National and international organizations demand that Honduran authorities respect the decision of the people of Tocoa to say NO to the petroleum coke thermoelectric plant and Emco's mining megaproject, among other demands. On Saturday, December 9, 2023, the people of Tocoa were called by the Municipal Corporation to participate in an open town meeting regarding the Ecotek petroleum coke thermoelectric project, one of the seven components of an iron oxide megaproject promoted by the "Emco Holdings" consortium of Ana Facusse and Lenir Perez. More than 2000 people showed up early at the Froylan Turcios Institute to ensure that their voice was heard, despite a stigmatization campaign against the human rights defenders of the Municipal Committee in Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa in the run-up to the town hall, with the intention of provoking fear in the population.
During the civic assembly, there was a strong police presence, as well as representatives of the Human Rights Secretariat, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for Honduras, the Observatory for Justice for the Defenders of the Guapinol River, national and international organizations, as well as international human rights observation organizations. Municipal staff tried to prevent voters from entering the Institute and, upon seeing the large number of people who had arrived to vote against the project, Mayor Adán Funes refused to enter the Institute to hold the open town meeting. As a result, the people self-convened a popular assembly, in which the municipal councilors were present, and voted against the petcoke thermoelectric plant and Emco's megaproject. The process was supervised by municipal councilors and the minutes were notarized. The popular decision reaffirms the result of the open town hall held in November 2019 in Tocoa that roundly rejected the mining project.
We are concerned that Emco's energy project has been promoted by local and state authorities as a way to alleviate the electricity problem in Tocoa, despite the fact that, according to the same environmental impact assessment that the company Ecotek submitted to the Secretariat of Natural Resources - SERNA/MiAmbiente, most of the electricity generated is destined to the operation of the company's plant to pelletize the iron oxide it extracts from the Carlos Escaleras National Park.
We welcome the position of the State of Honduras at COP28 in defense of forests and the generation of clean energy, but we are deeply concerned about efforts to produce energy through the burning of petroleum coke, which is highly polluting to health and the environment, especially because according to the opinion of SERNA's Center for Contaminant Studies and Control (CESCO) dated April 23, 2023, the burning of petroleum coke is not regulated in Honduras.
For more than seven years, the Municipal Committee in Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa has publicly denounced, and through the corresponding Honduran Authorities, the illegalities, human rights violations and environmental contamination related to Emco's mega-project.
These complaints have not resulted in any significant action by the corresponding authorities, despite the fact that the CMDBCPT has presented clear and substantiated evidence after a meticulous review of the company's files and State documents, which support its denunciations.
The members of the CMDBCPT have been victims of arbitrary detentions, assassinations, threats, forced displacements and smear campaigns aimed at silencing their dignified struggle for life and the protection of the forests and rivers of the Montaña de Botaderos "Carlos Escaleras" National Park.
Since October 2023, the members of the Municipal Committee and their legal teams have been beneficiaries of precautionary protection measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) due to the imminent risk they face.
In light of the decision taken by the people of Tocoa, and in support of the Municipal Committee's struggle for justice and accountability, we demand:
1. The decision of the People of Tocoa validly expressed on December 9, 2023 through a popular assembly, be respected and implemented immediately by all levels of the Honduran government.
2. The immediate and unconditional cancellation of the Emco Holdings megaproject, including the ASP and ASP2 mining concessions of Inversiones Los Pinares; the petroleum coke thermoelectric plant and the Ecotek pelletizing plant concession; the concessions for the use of water from the Guapinol, San Pedro and La Ceibita rivers.
3. The immediate and comprehensive protection of the members of the Municipal Committee, their legal teams and their families through measures adopted by the State in consensus with the defenders.
4. The investigation of the criminal and administrative complaints filed by the Municipal Committee in order to bring to trial and sanction those responsible for the illegalities related to the extractive project and the threats and stigmatization campaigns against the defenders of the Municipal Committee.
5. The independent investigation, prosecution and punishment of those materially and intellectually responsible for the murders of Jairo Bonilla, Aly Domínguez and Oqueli Domínguez.
6. The reparation of damages, both to the victims of the persecution by Emco and the State of Honduras, as well as to the core zone of the Carlos Escaleras National Park.
