Honduras
has become one of the most hostile and dangerous countries for human
rights defenders
Honduras has
seen at least eight human rights activists killed in 2016, making it
one the most dangerous countries in the world for human rights
defenders, the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights (IACHR) warned Friday.
“The
government of Honduras must immediately adopt and apply effective
measures to protect human rights defenders, so they can carry out
their human rights work, without fear or threat of violence or
murder,” said U.N. Special Rapporteur on Rights Defenders
Michel Forst and the Inter-American Rapporteur on Human Rights
Defenders José de Jesús Orozco Henríquez.
In March
Goldman Environmental Prize winner Berta Caceres, an Indigenous
rights and land defender who tirelessly campaigned against a widely
unpopular dam, was assassinated in her home, prompting international
outrage. According to Global Witness, at least 109 environmental
defenders were killed in Honduras between 2010 and 2015.
The experts
cited previous U.N. reports which expose that human rights defenders
in the country face extrajudicial executions, disappearances, torture
and other violence.
In their
statements on Friday, the U.N. experts also highlighted the dangers
faced by lawyers and prosecutors involved in cases against impunity
and corruption. According to the Honduran Human Rights Commission,
102 lawyers were murdered in Honduras between 2010 and March of 2016.
The most
recent example includes the high-profile murder of Kevin Ferrera, a
lawyer who worked to empower citizens to denounce instances of
corruption.
“We are
seriously concerned that this murder was linked to Mr. Ferrera’s
legitimate work in defense of human rights, and urge the Government
to conduct an investigation to bring to account both the material
perpetrators and the intellectual authors of the heinous crime,”
the experts stated.
The two
high-level officials called on the government to introduce a
mechanism to ensure the safety of human rights defenders, calling on
an end to judicial impunity.
“Crimes
against human rights defenders, especially cold-blooded
assassinations, must not go unpunished. Impunity is the enemy – and
the undoing – of any protection scheme in place, no matter how
comprehensive it may be,” they said.
According to
the Honduran Human Rights Commission, 94 percent of the over 100
deaths of lawyers since 2010 have not been punished.
“Violence
and attacks against human rights defenders not only affect the basic
guarantees owed to every individual. They also undermine the
fundamental role that human rights defenders play in building a
society that is more equal, just and democratic,” they said.
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