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Letter of Appeal from the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

April 22, 1999

Professor Rafael Pineda Ponce
President
National Congress of Honduras
FAX. 011-504-220-6662

Dear Mr. Pineda Ponce:

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the largest organization of natural and social scientists in the United States, and the world's largest federation of scientific organizations, with 143,000 individual members and 275 affiliated groups. Our AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility was formed in 1976 to protect the human rights of scientists and to deal with issues relating to scientific freedom and responsibility worldwide.

AAAS has assisted the U.N. Historical Clarification Commission in Guatemala, the U.N. Truth Commission in El Salvador, and National Commissioner for Human Rights Dr. Leo Valladares Lanza to obtain and analyze formerly secret U.S. government documents. We have collaborated in projects with Dr. Valladares for the past five years and are tremendously impressed with his professionalism and dedication to the defense of human rights.

On behalf of the Committee, we are writing to express our deep concern about the recent attempts of the Honduran Congress to cut short the present term of the Honduran Human Rights Commissioner, and to further limit the ability of the Commission to represent and protect the Honduran people. In a country that has been making strides towards full democracy, these recent events constitute an ominous threat to continued democratic reforms in Honduras. We respectfully point out that these measures constitute serious obstacles for Honduras in its program of compliance with international human rights standards. It is very important to have a Commissioner in a strong role to protect and promote human rights and fulfill obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Honduras is a state party.

It is our understanding that shortly before midnight on April 20, 1999 the Honduran Congress voted to "reform"' the statute (Ley Organica) governing the National Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman), with only 62 of 128 deputies present, which did not represent a quorum of deputies. The changes: (1) take away the Ombudsman's ability to investigate illegitimate, negligent, abusive or discriminatory actions by public officials in administrative posts or private entities that provide public services; and (2) reduce the term of service of the Ombudsman from six to four years.

We fear that these reforms are a direct response to a preliminary report published by Dr. Leo Valladares about the management of international aid received by the Honduran government in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch. This report was issued on March 16, 1999. It outlined 17 cases of abuses in general terms and made recommendations for improvements in the management of aid. The Commissioner later forwarded information to the Special Prosecutor for the Struggle against Corruption in the Honduran Attorney General's office about six cases where he believed that criminal wrong-doing had occurred. Instead of seeing this report as a significant step toward transparency and accountability, the Honduran government and the press have strongly criticized Dr. Valladares for having "discredited" and "tarnished" the image of the nation.

On behalf of the Committee and all our colleagues in the international human rights community, I want to express our sincere hope that this vote will not be ratified, and that the statute will stand as previously written.

Sincerely,



Irving Lerch, Chair
AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility

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