Honduras: Rights situation deteriorates

Six months after the inauguration of President Porfirio Lobo, the human rights situation in Honduras continues to deteriorate, according to two major New York-based groups. "Threats and attacks against journalists and the political opposition have fostered a climate of intimidation, while impunity for abuses remains the norm," according to a short report released by Human Rights Watch Thursday. Such attacks "have had a profound chilling effect on basic freedoms in Honduras," said HRW's Americas director, Jose Miguel Vivanco. "When journalists stop reporting, citizens abandon political activities, and judges fear being fired for their rulings, the building blocks of democratic society are at grave risk," he added. HRW's assessment came two days after the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a 13-page report detailing the murders of seven journalists so far this year.