Honduras: “We will never abandon the struggle for truth and justice"

Today, July 7th, news has just arrived of the murder of yet another COPINH activist involved in the struggle against mega-projects in the region of La Paz and Intibuca in which ruling party officials such as the Vice President of the National Congress, Gladys Aurora are involved. Lesbia Yaneth Urquía Urquí was found beaten to death near Marcala, La Paz where she lived. Copinh has issued a statement reiterating communnity opposition to these destructive megaprojects and placing responsibility for the murders of Lesbia Yaneth on the Honduran government as a continuation of the State violence that has cost the lives of other COPINH members including the General Coordinador Berta Cáceres. We publish below an interview with Berta's daughter Berta Zúniga by journalist Giorgio Trucchi on July 4th. The original Spanish interview is available here

Photo Giorgio Trucchi

Interview with Bertha Zúniga, four months after the assassination of her mother, the indigenous leader Berta Cáceres.

By Giorgio Trucchi I LINyM

On the night of this past March 2nd, on the outskirts of the city of La Esperanza in western Honduras, the indigenous leader and coordinator of Copinh, Berta Cáceres, was felled by assassin bullets from those who wanted to silence her commitment and struggle against the extractive model that privatizes and plunders the public resources provided by nature . Four months later, her daughter Bertha says that there are still a lot of things missing in order to guarantee truth and justice.

• Four months after the assassination of your mother, how is the struggle going so that this crime doesn’t remain in impunity?

It has been four intense and difficult months, not only the emotional impact of such a great loss, but also because of all the barriers we have encountered on the path towards profound justice and truth. We have confronted diverse obstacles, mainly created by the State of Honduras. 

Four months after the assassination of my mommy they continue to exclude us from the investigations and we do not have access to any information. The detentions that have occurred seem to be a reaction by the State to try and get out from under the strong pressure that has been generated at the national and international level. There is no doubt that the intellectual authors of the crime are still free. 

In addition to demanding access to information, our family as well as Copinh (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) want to see something that indicates that they are really taking steps to guarantee justice, for example, stopping the hydroelectric project of Agua Zarca, analyzing all the factors and elements that led to the death of my mommy, what relation is there between her death and the attempt to stop the struggle of Copinh. 

But not everything is negative. There is a world wide mass clamor demanding justice that has been a determining factor for achieving some victories. If there have been detentions involving employees of the company Desarrollo Energéticos S.A. (DESA) and active duty military, in a country where the rate of impunity is extremely high, it is because there has been a strong mass pressure and many expressions of solidarity with our family and with Copinh. 

• The Global Action campaign by Copinh on June 15 was a total success. 

It was a collective action that transcended borders and was a complete success. The response was impressive. In at least 30 cities in 20 countries around the world there were well attended actions in front of the Honduran Embassies or in public places. There was a lot of participation and a marked creativity. It helped support, at the worldwide level, the demands of our family and of Copinh to create an independent and impartial investigative commission  through the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights), and to definitively close the Agua Zarca project. 

• It is a demonstration of a great appreciation of Berta’s and Copinh’s struggle. 

It is, and it is mixed with deep feelings of indignation and the active desire of many people to do something in light of this crime. These are very important spaces for our family and for Copinh, as voices that tirelessly push the demand for justice. 

This is why, with Copinh, we are launching a “world wide Twitter storm” for July 4th with the hashtag #JusticiaParaBerta #4MesesSinJusticia #ComisionIndependienteYa. 

• What have been the most difficult moments?

We have confronted institutions that, rather than imparting justice, are characterized by high levels of impunity. They have closed off access to information and continue to see the case of my mother in a very limited manner, without an integral vision, and at all costs reducing the magnitude of her assassination. Furthermore, the investigation has shown many irregularities and this feeds the lack of confidence in it. 

The State has not reacted to the proposal to form an independent investigative commission. Two months ago the IACHR declared that it is in favor of the proposal and is available, but the State of Honduras has not even mentioned this possibility. 

What reigns only and always is silence towards the victims. 

• What impression does this silence give you? 

We have never hidden our conviction about the burden of responsibility that the State has in the assassination of my mother. Obviously the State is not going to investigate itself, much less investigate its own negligence in the case. 

But we also believe that it is about a contest of strength between the social and peoples’ movements and the political and economic oligarchy in the country which is represented by the State institutions. 

If this remains in impunity they will continue to murder many more people. 

• What is happening with DESA and the Agua Zarca project?

The company has tried to wash its hands of everything having to do with the assassination of my mother. In all its communiques it leaves out the company name DESA, signing instead as the Proyecto Hidroelétrico Agua Zarca (The Aguan Zarca Hydroelectric Project). Despite the project being half-suspended we know that DESA does not intend to close it. 

