HRC: Council bars Honduras ambassador

The U.N. Human Rights Council decided on Tuesday not to let Honduras' Geneva-based ambassador attend their proceedings, after determining he represents the post-coup government that few countries recognise as legitimate.

The envoy, J. Delmer Urbizo, was asked to leave the United Nations hall on Monday after other Latin American states said he represented an "illegal" regime and not the administration of President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted by the military in June.

Alex Van Meeuwen, the Belgian president of the 47-member Human Rights Council, told the resumed session on Tuesday that the Honduran delegate would not be permitted to return.

"I received a letter yesterday afternoon, dated August the 20th, indicating that the permanent representative of Honduras in Geneva is not the accredited representative of President Zelaya's government," Van Meeuwen said.

"I informed and consulted parties concerned ... and appropriate action was taken on the issue," he said.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay later delivered her speech that was meant to open the three-week Human Rights Council on Monday morning, but then was delayed because of the Honduras dispute and confusion.

The European Union on Tuesday warned the de facto government of Honduras it risked further sanctions unless a peaceful solution is found to the crisis triggered by the coup.

A statement approved by EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said the 27-nation bloc would continue to restrict political contacts with the de facto government.

"Until a peaceful settlement is found, the EU will stand ready to take further restrictive measures including targeting those members of the de facto government who are seen to be blocking progress on a negotiated solution," it said.

Delmer Urbizo said on Monday that he and his colleagues from the Honduras mission in Geneva would return after elections set for November. Honduras does not have a voting seat at the Human Rights Council but was seeking to observe its proceedings, as many other countries typically do.

The U.N. General Assembly has called on its members not to recognise the government of de facto ruler Roberto Micheletti government. The United States has cut more than $30 million in aid to the poor Central American country and revoked Micheletti's visa to pressure him to step down and reinstate exiled Zelaya.

pdf: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LF403533.htm

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