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Alert

Two feminist movement radio programmes censored

(C-Libre/IFEX) - On 11 July 2009, the Radio Cadena Voces radio station took two programmes hosted by the Women's Rights Centre (CDM) and the Women's Studies Centre (CEM-H) off the air, resulting in censorship of the topic of popular resistance to the coup d'état in Honduras.

The CDM's "Tiempo de Hablar" programme was taken off the air at 8:35 a.m. (local time), just as its invited guests for the day were about to be begin discussing the topic of "resisting the coup d'état." The host of "Tiempo de Hablar", Deysi Flores, said her guests were only able to cover three subjects regarding the issue of the coup, one of them being a call for prayers for Honduras.

Subsequently, the CEM-H programme "La Bullaranga", hosted by Lídice Ortega, was taken off the air at 11:00 a.m.

Radio Cadena Voces technicians and administrators told the radio programme hosts that all of the station's broadcasts had gone off the air and that they did not know why the decision to cut the broadcasts had been made. However, they confirmed that, minutes after the programmes were taken off the air, the radio station began broadcasting religious music.

Both of the feminist organisations are confident that future broadcasts will not be censored. Flores, however, noted that "the censorship of these programmes violates the right to freedom of expression in all its forms."