A few days ago on a television program on a national channel the guest was an engineer from DESA. For more that an hour she spoke about the benefits of hydroelectric energy, of how fantastic the Agua Zarca project will be for the Lenca community while criminalizing the struggle of Copinh. 

She said that there are only about 20 people against the project and that those who oppose Agua Zarca do not have to be recognized as a legitimate entity representing a belligerent party in the conflict. 

It is evident that this is about a strategy to clean up the image of DESA and weaken Copinh. The most shameful thing is that they didn’t, at any moment, refer to the assassination of my mother. 

• A mission from the Dutch bank FMO, one of the principal funders of the Agua Zarca project, arrived in the project zone to gather opinions from the communities. What information do you have about this visit?

To date, the mission has not put out any public report. There was a previous pronouncement that they were withdrawing from the investment but we don’t know what exactly that means. 

We have information that they may triangulate the money to be able to continue to finance the project. This concerns us. Meanwhile we continue the strong campaign against any type of financing for Agua Zarca. 

• And how is Copinh?

Copin has suffered a hard blow and it has been difficult to recover the dynamics of the work to channel all the indignation that the assassination has generated in the communities. It is recuperating after this blow and it is again setting the scenario for the struggle even though aggression against the organization is growing. 

There is much enthusiasm and great firmness. Today, more than ever, there is a strong commitment to continue and to strengthen the struggle at the community level.

• These have been difficult months for you, your sisters and brother, the family, for Copinh. Have you been able to maintain a certain amount of balance between the before and after of your mother’s assassination?

They have been very complicated months and we have found ourselves doing things that we never planned to do, things that we never thought could happen. But the lessons from our mother have been very important. They inculcated us with the values to continue on this path, and I have tried to maintain a certain balance even though it has not been easy. 

Last week I finished my semester evaluations at the university in México where I lived at the moment of the assassination. I was very far behind but I did it. I will return to Mexico to continue my studies, but without leaving the struggle. 

Wherever we are,  we will never abandon the struggle. Even though our life has taken an unexpected turn, we continue with the enthusiasm and energy of my mother.

Source: LINyM

Mural in honor of Berta Cáceres
in the city of La Esperanza - photo V. Cervantes

Tegucigalpa - Forum on Human Rights in Honduras

On May 12th, the International Human Rights Observation Mission organized by COFADEH held a forum in Tegucigalpa to present its key preliminary findings and recommendations. The forum was attended by a large group of social movement rank and file and leaders including campesino organizations, teachers' unions, LGBTI, LIBRE, human rights defenders, journalists, and indigenous rights defenders (see my photos here).  The family of Berta Caceres participated from the podium. Below this introduction I am posting the English translation of journalist Giorgio Trucchi's report on the forum with a link to the original Spanish.

One of the participants in the open discussion at the  forum was Sandra Zambrano of the LGBT HIV education organization, APUVIMEH, who talked about the attacks on the LGBTI community,  well known activists like Victoria Gomez Cruz who was the first transgender woman to run for office in the primary elections for LIBRE in 2013 have had to leave the country due to threats on their lives. She also talked about the constant threats and pressures against organizations and individual defenders of human rights for LGBTI community. She and her brother José have had move two members of their family out of the country. Sadly, after the forum on May 14th came the news that Allan Yoni Banega Godoy, nephew of Sandra and José was kidnapped and later found dead in Tegucigalpa. 

Also participating in the same discussion were members of a parents and family organization "Madres y Padres de Familia" that are organized to support and defend the student movement, especially around the attacks on public education and the very violent response of the JOH government to the protests of the last few weeks. The Madre y Padres reported that in the last 3 weeks alone there have been 5 students murdered after participating in protests. They are mostly high school students and the wave of protests has to do with a new "educational reform" that requires public high school students to find two illiterate adults and teach them to read, also paying the adults their transportation costs, a meal and other expenses. Most of the public high school students come from poor families and absolutely cannot afford to pay these costs. The head of the high school teachers union (COPEMH) Jaime Rodriquez was also at the Thursday forum and he added that teachers are being accused of inciting the students and being threatened also. A week ago the JOH Education Ministry suspended Jaime's teaching license because he has been supporting the students. The suspension of his license means that he will not receive any salary. Jaime also denounced strongly the terrible violence against the youth and noted that earlier deaths of student activists remain in impunity, for example Nicole Soad Bustillo, the 13 year old murdered  a year ago, shortly after she publicly insulted and denounced Juan Orlando at a student protest. On Friday, May 13th there were reports that the student organizations in San Pedro Sula had negotiated some agreements with the Ministry of Education that may end up resolving this most recent conflict, but the struggle to defend public education will continue. The Radio Globo journalist David Romero also spoke from the floor about the criminal defamation cases against him used as a method to try and silence his voice against the government and about the violence and harassment against journalists in general. The precarious position of journalists was further illustrated by the presence of Felix Molina, journalist and community radio organizer who survived two attempts on his life on May 2nd.  -V. Cervantes  

Human Rights Hit Bottom in Honduras

by Giorgio Trucchi, May 16, 2016

Managua, Nicaragua (Conexihon)

G. Trucchi

On May 12th, as part of the International Mission for Human Rights Observation, a Forum on Human Rights in the Aguán was held in Tegucigalpa. During the activities the main findings of the Mission were presented and recommendations made, and the basis was laid for the creation of an analytic space to prevent risks for human rights defenders. 

