Blanca Saraí Izaguirre Lozano
National Commissioner for Human Rights (CONADEH)
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
September 14, 2025
Dear Commissioner Izaguirre Lozano:
We are writing to denounce the escalating threats, surveillance, and harassment directed at journalist Jorge Posadas of Santa Rosa de Copán, Copán Department. He has reported being followed by unidentified vehicles observed near his home and workplace. He and his family have been subjected to intimidation.
These actions come in the wake of the journalist’s reporting on allegations of corruption and environmental destruction linked to Aníbal Erazo Alvarado, mayor of Santa Rosa de Copán. The Special Pro
secutor's Office for Transparency and the Fight Against Public Corruption (FETCCOP) has been investigating the mayor. According to the Public Ministry, officials in Santa Rosa de Copán irregularly approved the donation of land to the mother of a municipal judge, who was also accused of receiving money in exchange for expediting municipal procedures.
Despite Mr. Posadas’s enrollment in the National Protection Mechanism since 2024, state guarantees have proven insufficient. The assassination of journalist Javier Hércules in Santa Rosa de Copán on June 1 further underscores the grave risk to news reporters. In a news article published on September 1, Jorge Posadas stated: “I am very worried about my life and that of my family because strange vehicles are following us.”
The United Nations has documented a crisis of press freedom in Honduras, noting systematic attacks on journalists as a means of obstructing accountability and weakening democracy. We remind the Honduran state of its obligations under international human rights treaties to protect freedom of expression and safeguard those who exercise it. The case of Jorge Posadas is emblematic of this broader crisis for journalists who continue their vital work under threat.
We strongly urge you to:
(1) Provide Immediate Protection: Guarantee effective, continuous, and proactive protection measures for Jorge Posadas and his family, in coordination with international human rights mechanisms.
(2) Prioritize Investigation and Accountability: Launch impartial, thorough investigations into the surveillance and threats, ensuring those responsible—whether state or non-state actors—are identified, prosecuted, and punished.
(3) Undertake Structural Reform: Strengthen and depoliticize the National Protection Mechanism for journalists and human rights defenders so it operates with independence and urgency.
(4) Guarantee Non-Repetition: Address the entrenched impunity surrounding attacks on journalists in Honduras, including the pattern of those reporting on abuse of power and political patronage by government officials.
copies: Committee to Protect Journalists–Americas Program ~ via email
Javier Efraín Bú Soto, Ambassador of Honduras in Washington, DC ~ via email and US mail
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR): Andrea Pochak (Rapporteur for Honduras) and Pedro Vaca Villarreal (Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression) ~ via email
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OACNUDH): Isabel Albaladejo Escribano (Representative to Honduras), Alice Shackelford (UN Resident Coordinator in Honduras) ~ via email
US State Department: Honduras Desk Officer (Washington, DC) ~ via email
US Embassy in Tegucigalpa: Roy Perrin (Chargé d’Affaires ad interim) and Human Rights Officer ~ via email
US Congress: Senators from Ohio (Husted and Moreno) ~ via email
US Representatives from Ohio (Beatty, Brown, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Miller, Rulli, Sykes) ~ via email
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