“Coups do not allow freedom of assembly, either. They do not guarantee freedom of the press, much less a respect for human rights. In Honduras, these freedoms remain intact and vibrant.” — Roberto Micheletti, coup ring-leader and unelected usurper of the Honduran presidency, explaining what is and isn’t a coup in the September 22, 2009 edition of the Washington Post. It wasn’t long after these words were published that Mr. Micheletti issued a decree, without consulting anyone (except, maybe, the military), that outlawed freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and a number of other “vibrant” freedoms he claimed to be protecting. The decree was issued in secret, on a Sunday.
And at 5:30am on Monday morning, the military stormed the offices of two media outlets which dared criticize the illegitimate coup regime. They confiscated everything — everything, that is, except for the security cameras, which caught the entire crackdown on video. Narco News has published a story where you can watch both of the videos that have been released and they’ve also translated the decree which formalized the coup regime’s total repression of Honduran civil society. That decree is now supposedly lifted — except, the equipment confiscated in these videos remains in the coup regime’s possession and the hundreds of people arrested remain in detention.
