Guadalupe Carnay Community Faces Siege by Honduran Security Forces for Participation in Protests Defending Healthcare and Educaiton against the U.S.-backed Dictatorship

Condemnation and Solidarity in the face of Human Rights Violations

 

The Municipal Committee in Defense of the Common Public Good in Tocoa, given what has happened in the community of Guadalupe Carney, declares:

That today, June 1st, the community of Guadalupe Carney has suffered the gravest of abuses and violations of the rights granted by the constitution of the republic and international law, solely due to the struggle for the human right to healthcare and public education. It is under a siege that even includes helicopters flying over the community.

As a social movement we united with the public denunciation by many solidarity organizations in holding the security forces of the police and military responsible for having entered the community launching teargas on girls, boys, youth, women and elderly people.

We demand justice for 24 year old Jairo Leonel Hernández Ramirez, 19 year old Nerlin Ignacio Hernández Hernández, 58 year old Ezequiel Urrea and minors 15 year old Jorge Soto Portillo and 8 year old William Aron Ruiz Sánchez, all of whom are victims of the regime of Juan Orlando and the police and military forces assigned to the Aguan region.

We denounce the direct persecution by these repressive bodies of the State against peasant leader Adolfo Cruz who, along with his family and neighbors was victimized by teargas launched directly into his house as a clear message of intimidation and aggression, with his family placed at risk by the Honduran state.

We also denounce the attack on human rights defender Obed Ulloa, who had all of the equipment he need to carry out his work as a human rights defender taken by the police. According to the human rights defender about 9 people have been wounded by the police during the community's protests in defense of healthcare and education.

We remind the Honduran state that the community of Guadalupe Carney has been a beneficiary of collective protective measures since the year 2003 and that the public protest it has been engaged in along with the teachers and medical associations in the area is a constitutional right that all communities and people have when fundamental rights like the right to healthcare and education are under attack.

We encourage the rural communities, the teachers unions, the doctors and nurses, the students, the mothers and fathers, the communities fighting for water and the environment and to protect their territory and all social movement organizations to stay firm in the struggle. The truth and human rights are on the side of the people.

We alert the human rights defense organizations nationally and internationally to stay tuned to what is happening in this region of the country and especially to what is happening in the community of Guadalupe Carney.

Tocoa, Colón, June 1st, 2019

Tocoa Municipal Committee in Defense of the Public Common Good

From the Aguan Valley: La Lucha Sigue

May 9, 2016, meeting with campesino
organizations in Tocoa, Colon

Article and photos by Vicki Cervantes
Video: Massacre en El Tumbador courtesy of Alto Al Riesgo, written and directed by Laura Bermúdez. 

On May 24, 2016 at around 6:30 in the morning, Jinson Aldin Alfaro Almendares, a young member of the campesino group Empresa Campesina Gregorio Chávez was shot in the back without warning by private paramilitary guards working for COFRUCO, a large land holder in the Aguan, as he worked in his fields. The COFRUCO plantation as well as the land Jinson was working are next to the Paso Aguan plantation controlled by the Faccusee family's corporation Dinant. The Paso Aguan plantation and the nearby community of Panama have been the scene of many attacks on local campesinos including the murder in 2012 of Gregorio Chavez, which has never been investigated and remains in impunity.   Jinson survived, but this incident is one of many, recent attacks against campesinos and their organizations. The day before the shooting, the home of the coordinator of the campesino umbrella organization the Regional Agrarian Platform for the Aguan Valley, Jaime Cabrera was surrounded for a time by armed men wearing ski masks while Jaime was inside the house. Police refused to take action against the guards who shot Jinson. (Information on the attack as reported by the Plataforma Agraria del Aguan via Karla Zelaya). 

In Guadalupe Carney on May 9, premier of documentary
of 2010 El Tumbador massacre of 5 campesinos

Just two weeks ago, I participated in an International Human Rights Observer Mission organized by COFADEH (May 6-12) that met with campesino organizations in the Aguan, including the Movimiento Revindicador Campesino Gregorio Chavez, Movimiento Unificado Campesinos del Aguan (MUCA) Movimiento Authentico Revindicador Campesino del Aguan (MARCA)  and the Permanent Human Rights Observatory of the Aguan (OPDHA).

