Members of the AUC, classified as a terrorist organisation by the US, reportedly hired to offer protection for landowners

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Honduran landowners have reportedly hired former Colombian paramilitaries as mercenaries to protect them against possible violence stemming from government tensions, a UN panel said today.

The UN working group on mercenaries said that it has received reports that some 40 former members of United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia, or AUC. The US government classifies the AUC as a terrorist organisation.

They will protect properties and individuals "from further violence between supporters of the de facto government and those of the deposed President Manuel Zelaya," it said.

Separately, a 120-person group of paramilitaries from several countries in that region was reportedly created to support the coup in Honduras, the panel said.

Honduras is a party to the international convention against the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries, the group said.

The panel is composed of Shaista Shameem of Fiji, Najat al-Hajjaji of Libya, Amada Benavides de Perez of Colombia, Jose Luis Gomez del Prado of Spain and Alexander Nikitin of Russia.

The group also alleged that Honduran police and the mercenaries indiscriminately used "long range acoustic devices" against Zelaya and his supporters taking refuge at the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa.

The device can blast sounds by concentrating voice commands and a car alarm-like noise that can be heard nearly two miles away.

"We urge the Honduran authorities to take all practical measures to prevent the use of mercenaries within its territory and to fully investigate allegations concerning their presence and activities," the group said.

Zelaya was toppled in the 28 June military-backed coup that has paralysed the impoverished Central American nation with street protests, the suspension of foreign aid, diplomatic isolation and a standoff between the rival claimants to the presidency. The crisis deepened when Zelaya slipped back into the country in late September and took refuge with dozens of supporters in the Brazilian embassy.

Governments throughout the world insist the ousted president serve out the final months of his term and be restored to his office in time to prepare for the November election.