Rapid Response Network

We wrote to officials in Honduras about the attempted assassination of yet another Indigenous Lenca community leader, Nery Gonzáez, of the Achiotal community in Siguatepeque, in the department of Comayagua.

Nery González is one of the campesino leaders in Achiotal who is part of an effort to reclaim lands in order to plant food crops. On December 11, an unknown assailant shot him in the head while he was walking into his home. He was transferred to Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa where he was conscious but in serious condition. In spite of the fact that he was attacked at his home, by an unknown armed man, the police never came to his home to investigate and, as of December 15, had not yet conducted any investigation into the facts of the case.

Due to the farmers’ work there of reclaiming their ancestral lands, residents of Achiotal have been criminalized and persecuted by large private landowners, the National Police and the military. In October 2020, the National Police entered—at dawn—several houses without a search warrant and arrested six members of COPINH (Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras). They were previously victims of multiple attacks in order to evict them from the land. Two years later they are still facing unjust criminal charges. 

We wrote to officials in Honduras about the killing of yet another Indigenous community leader, Marco Antonio Pineda of the Guachipilín community in the department of La Paz on November 23, yet again by the authorities.

Marco Antonio Pineda was a leader in the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH).  The National Police killed him. First they arrested him and his cousins arbitrarily for no apparent reason in the community of El Encinal, as they were walking toward Guachipilin.  After the police brutally beat one of his cousins, Marco Antonio Pineda went toward his cousin to check on him. It was at that time one of the officers fired his weapon at Marco, causing a serious wound to his chest that eventually cost him his life. 

We urge that authorities in Honduras conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the killing of  Marco Antonio Pineda by the National Police,  publish the results, and hold those responsible in a court of law.

We wrote to authorities in Guatemala to protest the forced displacement of the Maya Q’eqchi’ community of Chapín Abajo in El Estor, Izabal Department, carried out by agents of the National Civilian Police (PNC) and paramilitary forces.

On December 6, Guatemalan security forces arrived to carry out an eviction on behalf of the palm oil company NaturAceites, a member of the international Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Together with paramilitary forces, they raided homes of families, stealing their food and personal belongings. They fired tear gas on the residents. An investigative delegation arrived later and confirmed that several people were injured. A 17-year-old was seriously wounded and hospitalized in critical condition. At least one other young man was missing. Two other men suffered gunshot wounds. Several women were beaten and sustained injuries to their faces and bodies.

During the past several months, several Q'eqchi' communities have been evicted in the region of Alta Verapaz, Izabal and Petén.

We wrote to authorities in Guatemala to protest the forced displacement of the Maya Q’eqchi’ community of Se’inup’ in El Chal, Petén Department, carried out by agents of the National Civilian Police (PNC).

During the past several months, Q'eqchi' communities have been evicted in the region of Alta Verapaz, Izabal and Petén, despite the organized resistance of the Indigenous communities. Local government authorities continue to side with more powerful economic and political interests. In the case of Se’inup’, where 56 families engage in subsistence farming, they have been working through the legal process of land titling. Whether the state would give them all their land or half, they were ready to accept the ruling. In the meantime, they have nowhere else to go.

We are urging that authorities in Guatemala: (1) legally resolve the land conflict and grant at least half of the land to the families of Se’inup’, (2) stop issuing eviction orders while legal processes are still pending, and (3) stop siding with the interests of private companies over the needs of subsistence farmers

We wrote to authorities in Guatemala urging the immediate release of prisoner of conscience Virginia Laparra. False criminal charges against her could result in a prison sentence of up to nine years.

Former prosecutor Virginia Laparra was head of the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI) in Quetzaltenango, where she led investigations into corruption and large-scale crime. The criminal prosecution against her began in 2018, after having reported to the Board Disciplinary of the Judicial Branch possible inappropriate conduct by a judge accused of leaking confidential information on a case in which he was working. In retaliation, this same judge filed two criminal complaints against her: in July 2018 in Quetzaltenango and in August 2019 in Guatemala City. Since then, the former prosecutor has had to defend herself simultaneously in two parallel processes initiated by the same plaintiff, despite the fact that they relate to the same events. Authorities arrested Virginia Laparra on February 23, 2022 as she left her job in Quezaltenango, and since then she has been unfairly held in preventive detention.

