HONDURAS-U.N.: Suspect General Remains as Deputy Ambassador

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 1996 (IPS) - Despite criticism from human rights groups, a Honduran general linked to human rights atrocities shows no signs of leaving his position as deputy representative to his country’s U.N. mission.

Gen. Luis Alonso Discua Elvir, deputy permanent representative for Honduras since January, is his nation’s second-ranking official here. But the general, former commander of Honduras’s infamous Battalion 3-16, is rarely to be seen at the U.N. Security Council, where Honduras is wrapping up a two-year term as a rotating member.

Nor is he available for most interview requests from the press although, as the Honduran mission concedes, the controversial deputy is much in demand from the media.

Instead, as one diplomat told IPS on condition of anonymity, Discua “does all the official functions in his role as deputy, travelling to Paris, meeting other officials worldwide.”

Still, human rights groups find the general’s presence at the United Nations an embarrassment and are urging that he be removed.

“We believe that General Discua is an affront for the United Nations,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of Human Rights Watch/Americas. “We believe that a clear message should be sent to President Carlos Roberto Reina to remove this man, who presents a dangerous precedent for the institution of democracy in Honduras.”

Discua served as chief of Honduras’s powerful armed forces from 1991 until his appointment to the United Nations last January.

Human Rights Watch, however, points to his tenure as commander of Battalion 3-16 during the early 1980s, during which time the counter-insurgency unit received military and intelligence training from the United States and Argentina, as the main reason why they oppose his presence here.

According to Human Rights Watch, Battalion 3-16 was noted for “a systemic pattern of disappearances and extrajudicial executions,” which led the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to condemn the unit.

“Several of General Discua’s former subordinates in Battalion 3- 16 are now fugitives from justice in Honduras, wanted in connection with the disappearance and torture of university students,” the rights group says.

The Honduran Committee of the Families of the Disappeared, a Honduras-based group formed by people whose relatives had allegedly been taken by Battalion 3-16 officers and never returned, has prepared documents charging the unit with carrying out dozens of “disappearances”.

Last year, nine former Battalion 3-16 officers were charged for their role in the kidnapping, torture and attempted murder of six student leaders.

But the Honduran government contends that the general’s record is clean, even if Battalion 3-16 itself may be guilty of human rights violations. “The things they are accusing 3-16 of all occurred after Discua left,” said one Honduran official. “They are accusing him of doing things over which he could not have been responsible.”

Human Rights Watch disagrees, charging the general with blocking investigations into Battalion 3-16 even after he gave up command of the unit. “In 1989, when Human Rights Watch/Americas publicly demanded an investigation into allegations that Battalion 3-16 officers were responsible for the 1988 murders of a prominent human rights monitor and his companion, Discua, then the armed forces intelligence chief, accused us of ‘criminal manipulation’ and threatened prosecution,” the group noted.

The lack of investigation into Discua’s own record has been compounded by his new role at a world body which stands for human rights, Vivanco argued. “The president of Honduras and other countries are not paying enough attention to the seriousness of this case as a symbol of the lack of respect for the United Nations,” he said.

Geoff Herzog, a spokesman for the New York-based Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), said rights groups here should have mobilised to prevent Discua from even entering the United States as a diplomat. Last year, plans to name Discua as Honduras’ ambassador to Chile were ditched following popular protests in Santiago.

Vivanco admitted that the drive to remove Discua has not been a success. “We had sent information about General Discua’s record to the Security Council, and we were hoping that prompt action would be taken,” he said. “We have been disappointed.”

“Discua is going to stay for now,” the Honduran diplomat confirmed. “He’s not going anywhere.”

HONDURAS-U.N.: Suspect General Remains as Deputy Ambassador

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 22 1996 (IPS) - Despite criticism from human rights groups, a Honduran general linked to human rights atrocities shows no signs of leaving his position as deputy representative to his country’s U.N. mission.
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