Amnesty International expressed fears Friday of excessive use of force during post-coup elections in Honduras as international support grew for the polls that have divided the Americas. | Might happen, the Zelaya supporters include a lot of thugs -- oh, Amnesty isn't worried about them ... |
Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a mediator in the five-month crisis, meanwhile joined the United States in backing the polls, which many in Latin America have rejected, saying the vote will legitimize the June 28 military-backed coup.
An Amnesty International delegation in Tegucigalpa said it had learned that the de facto regime had stockpiled 10,000 tear gas cans and other crowd control equipment, and was concerned about the risk of a heavy-handed crackdown during the elections. Rights groups have already expressed concern after several deaths and dozens of arrests in a heavy-handed crackdown since the coup, including on pro-Zelaya media.
"The past misuse of tear gas and other crowd control equipment, together with the lack of guarantees that the purchased equipment will not be used to attack demonstrators... paints an extremely worrying picture of what might happen over the next few days," said Javier Zuniga, head of Amnesty's Honduras delegation.
He decried what he called "an environment of fear and intimidation" in the impoverished Central American nation.
The rights group denounced the interim regime's increased threats and intimidation against activists and journalists criticizing the government.
Around 30,000 soldiers and police have been deployed to distribute electoral material and oversee the polls.
The pro-Zelaya resistance movement called for a "popular curfew" from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday (1200 to 0000 GMT). "If there are bombs or other attacks, it will be the army or the police because people from the resistance movement will be in their houses," coordinator Juan Barahona told AFP.
Conflict mediator Arias, who oversaw an accord that called for Zelaya's reinstatement prior to the vote, backed the polls as a possible exit to the five-month crisis. "Why should we punish them... by not recognizing the new government, isolating them, ending cooperation?" Arias said on CNN.
"If everything goes well, normally" on election day, "the large majority of countries must recognize" the results, the Nobel Peace laureate said.
Brazil has led regional opposition, particularly from leftist governments, to the elections. Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said the regional Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) would not recognize the polls, although member Peru has backed them.
The European Union, a key donor to Honduras, has not yet stated its position.
Five months ago, the
Some 4.6 million Hondurans are eligible to vote Sunday, with conservative candidate Porfirio Lobo, who lost to Zelaya in 2005 elections, the frontrunner.
The United Nations and the Organization of American States (OAS) regional bloc have declined to send election monitors, while Cuban exiles in Miami and right-wing US political groups are among the few to plan to dispatch observers. Interim leader Roberto Micheletti has temporarily stepped down to focus attention on the polls.