Honduras did not experience civil war in the 1980s, but its geography (bordering El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua) made it a key location for US military operations: training Salvadoran soldiers, a base for Nicaraguan contras, military exercises for US troops. The notorious Honduran death squad Battalion 316 was created, funded and trained by the US. The state-sponsored terror resulted in the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of approximately 200 people during the 1980s. Many more were abducted and tortured. The 2009 military coup d’etat spawned a resurgence of state repression against the civilian population that continues today.
murder of Roberto Antonio Gómez, father of student activist Andy Johan Gómez Jerónimo of the University Student Movement (MEU) at National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) in Tegucigalpa
threats and attacks on three leaders of COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras): national leadership coordinators Sotero Chavarría Fúnez and Asunción Martínez, and general coordinator Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres
death threats against the children of COPINH (Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) leader Francisco Javier Sánchez and other general threats against indigenous Lenca people in Lempira Department where the DESA corporation wants to build the Agua Zarca hydro-electric dam
arrest, detention and travel ban of César Geovanni Bernardez, director of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), which is in a legal battle to secure Garífuna (Afro-Caribbean people) lands against challenges by tourism developers
Death threats and harassment towards persons working in community radio stations (Radio La Voz Lenca, Radio Dignidad, Radio Progreso) that are reporting on environmental and indigenous rights issues and smear campaign targeting Jesuit priest Ismael Moreno, director of Radio Progreso.
Two letters sent to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson from both House and Senate expressing grave concern at the risks facing activists who defend their land and the environment in Honduras.