That same day we also participated in an event to commemorate and launch a new struggle to demand justice for the November 2010 massacre of 5 campesinos from the MCA by guards working for DINANT.  COFADEH has been working with the survivors of the massacre and the families of the murdered campesinos and is getting ready to take the case to the international justice system. The event held in the community of Guadalupe Carney included a photo exhibition of the survivors and victims and the premier showing of a new documentary about the El Tumbador.

May 9, Meeting with survivors and victims
of 2010 massacre at El Tumbador 

The meeting with campesino organizations, social movement organizations such as the Coordinator of Peoples' Organizations of the Aguan (COPA), and community organizations from the towns in the region who are defending the environment from mining and mega-tourism projects took place in the town of Tocoa. Participants in the meeting gave moving testimony about the violence, including murders, against campesinos, and different trickery and pressure being used to facilitate campesino lands passing into the hands of the large landowners and agro-businesses. Testimony also denounced what is seen as a new phase in the violence in the Aguan in which large scale violent attacks have been replaced with a more selective violence, infiltration of communities, threats and intimidations to terrorize and disorganize all opposition to land grabbing, mining and dispossession of the poor residents of the Aguan.

MUCA leaders speaking

MUCA leaders talked about the establishment of outright death squads, one group calls itself "head collectors of Colon"; on September 1, 2015 after police attacked a local protest with live ammunition and tear gas, a Coronel was reported to have said that he wanted the heads of two campesino leaders which he named by their names. Around the same time a 'hit list' came to light with more names of leaders and activists. Environmentalists, members of organizations opposed to the coup and current government also spoke of threats they are receiving. Employees of the National Agrarian Institute spoke of being threatened personally and having their jobs threatened because they support campesinos or because they belong to LIBRE (the left opposition party). Another woman who works for the municipality but is opposed to mining concessions that will affect her community. She was told at work that her job was at risk and that furthermore that bad things happen to people working against mining.

Members of the human rights observatory (OPDHA) also gave testimony about recent attempts on their lives. Irma Lemus and Rigoberto Duran were run down by a car that was obviously waiting for them as they rode by on Rigoberto's motorcycle. Both suffered serious injuries. There were previous incidents in which cars with darkened windows and without license plates followed them and attempted to intimidate or run them off the road. Campesino activists and members of COPA and other social movements emphasized that Juan Orlando Hernandez's government is firming up a dictatorship that is "asphyxiating" the campesinos and that there is a strong alliance between National Party politicians, big businessmen, judges and police against the campesinos in the Aguan.

Another Chance for Justice - Chabelo's trial reconvenes

Solidarity Action continues
the week of October 19th.

Spread the word through your social networks. Use the hashtags #justiceforchabelo #justiciaparachabelo

Chabelo's Trial Reconvenes

(for background info please visit: freechabelo.wordpress.com or hondurasresists.blogspot.com )

October 19, 2015

Greg McCain

There was a greater anticipation for this hearing than the previous ones because, before the trial was suspended 2 weeks ago, the judges had strongly requested that the Prosecutor impress upon his witnesses that they need to show up. Indeed, that was the whole reason for the 2 week suspension; key prosecution witnesses were not appearing. The 2 weeks was to give them time to schedule accordingly.

The main witness, known as Protected Witness 2 (PW2), was the only survivor of the incident in which 11 people lost their lives in a fire that burned the house belonging to the Osortos to the ground.  PW2 was pulled from the house, ironically enough, by one of Chabelo's brothers.

Through out the initial investigation PW2 never identified Chabelo as one of those involved. It was only after the prosecution and Henry Osorto, a Sub-Commissioner of the National Police and whose family was involved in the conflict that resulted in the fire, decided to manufacture the case around a photo of Chabelo.

PW2's testimony changed in the first trial from what he had been saying in the investigation. He was now implicating Chabelo and one other person, Carlos Maradiaga, in the murder of Manrique Osorto. His testimony changed again in the 2nd trial due to Maradiaga having been found innocent in the 1st trial. Chabelo was being solely accused by PW2. It was due in part to these irregularities that the Supreme Court annulled, twice, the convictions of Chabelo.

