honduran law.
AJS has also requested the Office of the Public Prosecutor to investigate possible links these firms may have with various illicit activities.
To date, not one of these requests to government agencies has been met with a positive response, thus strengthening the impunity and illegality that put Honduras among the most corrupt countries in the world.
Paradoxically, government agencies continue to sign contracts worth millions of Lempiras with security companies reported to be routine violators of Honduran labor law.
AJS confirms that in following God’s call to seek social justice all of its employees are at risk to violence committed against their persons?as D?az’s murder shows, the enemies of democracy and the common good have begun a violent attack.
We profoundly lament the fact that in Honduras defending human rights continues to put one in danger and that the constitution does not protect those who do right.
AJS expresses its sorrow and condolences for Lourdes Elvir, D?az’s widow, for his six-year-old son, and for the rest of his family. We pray that God will pour out his blessings upon them and that he will give them strength to bear this great loss.
AJS also demands that the appropriate agencies investigate Honduras’ private security companies to guarantee that they operate strictly within the limits defined by the law.
We call upon the president of the Republic of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya Rosales; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Vilma Cecilia Morales; the president of the National Congress, Roberto Micheletti; the Human Rights Commissioner, Ram?n Custodio L?pez; the Attourney General, Leonidas Rosa Bautista; and the minister of Security, Alvaro Romero, to clarify with the greatest speed possible the death of our beloved and unforgettable coworker and ally of the poor.
The murder of defenders of human rights like Dionisio D?az Garc?a weakens and constitutes an attack against democracy in Honduras.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" ?Micah 6:8
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
For more information, contact:
info@ajshonduras.org
+504 (Honduras’ country code) + 239.4418 (AJS Honduras office phone)
Or visit www.ajshonduras.org
The Association for a More Just Society (AJS) – Honduras is a Christian nonprofit organization based in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, dedicated to promoting justice in Honduras, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable people—motivated by God’s call in Micah 6:8 to "act justly and love mercy." AJS focuses on promoting just legislation and the just implementation of the law.