“We are living in very difficult moments and we must work to avoid a deepening of human rights violations in Honduras,” said Bertha Oliva, Coordinator of the Committee of the Families of the Disappeared Detainees in Honduras (COFADEH) during her speech at the opening of the Forum. 

“We are putting forth all of our positive energy and we are ready to gather and transform memory, not in pain, but as a collective proposal,” stated the human rights defender.

Organized by COFADEH and made up of delegates from organizations in Europe, the United States and Latin America, among them REL-UITA(1), the Mission presented its findings to the national and international community and formulated recommendations for the State of Honduras. 

The Extractive Model - Death Projects 

According to members of the Mission, in the Lower Aguán Valley, “threats, attacks and assassination attempts continue” against campesino leaders, human rights defenders, community leaders and defenders of natural resources that are threatened by the extractive projects.”

The acceleration of granting concessions of territories in the upper regions of the Aguán Valley to mining companies, on top of the uncontrollable expansion of African Palm as a mono-crop, is responsible for an interminable wave of assassinations in the framework of an agrarian conflict that originates from the lack of access to land for thousands of campesino families. The effects of mining on water sources will deepen the social conflict and violence. 

The criminalization of the struggle for the defense of the territories and human rights as well as the systematic threats, displacement and forced evictions, exile, torture and dispossession “remain in total and absolute impunity.”, states a press communique from the Mission. 

Criminalization and Repression — Crushing Human Rights

The ever more selective persecution is participated in by “private security forces and death squads protected by the State that has militarized the region with the sponsorship and to the benefit of the regional economic powers.”, states the communique. “Sadly, we note that not only have many of the recommendations made some years ago not been implemented but that the statistics on murders have risen and impunity is absolute”, said Luis Guillermo Pérez, member of the International Human Rights Federation (FIDH). 

There is a perception of a lack of will and an investigative conflagration that was corroborated in a meeting of the Mission with local and regional authorities and that continues to repeat  and deepen the criminalization of the campesino organizations. 

Esly Banegas, from the Coordination of Popular Organization of the Aguan (COPA) explained that of the campesino leaders that signed the agreements of 2010 with the government, the immense majority have been assassinated or had to flee into either internal or external exile. 

“More that 300 colleagues are in judicial processes. They are criminalizing and assassinating us. If we don’t unite they will decimate us until we disappear.”,  said Banega sounding the alarm. 

She also noted that the agreements of 2010 as well as those of 2012 (2) for the purchase of thousands of hectares of land were never fulfilled. 

“The campesino enterprises are confronting a grave economic crisis, the product of the international price for palm oil and the lack of will on the part of the current government to create a consensus for a reduction of the (campesino ) debt. If this problem is not resolved, the situation could return again to an explosive situation”, said the leader of COPA. 

Given this situation, a demand by the Mission was proposed by the Forum: the creation of a grouping to formulate analysis to prevent risk for human rights defenders. 

Justice for Berta - No More Violence Against Copinh

The International Mission for Human Rights Observation also strongly took up the theme of the assassination of the Lenca indigenous leader, Berta Cáceres, calling it a “political crime for which the State is responsible, not only because an army official has been linked to the crime but because the State” was obligated to protect her life and physical integrity. ”

The Mission stated that it joins the call of the family and of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (Copinh) to create an international investigative commission that is autonomous from the Honduran State, “so that all the material and intellectural authors of the crime are punished”. 

The Mission also condemned the police repression unleashed against Copinh’s protests on May 9th and demanded that the government of Honduras “avoid all forms of criminalization of social protest”. 

Recommendations - The right to truth and justice is primary

Among the main recommendations formulation by the Observation Mission notable is that of the “assurance of an investigation of the crimes committed “as the premise for the guarantee of the right to truth, justice and reparation/restoration for the victims”. 

As well, that the Honduran government assures the fulfillment of the agreements signed with the campesino organizations of the Aguán, that the repression and stigmatization does not continue against those who defend their rights, as well as the guarantee of strict fulfillment of the preventative measures ordered by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC). 

Finally, it recommends the creation of mechanisms for a participatory consultations with the campesino organizations “related to the projects that are implemented in their territories”. 

http://conexihon.hn/site/noticia/derechos-humanos/derechos-humanos/derechos-humanos-en-honduras-est%C3%A1n-por-los-suelos--