Virginia Laparra has suffered an egregious violation of the rights to due process and a fair trial.  We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Virginia Laparra after an unjust detention of more than nine months.

Despite a new presidential administration in Honduras, journalists are still under attack.

Dina Meza, director of the Association for Democracy and Human Rights (ASOPODEHU), has denounced surveillance of her home and family. She suspects the surveillance is being conducted by agents of the National Police and linked to government structures.

Gilda Silvestrucci, director of the online media outlet EnLaPlaza.hn, has been the victim of cyber bullying and death threats via phone, text messages, and social media. The death threats also target her underage daughter.  

In addition to calling for investigations of the surveillance and death threats, we are urging that authorities in Honduras put into place sufficient measures of protection for journalists and human rights defenders in efforts to prevent further attacks on their health and privacy.

We wrote to authorities calling for justice in the assassinations of two social leaders killed last night.

Community leader Efraín Sánchez Durán was shot and killed by four armed men in the Paloca sector of Barrancabermeja, Santander Department. The hitmen fled the scene but were later captured by authorities. Efraín Sánchez Durán was the director of the Manos Amigas foundation, which serves the elderly in his community.

Also assassinated on November 25 was Oswaldo Eliecer Duglas Bula in Montería, the capital of Córdoba Department. He was a champion of various social processes, including the relocation of vendors from the South Market, a union of which he was a part.

We wrote to authorities in Guatemala urging protection for Luis Adolfo Ich Choc, an elected representative of the Ancestral Council of the Q'eqchi' People of El Estor, Izabal Department. In recent months, Luis Adolfo Ich Choc has been the victim of robbery (September 16) and a beating that left him with a fractured shoulder (October 19). He is being targeted because of his active role in the organized resistance to the El Fénix nickel mine.

The nickel mining operation has been a source of contention and violence for many years in El Estor, a community where 90% of the inhabitants are indigenous Maya Q’eqchi’. The Swiss-Russian consortium Solway Investment Group purchased the mine from HudBay Minerals in 2011; the mine is operated by its subsidiary, the Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN). For the past 15 years, impacted residents have reiterated that the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) did not obtain their free, prior, and informed consent as required by national and international law (ILO Convention 169, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of 1989). In its ruling in 2019, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala ratified the right to consultation and resolved that the mining company had to suspend its mining activity.  The company later carried out a “consultation” but excluded many key actors, including the fishing communities and the local indigenous authorities. The mining operations continue in defiance of the spirit of the court ruling.

October 26, Indigenous Tolupán tribal leader Reinaldo Baharona Reyes he was given a national award for his environmental defense, named the Carlos Escaleras National Prize.  Despite the national honor, Reinaldo Baharona Reyes still faces threats of criminalization and imprisonment. 

Reinaldo Baharona Reyes is president of the Las Vegas tribe of Tepemechín in Victoria, Yoro Department. The tribe’s territory has been threatened by landowners linked to cattle ranching, loggers, and miners, who have decades-long legacy of controlling mayors' offices and using them as organized crime structures to dispossess the Tolupán. When bribes and tribal division do not work, tribal council leaders have been assassinated. Indigenous people have been dehumanized as just another species by those who covet land.

Reinaldo Baharona Reyes went to court in Victoria on November 4 to address the criminal complaints against him. His attorney says that he is at risk and needs the special attention of the authorities to guarantee his safety to do his human rights work.

Members of the Coordinator of Popular Organizations (COPA) and the Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ) announced in a press conference that agribusiness corporations like Dinant have a plan to assassinate the peasant leadership in El Aguán who are fighting to secure access to their ancestral lands. Sources say the agribusiness companies have carried out surveillance to monitor the movements of the leadership and have devised a plot to murder the leadership of the Agrarian Platform—and then blame it on common street-crime violence. The names of the threatened leaders are: Jaime Cabrera, Jony Rivas, Héctor Murillo, José Cruz, Santos Pérez, Alexander Garcia, José Garcia, William Sorto and Esly Banegas.

We are urging that authorities in Honduras: (1) safeguard the life and personal integrity of the campesino leadership in El Aguán Valley, in strict accordance with their wishes, (2) initiate an investigation against businessman Miguel Mauricio de la Soledad Facussé Saenz, leader of Corporación Dinant, who has been accused of implementing the plan to assassinate the peasant leadership.