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Home > Human Rights Watch, While Hawkish on Venezuela, Is Quiet on Violent
Repression and Apparent Coup in Honduras
Human Rights Watch, While Hawkish on Venezuela, Is Quiet on Violent
Repression and Apparent Coup in Honduras
By Ben Norton [1] / AlterNet [2]
December 11, 2017, 11:19 AM GMT
The right-wing government in Honduras, which enjoys the support of the
United States, has for weeks waged a violent crackdown on protests amid
widespread accusations that it stole the recent presidential election from
the left-wing opposition.
There is strong evidence that the conservative ruling party planned to rig
the November 26 election, which was criticized by international bodies for
having numerous irregularities. Opposition political leaders say the state
has launched a coup.
Mass protests erupted in response to the allegations of electoral fraud. In
an attempt to quiet the dissent, Honduras incumbent right-wing government
suspended constitutional rights [3] and declared a curfew December 2, giving
the army and police more powers to crush the protests.
At least 14 people were killed, including a teenage girl [4], in the
subsequent days of government repression. Honduran police have shot and
killed unarmed protesters, firing live bullets into large demonstrations.
Dozens more protesters have been injured.
With this violent crackdown underway, one might expect the leading human
rights organization in the U.S. to express concern. But Human Rights Watch
was eerily silent.
Human Rights Watch fixated obsessively on Venezuela, openly expressing
support for the right-wing opposition and calling for international
intervention to undermine the elected leftist government. Yet the prominent
human rights organization said nothing about the escalating authoritarianism
and repression in Honduras.
It was not until after AlterNet contacted Human Rights Watch with a request
for comment on its total silence that the rights organization finally spoke
out.
Until December 11, two weeks after the election, neither HRW nor its
longtime executive director Kenneth Roth had released statements condemning
the violence and apparent electoral fraud in Honduras. In this same period,
HRW published dozens of materials denouncing Venezuela.
HRWs silence persisted in the face of Honduran forces shooting and killing
numerous unarmed protesters, Honduran opposition figures accusing the
government of launching a coup to maintain power and media outlets
publishing compelling evidence that the ruling party was planning to rig the
election.
In those two weeks, José Miguel Vivanco, the head of Human Rights Watchs
Americas Division, commented on the crisis in Honduras with just two tweets,
which were grossly outnumbered by his repeated forceful denunciations of
Venezuela.
AlterNet separately contacted the Human Rights Watch press office, Roth and
Vivanco with requests for comment. Only Roth replied, writing on December
11: A press release is planned for later today.
As promised, HRWs Vivanco issued a statement [5] later on December 11 that
read like boilerplate: Respect for human rights is central to democracy,
Vivanco said. That not only means that all votes should be counted
correctly, but also that the Honduran authorities need to guarantee the
right to peaceful protest."
This was HRWs first public statement on Honduras, 15 days after the crisis
began.
This flagrant double-standard in the treatment of Honduras, which is
supported by the U.S., and Venezuela, which has been targeted by the U.S.
for destabilization, calls into question the supposed political impartiality
of Human Rights Watch, an organization that has its roots in anti-Soviet
activity during the Cold War and has long been criticized for its revolving
door with the U.S. government [6].
From One Coup to Another
In 2009, the U.S. government supported a military coup [7] in Honduras that
toppled democratically elected left-wing President Manuel Zelaya. Since
then, the country has been plagued with extreme violence. Honduras
consistently has the highest murder rate in the world [8], and growing
numbers of human rights activists, like the renowned environmentalist Berta
Cáceres, have been killed, often in attacks that are linked to the
U.S.-backed government [9].
Further state violence has erupted in recent weeks, while opposition leaders
have warned that another coup is being carried out. On November 26, the
country held a presidential election that was rocked by numerous scandals.
Left-wing opposition leader Salvador Nasralla says incumbent right-wing
President Juan Orlando Hernández is carrying out a coup to reinstate himself
for a second term. Hernándezs ruling right-wing National Party of Honduras,
which is extremely corrupt [10] and has used public healthcare funds to
bankroll its candidates campaigns, rose to power in the 2013 presidential
election, which was also accused of electoral fraud [11].
The day before the vote, on November 25, The Economist [12] published
evidence that the ruling National Party was preparing to rig the election. A
participant in a training session leaked recordings of National Party poll
workers being told to create fake votes [13] for Hernández.
This scheme seems to have worked. The morning after polls closed, early
results showed Salvador Nasralla, who heads the Opposition Alliance Against
Dictatorship, a coalition of two left-wing parties, leading by a significant
margin. The magistrate of Honduras Supreme Electoral Tribunal said
Nasrallas lead was irreversible. A political analyst told Al Jazeera
[14], The trend is irreversible and Mr. Nasralla won the election.
