HONDURAS: Government Welcomes Participants in Haitian Coup

By Thelma Mejía Reprint | | Print |

Thelma Mejia

TEGUCIGALPA, Apr 22 1996 (IPS) - Two participants in the 1990 coup d’etat in Haiti arrived to Honduras on Monday, while human rights leaders and the Catholic Church stated their opposition to the government’s decision to grant them political asylum on humanitarian grounds.

Frank Roman, former Haitian police chief, and Joseph Michel Francois, former mayor of Port-au-Prince, flew to Honduras on Monday from the Dominican Republic.

That Caribbean island nation deported them for instigating subversion against the government of Joaquin Balaguer and his Haitian counterpart, Rene Preval, it was reported.

Roman and Francois were met at the San Pedro Sula airport, 240 kilometres northwest of Tegucigalpa, by members of the Foreign Ministry and army security troops.

The two men refused to talk to the press. They were taken to a military barracks, from where they will be settled, along with their families, in their residences in San Pedro Sula.

Human rights groups and the Catholic Church saw the arrival of the coup participants as a form of perpetuating impunity in Haiti.

Francois and Roman participated in the coup headed by General Raoul Cedras that overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of Jean Bertrand Aristide in September 1990.

According to the representative of the governmental Human Rights Commission of Honduras, Leo Valladares, while the government is sovereign when it comes to giving asylum, “those to whom that privilege is granted” should be carefully selected.

“It should not be possible that asylum is granted to people who committed an outrage against democracy in another country, because that would be a backing of impunity, and that is not how democracy works,” he stressed.

“While I respect the decision of the government, which invokes humanitarian reasons, I think that on another occasion, asylum must be granted with greater precaution.”

Meanwhile, Catholic priest Fausto Milla, a human rights activist, said the presence of the former coup participants does nothing to support democracy in Honduras.

“These are people who have issues pending with their country’s legal system because they participated in a coup. I can’t understand why we accept them, because they are virtual criminals seeking impunity,” said Milla.

President Carlos Reina said the arrival of the two former Haitian leaders is due to strictly humanitarian reasons. “At one time I myself lived the experience of exile, and I know how painful it is to be outside of one’s own country,” he stated.

The two men will be kept under police surveillance to keep them from participating in anti-democratic political activities.

This is the second time that Honduras grants political asylum to participants in coups. The first was former Paraguayan foreign minister Sabino Montanaro, who has been living here for more than 10 years.