In a new development in the ongoing saga of the ouster of Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, the head of Honduras’s human rights commission, Ramon Custodio, publically declared Zelaya’s exile to nearby Costa Rica a mistake. However, Custodio does not believe that the actual ouster of Zelaya to be wrong, saying that Zelaya’s violations of the country’s constitution warranted his removal from office. But rather than be exiled, he should have been arrested and stood trial, says Custodio.
The statement comes as there is growing concern about possible human rights violations taking place against some of Zelaya’s supporters. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is scheduled to send a team to Honduras next week to evaluate the situation there. Honduras was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS) last month, and despite the interim government pledging to hold the normally scheduled elections in November, the OAS is standing firm with its commitment not to recognize the new government. It is unclear whether the visit by the Commission could change that position in any way.
Meanwhile, the Honduran Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case brought by various judicial figures on whether the military overstepped their mandate and broke the law by forcibly sending Zelaya out of the country in late June. Because the Supreme Court issued Zelaya’s arrest warrant back in June, it is unlikely that the case will address the legality of his actual removal from office. Nonetheless, the case has the potential to significantly shift the political and diplomatic situation if the Court finds that the exile was indeed illegal.