AMERICA/HONDURAS-60 families still waiting to bury their loved ones who died in the prison in Comayagua

Tegucigalpa (Agenzia Fides) - "Justice, Peace and Love" are the words written on a mural that depicts the Virgin of Suyapa which occupies one wall of the sports Leon Alvarado Institute of the city of Comayagua. These three words were repeated over and over again, this past weekend, by the families of the 361 prisoners who died in the fire that occurred in the prison of Comayagua (see Fides 16/02/2012).
"45 days have gone by and the world got to know Comayagua, not for its beautiful and rich history, but for the tears of hundreds of families who are victims of a shameful and inhumane prison system", writes the weekly Catholic Fides about it. The note sent to Fides says: "Since last February 14, families have begun to live a story full of despair and helplessness, because the delivery of the charred bodies was done slowly and with delays. Still today sixty families, due to the lack of appropriate technology for the recognition of corpses, cannot give a Christian burial to their father, brother, son or husband".
For this reason, the Coordinating Committee of victims’ families of the prison of Comayagua has organized a day of prayer and other activities, renewing the request, through a statement, to clarify the facts. So the sports center was filled with the victims' families, who arrived with candles and photographs of their loved ones: in complete silence even children on the cross erected at the center of the field, lit only by candles, and expressed their faith in prayer.
"We demand that the State of Honduras speeds up the process to recognize our dead", is what is read in the statement. The families also stressed "the pain, fatigue and frustration" with regard to the appropriate authorities, that " were indifferent and sometimes hostile to the request to recover the remains of our loved ones". The document calls on the Commission on Human Rights of the country the commitment to defending the human rights of victims, prisoners and families. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 02/04/2012)