- 18 52. Several international organizations, including the OAS General Assembly and Permanent
Council and the UN General Assembly condemned what happened and classified to it as a coup
d’état.69
53. In the case of the OAS, on June 25, 2009, the Government of Honduras, through its
representative to the OAS, requested that the Permanent Council be convened urgently to examine
“the risk to the democratic institutional political process and/or the legitimate exercise of power in
the Republic of Honduras.”70 On June 26, the Permanent Council issued a resolution in support of
democracy and the rule of law in Honduras and resolved to call on “all the political and social actors
involved to ensure that their actions respect the rule of law, in order to avoid a disruption of the
constitutional order”; and to “instruct the Secretary General to establish a Special Commission to
visit Honduras as a matter of urgency, with a view to analyzing the facts and contributing to broad
national dialogue aimed at finding democratic solutions to the current situation, and to report back
to the Permanent Council.”71
54. On June 28, 2009, the Permanent Council held a special meeting in which it resolved: “[t]o
condemn vehemently the coup d’état staged this morning against the constitutionally-established
Government of Honduras, and the arbitrary detention and expulsion from the country of the
constitutional president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, which has produced an unconstitutional
alteration of the democratic order,” demanded the immediate return of the President, and declared
that no government arising from this unconstitutional interruption would be recognized.72
55. On July 1, 2009, the OAS General Assembly issued a resolution that also strongly condemned
the coup d’état, instructing the OAS Secretary General “to undertake, […], diplomatic initiatives
aimed at restoring democracy and the rule of law,” and warning that “[s]hould these prove
unsuccessful within 72 hours, the Special General Assembly shall forthwith invoke Article 21 of the
Inter-American Democratic Charter to suspend Honduras’ membership.” 73
56. In view of the fact that the diplomatic initiatives undertaken by the OAS Secretary General
were unable to achieve the reinstatement of President Zelaya, on July 4, 2009, implementing article
69
Cf. Resolution of the OAS General Assembly on the Political Crisis in Honduras. OEA/Ser.P AG/RES 1 (XXXVII-E/09), of
July 1, 2009. Available at: http://www.oas.org/consejo/sp/AG/37SGA.asp#inf; Resolution of the OAS Permanent Council on
the Current situation in Honduras. CP/RES. 953 (1700/09), June 28, 2009. Available at: http://www.oas.org/consejo
sp/resoluciones/res953.asp, and Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on Situation in Honduras: democracy
breakdown, A/RES/63/301, July 1, 2009. Available at: http://www.un.org/es/comun/docs/?symbol=A/RES/63/301.
70
OAS, Permanent Council, Timeline of recent OAS engagement in Honduras: June-November 2009.
OEA/Ser.GCP/INF.5938/09 corr. 1, November 23, 2009. Available at: http://www.oas.org/consejo/Documents%
20INF2009.asp.
71
Resolution of the OAS Permanent Council on the Situation in Honduras. CP/RES. 952 (1699/09), of June 26, 2009.
Available at: http://www.oas.org/council/resolutions/res952.asp.
72
Cf. Resolution of the OAS Permanent Council on the Current Situation in Honduras. CP/RES. 953 (1700/09), June 28,
2009. Available at: http://www.oas.org/council/resolutions/res953.asp, and minutes of the special meeting of the OAS
Permanent Council on June 28, 2009. Available at: http://www.oas.org/consejo/sp/actas/acta1700.pdf
73
Resolution of the OAS General Assembly on the Political Crisis in Honduras. OEA/Ser.P AG/RES 1 (XXXVII-E/09), of July
1, 2009. Available at: http://www.oas.org/consejo/sp/AG/37SGA.asp#inf. Article 21 of the Inter-American Democratic
Charter stipulates that: “[w]hen the special session of the General Assembly determines that there has been an
unconstitutional interruption of the democratic order of a member state, and that diplomatic initiatives have failed, the
special session shall take the decision to suspend said member state from the exercise of its right to participate in the
OAS by an affirmative vote of two thirds of the member states in accordance with the Charter of the OAS. The
suspension shall take effect immediately. The suspended member state shall continue to fulfill its obligations to the
Organization, in particular its human rights obligations. Notwithstanding the suspension of the member state, the
Organization will maintain diplomatic initiatives to restore democracy in that state.”