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Honduras: Latin America's Murder Capital - by Stephen Lendman
By some accounts, it's the world's murder capital. The UN Development Program (UNDP) reported 4,473 2008 murders (61.3 per 100,000) in a country with about 7.3 million people, the equivalent of over 190,000 annual US killings, over 10 times the actual rate.
For 2009, anthropologist Adrienne Pine estimated a 9% increase, saying in June 2010:
"As someone who has been closely following the human rights and political stability situation in Honduras for over a dozen years; who has written a book and numerous articles on the topic; who has served as an expert witness in over a dozen asylum cases; and who has been living and conducting research in Honduras during the past month, I can say with absolute confidence that I have never seen worse security conditions in this country."
"And while in the previous decade, the victims of extrajudicial assassinations and other forms of state violence were disproportionately young men identified (often incorrectly) as gang members, today a large percentage of the victims fall into two primary categories: people who are involved in or are openly critical of drug trafficking, and individuals who are seen as being critical of the June 28, 2009 coup."
"The latter category has included 9 journalists killed in targeted assassinations, and the disappearance, torture, and murder of numerous local and national leaders of the non-violent resistance movements and their daughters, sons, brothers and sisters....all since the beginning" of the current Pepe Lobo regime, controlled by two forces: the military, and a small group of powerful business elites, united in their opposition against anyone opposing the coup.
In addition, the atmosphere of impunity assures virtually no investigations or prosecutions. Moreover, victims are "posthumously slandered by the police and media as having brought their deaths upon themselves," either for involvement in drugs or "calling for a more participatory democratic government."
Supporters of deposed President Manuel Zelaya are notably at risk, because the legitimacy of those in power "depends largely on their unsubstantiated argument that (he) was corrupt and engaged in criminal activities."
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