Canada calls on Honduras to reinstate constitutional rights
By Levon Sevunts
Radio Canada International
Canada is closely following the crisis that has gripped Honduras following the disputed presidential election and is calling upon the Honduran authorities to reinstate constitutional rights and guarantees without delay, said Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. “Democratic principles, human rights and the rule of law must be upheld,”
Salvador Nasralla, candidate of the opposition alliance, holds a rally in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017. Photo Credit: Fernando Antonio
Freeland said in a statement as thousands of opposition supporters flooded the streets in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and other cities.
However, Canadian civil society groups are calling on the Trudeau government to take a harder line with the Honduran authorities.
“We call on the Canadian government to stop all political and economic support for the Honduran government until election results can be scrutinized by international observers and declared free and fair, and until the human rights situation in the country improves,” said a statement by Common Frontiers, a working group of Canadian labour and civil rights organizations.
The Americas Policy Group (APG), a regional working group of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, called on Freeland to support an independent international commission to undertake a vote count and to conduct an investigation of the electoral process.
Honduras has been plunged into political uncertainty since the November 26 election, with repeated delays and concerns over inconsistencies plaguing the vote.