The next day, however, after a halt in the vote count, Nasrallas
irreversible" lead was suddenly reversed, handing a narrow victory to
Hernández.
There are serious irregularities that have left the vote count with little
credibility, Mark Weisbrot, the co-director of the Center for Economic and
Policy Research and an expert on U.S. foreign policy and Latin American
politics, told AlterNet. There was a rapid, unexplainable shift in the
voting trend after 57 percent of the votes were counted, following an
unexplainable 30-hour interruption in the reporting of voting results. After
the delay, the vote margin shifted drastically from a 45-40 lead for the
opposition to a 47-35 lead for the incumbent Juan Orlando Hernández.
Some Honduran police forces have rebelled against the apparent coup attempt,
refusing to follow orders. Even the Organization of American States [15],
which is notoriously pro-U.S., called into question the results of the
election and supported a vote recount.
Dozens of Latin America solidarity and peace groups condemned [16] Honduras
apparent election theft and called for an immediate suspension of U.S.
police and military aid to the country.
The U.S. government has essentially greenlighted the second apparent coup.
Amid the scandal, the administration of President Donald Trump certified
[17] that the Honduran government supposedly protects human rights and
combats corruption. The U.S. State Department did respond to the Associated
Press request for comment on the matter.
Military police forces killing protesters in Honduras have even been trained
by the United States, The Intercept [18] has reported, noting the U.S. has
provided the country with almost $114 million in security aid since 2009.
Silence from Human Rights Watch
An analysis by AlterNet found that Human Rights Watch and its executive
director Ken Roth published exactly zero public statements about the
right-wing Honduran governments violent repression in the two weeks after
Honduras November 26 election. Moreover, while Honduran forces have killed
peaceful protesters, Human Rights Watch issued an assortment of
denunciations of Venezuelas leftist government.
A search [19] of Human Rights Watchs website shows that, as of December 10,
it has not mentioned Honduras since October, and in an article that only
peripherally involved the country. In fact, the leading U.S. human rights
organization has not published a release specifically about Honduras [20]
since July.
While Honduran forces have killed unarmed protesters, Human Rights Watch has
run dozens of articles, news releases and reports condemning Venezuela and
the democratically elected government of President Nicolás Maduro. On
December 1 alone, Human Rights Watch published six posts criticizing
Venezuela, according to as search of its website [21]. On November 29, it
posted another five anti-Venezuela pieces, including a meticulously detailed
91-page report.
In the month of November, HRW published 16 posts on its website criticizing
the Venezuelan government. Among these were a November 20 photo essay The
2017 Crackdown on Dissent in Venezuela [22] and a November 13 dispatch
Its Time for UN Security Council to Send Strong Message on Venezuela
[23].
The leading U.S. human rights organizations double standard on Honduras and
Venezuela is also evident in its influential social media presence. On its
Twitter account, where it has more than 3.5 million followers and more than
68,000 tweets, Human Rights Watch has not mentioned [24] the words
Honduras or Honduran since July, and has never published a tweet [25]
naming right-wing President Hernández.
In one of its rare tweets about Honduras, back in January, Human Rights
Watch noted: Rampant crime in Honduras, murder rate among highest in the
world.
When asked if he thought Human Rights Watch has been fair in its response to
the violence in Honduras, Mark Weisbrot told AlterNet, I havent seen any
response from HRW to either the election, where even the OAS, which has
sometimes tilted toward Washington in disputed elections, has refused to
recognize the results, or the violence of security forces.
USAID [26] has written that the OAS promotes U.S. political and economic
interests in the Western Hemisphere by countering the influence of anti-U.S.
countries such as Venezuela. Yet even the OAS has raised concerned about
Honduras, while Human Rights Watch has kept silent.
No Statements from Kenneth Roth, Head of Human Rights Watch
Longtime Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth is extremely
active on social media and is a constant presence in international media.
Confronted with the Honduran crisis, an episode that has earned headlines
around the globe, Roth said absolutely nothing until December 11, after
AlterNet contacted him with a request for comment.
Roth is especially active on Twitter, where he has a quarter of a million
followers. He tweets roughly a dozen times a day and has published more than
50,000 tweets, many of which appear to have been automated.
As of December 10, the last public statement by Roth that mentioned Honduras
was on November 25, and it was in fact tepid praise for the right-wing,
US-aligned president. Honduran Pres Hernández has helped to reduce the
murder rate. He has been less successful with official corruption, Roth
tweeted [27], linking to an article from the neoliberal British magazine,
The Economist [28]. This piece speaks somewhat favorably of Hernández,
noting that his tough-on-crime policies are paying a political dividend.
