A/HRC/13/66 particular with the above-mentioned United Nations and inter-American instruments which prohibit derogation of some fundamental rights, such as judicial protection and habeas corpus under states of emergency. This law and the decrees also contravene the Constitution of Honduras, which, in the event of an emergency decree, foresees a Congress session to take cognizance of the decree and ratify, modify or reject it within a period of 30 days, or immediately in the event that Congress is in session. However, the Supreme Court and Congress did not review the legality of the state of emergency decrees. Even though the Supreme Court is competent to decide on the legality of state of emergency decrees, it failed to rule on several amparo7 writs presented for its consideration in these matters. 18. “Executive agreement” 124-2009 (similar to a decree) was adopted on 5 October and officially published on 7 October. According to article 28 of the Telecommunications Law, CONATEL and other competent state bodies were granted legal powers to revoke or cancel broadcasting licenses based on national security grounds.8 The agreement included elements beyond those stipulated by article 28.9 Measures taken under emergency powers thus continued to be applied in practice, outside the context of a formal state of emergency. 19. In addition, within the framework of the emergency provisions, several measures limiting fundamental rights were adopted, including curfews, repression of demonstrations and closure of media. These provisions were applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner, particularly against members of the FNRG, and served to cover up or justify excessive use of force, illegal and arbitrary detention, torture, sexual abuse and political persecution. On the basis of these measures, fundamental freedoms, including those of expression, movement and assembly, as well as the principles of proportionality and legality, were violated. The following analysis of the human rights situation provides several illustrations of the implementation of these provisions resulting in violations of fundamental rights. V. Human rights situation A. Main human rights violations 1. Right to life 20. Both the military and the police systematically used excessive force in breaking up demonstrations against the coup. In this context, credible information was gathered to the effect that four people died due to the use of live ammunition against protesters (including a young man who was shot and killed while security forces tried to disperse President Zelaya’s supporters outside Tegucigalpa airport on 5 July). Most of these cases are under investigation by the Fiscalía but without substantive progress to date. In addition, on 27 November a man was shot and killed by military agents at a checkpoint in Comayagüela. According to prosecutors, the crime scene appeared to have been tampered with by military personnel. 7 8 9 GE.10-11700 Amparo is a legal remedy available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security has been violated or is threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity. Article 28 stipulates that, based on national security reasons, the State is able to cancel, after compensation according to the law, concessions and exploitation of licenses or permission regarding telecommunication services. This allows for new restrictions on messages containing incitement to national hatred, which could affect legally protected assets, or provoke “a regime of social anarchy against the democratic State, including possible harm to social peace and human rights”. 7