HONDURAS: CONSTITUTIONAL LAW ISSUES

This report discusses the legal basis under the Honduran Constitution for President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales’s removal from office. http://www.elheraldo.hn/var/elheraldo_site/storage/original/application/48519cf8ceca6f1fffd32ee9aa0c5dd8.pdf


Schock Releases Report Contradicting State Department on Honduras

Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) today released a report written by the Library of Congress which concludes that the removal of former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was legal and Constitutional.

“The bottom line is one of the most basic foundations of the world community is the rule of law,” said Schock. “The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service concluded that the removal of former President Zelaya was Constitutional, and we must respect that. It’s unconscionable that our Administration would attempt to force Honduras to violate its own Constitution by cutting off foreign aid.”

Schock is offering a compromise to resolve the situation by:

1. Resuming US aid, international aid and ending the VISA sanctions.

2. Cooperating with the Honduran government by sending normal election observers to ensure the fairness of the regularly scheduled November election and recognizing the legitimacy of that election, so long as it is conducted in a fair and accurate manner.

3. While the Library of Congress report found the removal from power of former President Zelaya legal and constitutional, they also found Zelaya’s removal from the country to be explicitly unconstitutional. Schock is calling for the Honduran government to allow Zelaya out of the Brazilian Embassy, recognize that his punishment for what led to his removal from power IS his removal from power, drop plans to prosecute him and issue a general amnesty for everyone involved in his removal from power. As a private citizen, Zelaya would have the right to campaign for his choice in the upcoming presidential election. However if he resorts to the incitement of violence, or advocates the violent overthrow of the Honduran government, then he should be arrested and put on trial as the government would do with any other citizen.

The report was written by Norma C. Gutierrez, a Senior Foreign Law Specialist in Central America. Among its conclusions is that: "The Supreme Court of Honduras has constitutional and statutory authority to hear cases against the President of the Republic and many other high officers of the State, to adjudicate and enforce judgments, and to request the assistance of the public forces to enforce its rulings."