U.N. experts concerned Colombia fighters in Honduras

U.N. experts concerned Colombia fighters in Honduras
Fri Oct 9, 2009 12:22pm BST

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.N. human rights experts voiced concern Friday at reports that former paramilitaries from Colombia had been recruited to protect wealthy people and property in Honduras after that country's military coup.

The U.N. working group on the use of mercenaries said "information available to date" suggested that land-owners hired 40 former members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia as guards after violence erupted between supporters of the de facto government and backers of deposed President Manuel Zelaya.

They also cited reports that 120 paramilitaries from several neighbouring countries had been brought in to support the late-June coup that has triggered Central America's worst crisis in years.

"We urge the Honduran authorities to take all practical measures to prevent the use of mercenaries within its territory and to fully investigate allegations concerning their presence and activities," the five independent experts said in a joint statement issued in Geneva.

More:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5982BK20091009?rpc=401&

cover up a Colombian invasion.

This has to end before they fill mass graves in HOnduras, too.

Geez, you guys do like to dramatize. Fourty hired guns aren't about to start filling mass graves. What Zelaya has accomplished, however, is to convince the rich they got very little to lose from now on - they took seriously the threats Chavez made about sending his planes to bomb Honduras, and they realize Honduras shares a border with a Chavez client, Nicaragua. So they're gonna be REALLY hard nosed from now on. And I doubt there's much anybody can do about it.

Those AUC mercs are likely in Honduras to stay - and Nicaragua isn't about to start a war with Honduras, nor is Chavez going to be sending his planes anywhere, so guess who won this round.

Don't over react. It's just scared landowners getting hired gun slingers, it's done all the time. If they had more cash, they would hire Gurkas.

I thought it was kind of funny when Chavez threatened to send his Sukhoi to bomb Honduras when the crisis started, because I knew this would degenerate into a standoff followed by elections. All Chavez accomplished with his threat, and Zelaya is accomplishing with his circus act at the Brazilian embassy is to get Hondurans killed and beaten up, and the right wing so freaked out, it's doubtful they'll be too keen on allowing another Zelaya to come close to the Presidency.

Landowners in Honduras hired Colombian paramilitaries, UN says
Members of the AUC, classified as a terrorist organisation by the US, reportedly hired to offer protection for landowners
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Friday 9 October 2009 14.50 BST

Honduran landowners have reportedly hired former Colombian paramilitaries as mercenaries to protect them against possible violence stemming from government tensions, a UN panel said today.

The UN working group on mercenaries said that it has received reports that some 40 former members of United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC. The US government classifies the AUC as a terrorist organisation.

They will protect properties and individuals "from further violence between supporters of the de facto government and those of the deposed President Manuel Zelaya," it said.

Separately, a 120-person group of paramilitaries from several countries in that region was reportedly created to support the coup in Honduras, the panel said.

Honduras is a party to the international convention against the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries, the group said.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/09/honduras-colombia-auc-landowners

This news is very concerning but not entirely unexpected.

I would like to know who is signing those checks as well as who organized this group.

It's a growth industry.

we haven't heard more about them. They have so many brands, though, it might be hard to spot them at first. In the little reading I did today on AUC, it looks more like they're in a position to contract out work to BW than to compete with them. AUC was the entity Chiquita was involved with, for example. They sound like a franchise.

The landowners and rich folk sign the checks. What do you think it takes to hire a Colombian AUC?

Use of mercenaries in Honduras on the rise, U.N. panel says
updated 3 hours, 48 minutes ago

(CNN) -- A group of independent U.N. experts expressed concern Friday over the increased use of mercenaries in Honduras, where a de facto president has been in power since a military-led coup in June.

The U.N. panel said it received reports that 40 former Colombian paramilitaries had been hired to protect properties and individuals in Honduras since the June 28 coup that ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya. The panel also heard reports that 120 mercenaries from various Latin American countries had been contracted to support the government of Roberto Micheletti, who was installed as president hours after Zelaya's removal.

"We urge the Honduran authorities to take all practical measures to prevent the use of mercenaries within its territory and to fully investigate allegations concerning their presence and activities," the U.N. panel said in a news release.

The U.N. experts accused the Honduran government of indiscriminately using sound-generating devices against Zelaya and his supporters at the embassy.

The experts noted that the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries is prohibited under the International Convention on the issue, which Honduras has signed. The panel was established in 2005 by the Commission on Human Rights, which has since been succeeded by the Human Rights Council.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/09/honduras.mercenaries/index.html?eref=rss_world