SIGNATURES
ACI Participa - Honduras
AFET Asociación Feminista Trans - San Pedro Sula Honduras
Alianza Centroamericana Frente a la Minería, ACAFREMIN - Regional
Alternativa de Reivindicación Comunitaria y Ambientalista de Honduras, ARCAH - Honduras
Anticapitalistas Madrid - Spain
Asociación Entrepueblos-Entrepobles-Entrepobos-Herriarte – Spanish State
Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (ARSN) - Canada
Bufete Estudios para la Dignidad - Honduras
Canadian Jesuits International - Canada
Casa Espiral - Mexico
Casa tonatiuh - Mexico
Centro de Derechos de Mujeres, CDM - Honduras
Centro de Desarrollo Humano. CDH/ Honduras - Honduras
Centro de Información sobre Empresas y Derechos Humanos -Inglaterra
Centro de Investigación y Documentación Chile-América Latina (FDCL e.V.) - Germany
Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos - Honduras
Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho International (CEJIL) - Costa Rica
Centro de Estudio para la Democracia (CESPAD) - Honduras
CIVICUS World Alliance - Sudáfrica
Comité Campesino del Altiplano CCDA - Guatemala
Comité del Agua de Guapinol - Honduras
Comité de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH) - Honduras
Comité Municipal de Defensa de los Bienes Comunes y Publicos de Tocoa - Honduras
Comité municipal de saneamiento de microcuencas de Sonaguera - Honduras
Comité para los derechos humanos en America Latina - Canada
Comunicadorxs Populares por la Autonomía - COMPPA - Mexico
Consejo Indígena Lenca de Reitoca - Honduras
Consejo Indígena Lenca Tierras del Padre - Honduras
Consejo Tribu Las Vegas de Tepemechin - Honduras
Convergencia Contra el Continuismo - Honduras
Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares del Aguan, COPA - Honduras
COPINH - Honduras
CPTRT - Honduras
Derechos humanos sin frontera Honduras - Honduras
Desarrollo y Paz - Caritas Canada - Canada
Dominican Sisters of Hope - USA
Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa Office of Peace and Justice - USA
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill - USA
Eighth Day Faith Community, Washington DC - USA
Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación - Honduras
Equipo Jurídico por los Derechos Humanos - Honduras
Escuela para defensoras en derechos humanos y ambientales Benita Galeana - Mexico
FIDH (Federación International por los Derechos Humanos), en el marco del Observatorio para la Protección de los Defensores de Derechos Humanos Paris (Global)
Foro de Mujeres por la Vida - Honduras
Franacía América Latina París, France
Friendship Office of the Americas - USA
Fundación para el debido proceso (DPLF) - USA
Fundación San Alonzo Rodríguez - Honduras
Grupo de Información sobre América Latina (IGLA) - Austria
Guatemala Human Rights Commission GHRC-USA - Guatemala/USA
HEKS EPER - Switzerland
Hondurasdelegation - Germany
Iglesia catolica Bonito Oriental - Honduras
IMDEC (Instituto Mexicano para el Desarrollo Comunitario A.C.) - Mexico
Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos - Mesoamerica
Innovando la tradición - Mexico
Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Project - Estados Unidos
Instituto de Derecho Ambiental de Honduras (IDAMHO) - Honduras
International Human Rights Clinic, University of Virginia Faculty of Law, USA
InterReligious Task Force on Central America - USA
Jesuit Social Services Australia - Australia
Justice Committee of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Albany - USA
Justice in Mining - A Global Ignatian Advocacy Network - International
Latin America Working Group Education Fund Washington DC - USA
LAWG - Estados Unidos
MDR - Honduras
Mira: Feminismos y Democracias - Mexico
MOSO -LCBA - Honduras
Movimiento Ambientalista Santabarbarense MAS - Honduras
Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y la Justicia - Honduras, Centro América
National Lawyersw Guild International Committee - USA
NISGUA - Guatemala-USA
Nucleo de base ambientalista - Honduras
Observatorio indígena - Mexico
Oficina Ecumenica por la Paz y la Justicia - Germany
OFRANEH - Honduras
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT), en el marco del Observatorio para la Protección de los Defensores de Derechos Humanos - International
Protection International - International
Parroquia San Isidro Labrador Tocoa, Colón - Honduras
Patronato Pro Mejoramiento Cuaca Jaral - Honduras
Peace Watch Switzerland - Switzerland
Plataforma Agraria - Honduras
Plataforma International Contra la Impunidad - Honduras/International
Red Continental Cristiana por la Paz Reconpaz - Honduras Guatemala
Red Continental Iglesias y Mineria - capitulo Honduras - Brazil
Red de Mujeres del Consejo Indígena Lenca de Reitoca - Honduras
Red departamental de Mujeres Santa Bárbara - Honduras
Red Mesoameri-Kaab - Mesoamerica
Red Nacional de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos en Honduras - Honduras
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights - USA
Romero Initiative (ICR) - Germany
Salvemos El Río Danto, La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras - Honduras
SHARE Foundation - USA
Sisters of Mercy Justice Team, Washington DC - USA
Sisters of St. Francis, Oldenburg - USA
Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill Philadelphia Pennsylvania - USA
Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery/West Hartford - USA
Sisters of St. Joseph Rochester - USA
Sisters of the Holy Spirit - USA
SITRASEMCA - Honduras
Tlalij, Yolojtli uan Nemililistlij A. C. - Mexico
Trócaire - Ireland
ZEHAR-Errefuxiatuekin - Spain
