Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.3.91.951213162644.27628G@badger.ac.BrockU.CA> Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 16:26:44 -0500 From: Martin Sieg <mailto:ms94dk@BADGER.AC.BROCKU.CA> Subject: Torturors don't take Xmas holidays... To: Multiple recipients of list DEVEL-L <mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU>
Following is an urgent action appeal from Covenant House, an advocay group on behalf of street children in Latin America. PLEASE take a few minutes to respond to the appeal - torturors don't take Xmas holidays...
Forwarded message: > From: "Casa Alianza - Regional Office" <mailto:casalnza@sol.racsa.co.cr>
> To: "Children Rights Defendors Network"<mailto:casalnza@sol.racsa.co.cr>
> Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 08:49:25 +0000
> Subject: TORTURE of jailed children in Honduras
>
> Covenant House Latin America
> December 12th, 1995
>
> Dear friends of children. Please could we ask your support
> one more time to help stop the torture of children jailed
> together with adults in the same cells of Honduran jails.
>
> At least 12 children, jailed together with adults in the
> Comayagua penal farm (granja penal) jail in Honduras, have
> been tortured during the past couple of weeks. Comayagua is
> about one hour from Tegucigalpa, and the jail there is one
> of 24 in the country. The minors have been jailed together
> with adults under the unconstitutional "Auto Acordado"
> emitted by the Supreme Court of Honduras on January 16th of
> this year, which gave faculty to minor's judges to jail
> minors in the 24 adult jails in Honduras, despite Article
> 122 of the Honduran Constitution prohibiting such actions.
>
> The 12 children - ranging from 10 to 17 years old - have
> accused the Director of the jail, Aquilino Sorto Gonzalez,
> of ordering the President of the prisoners (name not known),
> who is also a prisoner himself, to take the 12 minors to the
> punishment cell of the jail, to handcuff the children and
> then hang them on the wall of the cell up off the ground all
> night. Both Casa Alianza (Covenant House) Legal Aid Office
> staff and a CODEH lawyer (a Honduran NGO) have seen the
> wounds on the wrists of the children caused by this torture,
> as well as bruises caused by beatings the minors received.
>
> The names of 8 of the 12 victims are:
>
> Jose Ismael Ulloa Flores (15)
> Ebert Rolando Boquin Zarabia (17)
> Ramon Antonio Hernandez Burillos (15)
> Edwin Zepeda (15)
> Juan Benito Hernandez Berillos (17)
> Rafael Martinez (15)
> Osman Antonio Caceres Munoz (16)
> Arnoldo Roque Rodriguez (15)
>
> According to a press report, "the victims of the torture are
> between 10 and 17 years old, and are detained for theft and
> property damage". As noted, we have only been able to speak
> with eight of the victims. None of the children have been
> convicted of any charges.
>
> The minors had originally been placed in Cell number 4 of
> the prison where they were in the same cell as adult
> prisoners, but around the middle of the month of November
> were transferred to cell number 9 by the Appeals Court,
> supposedly to separate them from the adult prisoners, but
> they were punched, beaten and tortured, by hanging them up
> by handcuffed hands.
>
> A complaint has been made to the Minors Office of the
> Attorney General's Office who has taken notarised statements
> from the minors. Casa Alianza (Covenant House) staff have
> also taken statements from a few of the children.
>
> The Appeals Court gave the order to move the children from
> the cell which they were sharing with adult prisoners
> because a total of four cases of AIDS have been detected
> amongst the adult prisoners, and there were concerns for
> sexual abuse of the children. The Comayagua penal center has
> a capacity for 200 prisoners, but the actual number of
> prisoners is more than 400.
>
> We have been informed that the children were "locked down"
> after having spoken to the Casa Alianza (Covenant House)
> staff instead of being allowed to leave their cell for
> recreation. PLEASE take a couple of minutes to write a
> short, polite note to:
>
> Leo Valladares, independent Human Rights Procurator
> <leo%cdh% mailto:sdnhon@sdnhq.undp.org>
>
> and to Lic. Edmundo Orellana, the Fiscal General at
> <jsantos%mp% mailto:sdnhon@sdnhq.undp.org>
>
> asking them to:
>
> - fully investigate the torture of the 12 children in the
> Comayagua jail and to prosecute those responsible
> - transfer the boys to a proper juvenile facility as
> Honduran and International law requires
> - demand the elimination of the unconstitutional "Auto
> Acordado" that allows children to be jailed with adult
> prisoners
>
> Please send a copy to our e-mail address so that we can
> measure the response. Thank you again - you CAN help us make
> a difference. If we don't raise our voice for these
> children, who will??
>
>
> P.S. Please feel free to place this information on
> different lists.
> Bruce Harris
> Executive Director
> Latin American Programs
> Covenant House/Casa Alianza
> SJO 1039 Costa Rica phone:
> PO Box 025216 +506-253-5439
> Miami FL 33102-5216 USA +506-224-5689 fax
> Home Page: http://magi.com/crica/casalnza.html