A delegation from the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights has arrived in Honduras to monitor the situation more than a month after the democratically elected Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a coup. The commission met with local Honduran human rights groups but refused to meet with the interim government. Luz Patricia Mejia is the head of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission.

Luz Patricia Mejia: “The commission will not meet with Micheletti, because the commission has reiterated that it does not recognize Mr. Micheletti as the president. We recognize President Manuel Zelaya as the constitutional president, and because of this we will not have any meetings.”

Luz Patricia Mejia also said the commission has received reports of human rights abuses committed by the coup government.

Luz Patricia Mejia: “Since the coup, the Inter-American commission has received an important number of complaints on violations of human rights. They come from representatives of the unions, social leaders, human rights campaigners, from the feminist movement, and many complaints concern the impossibility of carrying out their functions in a free way.”