Thursday February 7 @ 3:47 pm: Deadline for House of Commons Honduras petition
Edwin Espinal and Karen Spring
AWARE News Network
Thursday February 7 2019 is the last day to sign the e-petition posted by Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte MP Alex Nuttall, calling for the release of Edwin Espinal and other political prisoners in Honduras. Edwin is the husband of Karen Spring of Elmvale who along with her family and supporters in this rural Simcoe County community has campaigned tirelessly on his behalf.
Note: the petition closes at 3:47 pm.
Please share widely.
Today, there are 853 signatures. Let’s get that number up!
WAY TO GO – the petition closed at 949 signatures!
Here’s the link.
The petition states:
Whereas:
The November 26, 2017, election in Honduras has been recognized as having many irregularities;
The election was condemned by the Organization of American States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the European Union Electoral Observation Missions, which reported voting irregularities, errors and systemic problems in the electoral process;
The Juan Orlando Hernandez government responded with a massive crackdown and the abolition of human rights as Hondurans protested the election;
The Hernandez government has denied all political prisoners due legal process;
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that Honduran security forces used excessive, lethal force and extra-judicial killings to control and disperse protests;
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, has called upon Honduran authorities to reinstate constitutional rights and guarantees, and uphold democratic principles, human rights and rule of law; and
The United Nations and Amnesty Canada has called upon Honduran government to release and drop all trumped-up charges against Edwin Espinal.
We, the undersigned, Simcoe County Honduras Rights Monitor and citizens of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to:
1. Stand by its stated position supporting human rights and rule of law in Honduras;
2. Urgently intervene in the case of Edwin Espinal, spouse of Karen Spring of Elmvale, arrested January 19, 2018, on trumped-up charges in the wake of popular protests; and
3. Immediately ensure that the Hernandez government release Espinal and four other political prisoners (Raul Alvarez, Jose Godinez, Edy Gonzalo, Gustavo Caceres) still held in inhumane maximum-security military prisons in Honduras, and drop all charges against 22 political prisoners detained (17 released, 5 remain in prison).
More information: Simcoe County Honduras Rights Monitor
See also:
Report on Honduras Torture Centres by Karen Spring
Janet Spring renews call for Canadian government action on Espinal case
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