Unión Cívica Democrática (UCD, English: Civic Democratic Union) is a network of forty Honduran activist organizations, which took an active part during the

2009 Honduran constitutional crisis The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis was a political dispute over plans to hold a popular referendum to either rewrite the Constitution of Honduras or write a new one. Honduran President Manuel Zelaya planned to hold a poll on a referendum ...

, promoting several demonstrations against the former ousted president

Manuel Zelaya José Manuel Zelaya Rosales (born 20 September 1952)Encyclopædia BritannicaManuel Zelaya is a Hondurans, Honduran politician who served as the 35th president of Honduras from 2006 until his forcible removal in the 2009 Honduran coup d'état, 2 ...

Mission

Its supporters claim that, the organization defends democracy and the constitution of Honduras, while its opponents claim that it rather defends the interests of the local elite.
The organization's official mission is: * To contribute to strengthening civil society. * Promote institutional mechanisms for dialogue between different sectors of civil society and political parties and the state. * Promote actions to strengthen public awareness and mobilize civil society to support universally accepted principles of collective welfare.

Events

* June 26, 2009 - Demonstration for democracy and the constitution. Other organizations included the Peace and Democracy Movement. * June 30, 2009 - Demonstrations. In an emotional speech, Armeda Lopez said "Chávez ate Venezuela first, then Bolivia, but in Honduras that didn't happen". Signboards included "Enough to illegality", "I love my Constitution". * July 3, 2009–70,000 people demonstrated for the constitution and against Zelaya. * July 7, 2009 - Demonstrations in six cities. The demonstrations were called El Plantón del Millón. * July 22, 2009 - A hundred thousand demonstrators dressed in blue and white. * August 20, 2009 - UCD files a complaint to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concerning Zelaya's and his followers' alleged violence and hate campaigns in Honduras. * August 24, 2009 - Thousands of people dressed in white demonstrate outside OAS building. * September 4, 2009 - UCD participated in marches expressing opposition to Hugo Chávez. The demonstrations were part of the worldwide ''No Más Chávez'' (No More Chávez) day. * September 24, 2009 - Thousands demonstrating outside the United Nations building in Tegucigalpa. * September 28, 2009 - A march supporting the oncoming general elections on November 29. * October 1, 2009 - UCD supported decree PCM-M-016-2009 issued by interim government, suspending for 45 days five

constitutional rights A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...

: personal liberty (Article 69),

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

(Article 72),

freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights'' ...

(Article 81),

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a legal procedure invoking the jurisdiction of a court to review the unlawful detention or imprisonment of an individual, and request the individual's custodian (usually a prison official) to ...

(Article 84) and

freedom of association Freedom of association encompasses both an individual's right to join or leave groups voluntarily, the right of the group to take collective action to pursue the interests of its members, and the right of an association to accept or decline membe ...

. Its spokesperson, Luz Ernestina Mejia, endorsed the closing during this period of critical media, namely Radio Globo and Canal 36, stating "We are against the repeated crimes of these journalists".''Your Tax Dollars At Work "Promoting" Democracy''
Honduras Coup 2009

References

External links

Unión Cívica Democrática's official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Union Civica Democratica Political organizations based in Honduras International Republican Institute 2009 establishments in Honduras 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis

Mission

Events

See also

References

External links