RIGHTS-HONDURAS: Indians Put Christopher Columbus on Trial
One World Org
By Thelma Mejia
TEGUCIGALPA, Jul 20 (IPS) - Indigenous groups in Honduras
opened a historic trial against Christopher Columbus Monday, the
anniversary of the death of Chief Lempira, an indian leader who was
betrayed and killed by the Spanish while negotiating peace and the
withdrawal of the conquistadors.

The trial against Columbus will end Oct. 12, the Day of the Race and the
506th anniversary of Spain's ''discovery'' of the Americas. The indigenous
activists are accusing Columbus of the crimes of genocide, ethnocide,
trafficking in slaves, rape, and plundering.

Gregoria Flores, with the Coordinating Committee of Indigenous
Organisations of Intibuca (Copin), said the trial aims to ''tell the other side
of the story of the so-called conquest of the Americas.

''We indigenous peoples want the truth to be known, 500 years later, of
what was done to our brothers and sisters, who were mistreated and used
as animals.

''With this symbolic act, we want to place on record what really happened,
and show that indigenous resistance did not die with the colonial period,''
but that ''on the contrary, we have gained strength to demand justice and
respect for our rights,'' she added.

Copin, one of the most combative indigenous organisations in Honduras, is
mainly made up of members of the Lenca ethnic group, the largest of the
country's seven indigenous communities, and is active in the impoverished
western departments of Intibuca and Lempira.

Representatives of all seven ethnic groups commemorated the anniversary
of Lempira's death in the streets of the town of Intibuca with a parade and
religious masks, songs and rites, while a symbolic jury was set up in the
public square of La Esperanza to hear the case against Columbus.

''500 years after the conquest of the Americas, Lempira is alive!'',
''Indigenous resistance is still alive, the Lenca people are present!'' read
several of the placards carried by the indigenous marchers in La Esperanza
Monday.

In Bolivia, Guatemala and the U.S. state of Texas, ''our indigenous brothers and sisters are holding similar trials of Columbus, who for us is guilty of
genocide rather than a standard- bearer of culture as they make him out to
be,'' said Copin leader Salvador Zuniga.

On Oct. 12, 1997, Zuniga and around 150 other members of the Lenca
community destroyed a statue of Christopher Columbus in Tegucigalpa, an
act which drew criticism from all sides and led to a decline in activism in
favour of the rights of Honduran indigenous groups.

In an attempt to boost the indigenous movement's diminished credibility,
the leaders of Copin decided to hold a ''historic trial'' against Columbus, and proposed the raising of a monument to Chief Lempira in downtown
Tegucigalpa, a proposal which has been accepted by the government.

Indigenous groups, which account for 10 percent of the 5.8 million
inhabitants of Honduras, began four years ago to wage a peaceful struggle
seeking respect for their rights and social and economic redress, demands
which have been partially addressed by the government.

The activists have revealed the poverty and neglect in which local
indigenous groups are steeped, especially the Lencas and Tawankas, and
awakened public sympathy. Three years ago, the government created the
'Fiscalia de las Etnias', an office in charge of addressing indigenous
demands and training leaders in negotiation and conflict resolution
techniques, human rights and preservation of identity.

The trial of Christopher Columbus has drawn the attention of academic and cultural circles in Honduras, which describe the action as an attempt to
draw attention to the plight of indigenous groups, restore legitimacy and
rescue the country's indigenous roots. (END/IPS/tra-so/tm/mj/sw/98)