Hondurans who give Mr Hernández credit for reducing violence and steadying
the economy after a post-coup recession may hardly mind that he is not much
of a democrat, The Economist article shared by Roth read, whitewashing the
authoritarian machinations of the US-backed president.
The Human Rights Watch chiefs usually positive characterization of the
power hungry Hernández pales in comparison to the tirades Roth routinely
delivers against Venezuelan President Maduro. The following is a sample of
the language Roth has used to describe Maduro and his administration over
just 40 days:
Autocratic, corrupt mismanagement (Dec. 3 [29])
Venezuela Pres Maduro's corrupt, autocratic rule (Dec. 3 [30])
Venezuela is systematically subjecting protesters and opponents of
Maduro's incompetent rule to brutal treatment including torture (Nov. 29
[31])
Venezuela Pres Maduro, having overseen massive corruption (and resulting
devastation of economy) (Nov. 27 [32])
Brutal and incompetent rule, like Zimbabwes Mugabe (Nov. 19 [33])
Maduro repression (Nov. 18 [34])
Like Venezuelas Maduro, Zimbabwes Mugabe hoped anti-imperialist rhetoric
would suffice to mask his brutal repression and utter incompetence (Nov. 18
[35])
Maduro government crimes (Nov. 17 [36])
Pres Maduro's descent into authoritarian rule, his brutal crackdown, and
the humanitarian crisis he has spawned (Nov. 13 [37])
As Venezuela's economy crumbles, Maduro prioritizes constitutional coup to
prevent opposition control of legislature (Nov. 4 [38])
Autocrats like Venezuelas Maduro (Oct. 30 [39])
Leading European human rights prize given to Venezuelan opposition as it
battles Maduro's growing autocracy (Oct. 27 [40])
Only ongoing international pressure can reverse Maduro destruction of
Venezuela democracy such as recent election (Oct. 24 [41])
As is apparent from Roths language, the HRW director has not only
criticized Venezuelas leadership, he has called for international
intervention to prevent Venezuelas president from governing. In other
words, Roth has joined the Trump administration in agitating for regime
change against a democratically elected president.
Kenneth Roth obsession with Venezuela has taken the form of 111 tweets
mentioning Maduro [24] between March and November. All 111 of them were
anti-Maduro 100 percent negative. In the same time period, Roth only
tweeted about increasingly authoritarian right-wing Honduran President
Hernández once, and in a mildly supportive fashion.
The intensity of Roths criticism of Maduro increased with in perfect time
with the tempo of right-wing protests in Venezuela. In January, Roth tweeted
about Maduro only once; in February, once more. In March, as Western
governments and the OAS began applying more pressure on Maduro, Roth railed
against Maduro five times.
By April, as violent right-wing protests gathered steam, Roth tweeted about
Maduro 15 times. In May, 18 times; June, 13 times; July, 18 times; August,
18 times.
In September, Roth published seven anti-Maduro tweets. Protests were dying
down, and Roths constant criticisms correspondingly slightly subsided. But
they still continued. In October, he wrote another seven anti-Maduro tweets.
November saw 10 anti-Maduro tweets.
Once again, all 111 of these tweets were negative.
After AlterNet contacted Roth and Human Rights Watch published a news
release on Honduras on December 11, Roth tweeted [42] a link to the
statement, accompanied by the weak language: "Amid strong indications of
electoral fraud, Honduras should mount credible investigation and in
meantime respect right of opposition to protest."
This was Roth's only public comment on Honduras, amid a torrent of much more
heated anti-Venezuela remarks.
Few Words from HRW Americas Division Director José Miguel Vivanco
While Human Rights Watch and its decades-long leader have remained silent
about the repression in Honduras, the executive director of its Americas
Division has raised some very quiet and nuanced concerns.
According to his author page [43] on the Human Rights Watch website, José
Miguel Vivanco has published 59 articles in English since 2013. Not one of
these articles has been about Honduras. Yet a staggering 29 of these
roughly half have been devoted to condemning the Venezuelan government.
In fact, from October 2016 to April 2017, all 10 articles listed on
Vivancos English-language profile at Human Rights were denunciations of
President Nicolás Maduros government in Venezuela a staggering 100
percent of the pieces he published in those seven months.
From June to August 2017, Vivanco published another five English-language
articles, according to his Human Rights Watch web page, featured in the
leading publications The New York Times, O Globo, Foreign Policy, El Mundo
and Caracas Chronicles. Once again, 100 percent of these pieces were
condemnations of the Venezuelan government.
Vivanco has also published an array of articles in Spanish [44]. These are
just as disproportionately devoted to demonizing Venezuela.
