- 50 from this unconstitutional interruption will be recognized.”287 Subsequently, for the first time since the adoption of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the OAS General Assembly, pursuant to Article 21 of this instrument, decided to suspend Honduras from the exercise of its right to participate in the OAS as of July 4, 2009, and this suspension continued until June 1, 2011 (supra paras. 56 to 60). When suspending Honduras, the General Assembly resolved: 1. To suspend the Honduran state from the exercise of its right to participate in the Organization of American States, in accordance with Article 21 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The suspension shall take effect immediately. 2. To reaffirm that the Republic of Honduras must continue to fulfill its obligations as a member of the Organization, in particular with regard to human rights; and to urge the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights to continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend human rights and fundamental freedoms in Honduras.288 152. The Court notes that, under international law, the events that occurred in Honduras starting on June 28, 2009, constituted an internationally wrongful act. During this situation of the international illegitimacy of the government de facto, disciplinary proceedings were instituted against the presumed victims for conducts that, basically, constituted actions against the coup d’état and in favor of the rule of law and democracy. In other words, for conducts established in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, insofar as they constituted the exercise of the participation of the citizenry to defend the constituent elements of representative democracy. In this regard, the Court observes that, following its visit to Honduras in August 2009, the Inter-American Commission noted that “political authorities, community leaders and public officials who voiced opposition to the coup d’état experienced situations that endangered their lives and personal integrity, as did members of the family of President Zelaya. They were threatened, pursued, beaten, harassed and/or investigated by the courts” (supra para. 51). Likewise, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights indicated that, following the coup d’état: The Attorney General’s Office, the judges and the Supreme Court of Justice have, in general, supported the de facto authorities by defending restrictive measures at the expenses of protection of human rights and respect for the rule of law.289 153. In this case, the four presumed victims, three judges and a justice of the Republic of Honduras, protested against the coup d’état and in favor of the re-establishment of democracy and the rule of law, by taking part in a protest, by filing judicial complaints or actions, by an opinion emitted in the context of a university lecture, or in conversations with colleagues. Furthermore, they expressed their opinions through the AJD, of which they were all members, because this organization issued communiqués calling for the need to re-establish the rule of law (supra para. 69). Accordingly, under international law and the decisions of the OAS organs with jurisdiction in this matter, the actions of the presumed victims enjoyed international legitimacy, contrary to those undertaken by the authorities of the government de facto. Consequently, this Court understands that the actions taken by the presumed victims during this “unconstitutional interruption” constituted not only a right but rather form part of the obligation to defend democracy,290 based on 287 Cf. Resolution of the OAS General Assembly on the Political Crisis in Honduras of July 1, 2009. OEA/Ser.P AG/RES 1 (XXXVII-E/09). Available at: http://www.oas.org/consejo/sp/AG/37SGA.asp#inf. 288 Resolution of the OAS General Assembly on the Suspension of the right of Honduras to participate in the OAS of July 4, 2009. OEA/Ser.P AG/RES 2 (XXXVII-E/09). Available at: https://www.oas.org/consejo/sp/AG/Documentos/ag04682e07.doc 289 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the violations of human rights in Honduras since the coup d’état on 28 June 2009. Doc. UN A/HRC/13/66, March 3, 2010, para. 68 (merits file, folio 1292). 290 This obligation is embodied in Article XXXIII of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man which establishes that: “It is the duty of every person to obey the law and other legitimate commands of the authorities of his country and those of the country in which he may be.” Furthermore, Article 21(1) and 21(3) of the Universal Declaration of