Suspension of Rights

An email I received today:

U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa
Avenida La Paz
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

To: All American Citizens
From: American Citizens Services Unit, Consular
Section
Date: September 28, 2009
Subject: Warden Message - State of Exception Imposed

The Embassy advises citizens residing in and visiting Honduras that the
de facto regime issued a decree suspending certain rights under the
Honduran constitution on Sunday, September 27, 2009. This decree
affects all people in Honduras, including non-Hondurans. Specifically,
the following articles of the Honduran Constitution have been suspended
for the next 45 days (until November 11, 2009):

Article 69: The right to personal freedom
Article 72: Freedom of Speech
Article 78: Freedom of Association
Article 81: Freedom of Movement
Article 84: The right to due process _

For the next 45 days, the defacto regime has stated that the local and
national police, at times to be assisted by the military, will arrest
individuals for the following reasons:

* Disobeying announced curfew, or appearing to engage in
suspicious activities
* Gathering in public without prior approval from police and
military forces
* Carrying out media announcements violating the law or government
resolutions , or offending human dignity or any public official

The de facto regime has also stated the following:

* Individuals that are arrested for violating the above listed
restrictions will be detained
* All public installations which are occupied by demonstrators or
which are occupied by persons carrying out activities prohibited by law
will be cleared

The U.S. Department of State continues to strongly recommend that
American citizens defer all non-essential travel to Honduras as these
new restrictions will be in effect throughout Honduras, and may be
extended beyond the 45 days originally announced.

The de facto regime has been imposing a curfew of varying time periods
affecting various cities throughout Honduras since Monday, September 21.
It is expected that this practice will continue for the foreseeable
future. The Embassy recommends American citizens monitor local
television and radio for
updates to constitutional and travel restrictions and other security
measures. The Embassy strongly recommends that American citizens abide
by these restrictions.

Barring a change in the security situation or the imposition of a
daytime curfew, the Embassy and the Consular Agency in San Pedro Sula
will remain open to the public. Non-immigrant visa services remain
suspended for all but emergency medical cases.

Honduran airports re-opened September 24 for domestic passenger flights
and international cargo and mail flights. Most International passenger
flights resumed on Friday, September 25. Those whose flights were
cancelled due to the curfew should contact their airlines for further
information.