In mid-November, Vivanco published a Human Rights Watch dispatch calling for
United Nations Security Council members to voice strong support for the
pro-U.S. OAS in its alleged attempt to help Venezuelans restore democratic
institutions and basic rights. He implored council members to send a clear
message that abusers will be held accountable abroad if Venezuela proves
unable or unwilling to do so at home; and offer international humanitarian
aid to ease the suffering of the Venezuelan people.
The many thousands of words the executive director of Human Rights Watchs
Americas Division has uttered exponentially outnumber those he has reserved
for Honduras.
In fact, José Miguel Vivancos only apparent public comments on the
repression in Honduras in the two weeks after the November election were two
tweets.
Vivanco has never tweeted the name Hernández [45] in reference to Juan
Orlando Hernández. He has only mentioned the right-wing Honduran president
one time, using the acronym JOH. Out of his more than 1,300 tweets, Vivanco
has furthermore only written Honduras or Honduran three times two from
October, and one from December.
On the evening of December 3, a week after Honduras election, Vivanco broke
the silence and finally mentioned the numerous irregularities, tweeting
[46], Great responsibility of the OAS in Honduras. The record suggests that
there was manipulation in the vote count.
Later that evening, Vivanco wrote his only other public statement [47] on
the repression in Honduras. Downplaying the violence in the country, Vivanco
tweeted, 11 people have died during the protest. His vague language and
use of the passive voice obfuscated the responsibility of state forces in
killing those protesters.
In very slight censure, Vivanco added in his tweet that the United Nations
and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights warned President Hernández
that constitutional guarantees cannot be suspended in a way that affects
democratic freedoms in the electoral process.
These were Vivancos only public statements on the violent in Honduras. And
they came the same day that the denounced [48] Venezuelan President Maduro.
After AlterNet contacted Vivanco and HRW with a request for comment, Vivanco
tweeted [49] a link to the organization's tepid December 11 news release on
Honduras.
Like Kenneth Roth, José Miguel Vivanco has obsessively demonized Maduro,
publishing five negative tweets about him in just the month of November
[50]. Vivanco likewise wrote 11 tweets condemning Venezuela [51] in
November.
Human Rights Watchs flagrant double standards on Honduras and Venezuela are
so extreme they call into question the very integrity of the organization.
Human Rights Organizations as Vehicles for U.S. Power
Human rights organizations have long served as a convenient tool for
projecting U.S. power. During the Cold War, so-called non-governmental
organizations many of which actually had links to the U.S. government and
its allies used the discourse of human rights to disguise their
right-wing, pro-capitalist crusade.
In his book Ideal Illusions [52]: How the U.S. Government Co-opted Human
Rights, scholar James Peck [53] details how ostensibly independent human
rights groups have played a key role in fulfilling U.S. foreign policy
prerogatives. Human rights leaders are convinced they pressured Washington
into taking up their cause. Yet in truth their movement gained much of its
momentum from Washingtons subtle promotion of what they think of as their
own agenda, Peck wrote. In short, the vocabulary and the arguments of the
human rights movement almost all have significant precursors in Washingtons
national security concerns.
Human Rights Watch in fact has its origins in the avowedly anti-Soviet group
Helsinki Watch, which was founded in the 1970s and was a key part of the
human rights battle in the Cold War.
Nobel Peace laureates and former top U.N. officials have criticized Human
Rights Watch [54] for its apparent pro-U.S. bias. They have also noted the
many links the organization has to the U.S. government.
Latin America is only one area where HRW's pro-U.S. double standards are
clear. On December 13, the director of the group's China program, Sophie
Richardson, will be testifying in a U.S. government hearing [55], led by
neoconservative politicians, on the Chinese government's supposed "foreign
influence operations."
Human rights discourse has for decades been exploited to portray political
lobbying as ostensibly neutral humanitarian work. Mainstream human rights
organizations do not consider labor rights, labor unions, and universal
housing, employment and education to be inalienable human rights. Instead,
these organizations frequently downplay or even ignore the rights violations
committed by right-wing capitalist governments and fixate obsessively on the
policies and imperfections of socialist states, which are dissected to an
almost ludicrous degree.
Today, 26 years after the end of the Cold War, the agenda of organizations
like Human Rights Watch are more obvious than ever. HRWs double standards
on Venezuela and Honduras not only call into question the groups integrity
as an impartial arbiter; they also cheapen the very cause of human rights.
Editor's note: This article was updated after Human Rights Watch released a
news release on Honduras, which came after AlterNet emailed the organization
with a request for comment on its silence.
Ben Norton is a reporter for AlterNet's Grayzone Project. You can follow him
on Twitter at @BenjaminNorton [56].
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ela-kenneth-roth
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