Another important witness is Henry Osorto himself. Although he was not at the house during the incident, he claims that he was on the phone with his nephew, Manrique, during the events that led to Manrique's death. Osorto's testimony changed as well between the 1st and 2nd trials.

These 2 prosecution witnesses, amongst others, are refusing to come to the hearings in Trujillo. The Prosecutor stated that he spoke with Osorto on the phone and Osorto says that it is too dangerous for him and the other witnesses to go to Trujillo.

It is important to note that Osorto was recently elevated from a Sub-Commisioner to a Commisioner of the National Police. He has sufficient resources at his disposal to ensure his and the other witnesses' safety.

In today's hearing, the Prosecutor solicited the court to have the trial moved to La Ceiba or Tegucigalpa where Osorto feels safer (?). He also solicited that 3 prosecution witnesses be removed from having to testify. The judges asked the Defense if they agreed with the elimination of these testimonies. The Defense accepted this and the judges let it stand.

On the question of moving the trial which would require another suspension, the judges asked for the Defense's response. Atty Omar Menjivar stated that by law trials could not be suspended for more than 15 days. This trial has already had a 10 day suspension and the chances of getting it added to the docket in La Ceiba or Tegus in less than 5 days would be almost impossible. Omar also stipulated that the law states that "victims" have the right to testify, but there is no legal obligation that they do so. In other words, if they don't show up, the court is under no obligation to compel them to nor make it more convenient for them to. They have the power to order a witness to appear, but they are under no obligation to.

The judges deliberated at the bench for a short period than stated that today's hearing would be adjourned so that they could consider thoroughly the Prosecution's solicitation and they would deliver their decision.

There was one witness for the prosecution today, a medical examiner from the Public Ministry. His testimony consisted of his having examined PW2 and confirming that he had received wounds from a high caliber arm. He had no evidence that connected Chabelo to the incident.

It is clear that Osorto is once again manipulating the court proceedings. There is much speculation as to his true motive beyond his claims of safety. Some speculate that it is a psychological game to keep Chabelo and the Guadalupe Carney community off balance and fearful that this nightmare will never end. Others state that Osorto is buying time to solidify his plan to kidnap and assassinate Chabelo to keep the trial from having the possible outcome of Chabelo's innocence.

Chabelo accompanied by
Greg McCain October 5, 2015

Whatever the true motives, it is clear that Osorto has the power to manipulate the justice system as he has done for the past 7 years with regard to Chabelo's case. Just as Chabelo's incrimination has become a symbol for the criminalization of  campesinos and social movements across Honduras, his court hearings are emblematic of how the justice system works only for those with power. It has only been through the collective power of the national and international human rights communities that Chabelo and his defense team have pushed through the corruption and kept his case alive to fight another day.

Help keep the pressure up. Spread the word through your social networks. Use the hashtags #justiceforchabelo #justiciaparachabelo

Chance for Justice - Support for Chabelo and other News

Below are links to two statements in support of Chabelo Morales, one from La Voz de los de Abajo and one from Alliance for Global Justice, published by Radio Progreso and taped during this accompaniment visit for Chabelo's new trial. The trial is set to reconvene on October 19th. There is much hope for his complete liberty but concerns remain for his security as well as that of his family and community.

Meanwhile Honduras has been rocked today by the news that a member of the powerful Rosenthal family (Yankel Rosenthal) was arrested in Miami for money laundering and that the patriarch of the family media and agricultural empire (Jaime Rosenthal) and politician (Yany Rosenthal) as well as the Rosenthal bank (Banco Continental) are also named for money laundering of dirty (narcotics and organized crime) money. Yankel was a Vice Minister in President Juan Orlando Hernandez's government until recently. More to come on this twist later.

"We can't be indifferent to the defense of our environnment"

Chance for Justice: Trujillo, Colon
October 4, 2015
Environmental Justice in Honduras
V. Cervantes

The retrial of Chabelo Morales Lopez is recessed until October 19th; our group remains accompanying the family in the community of Guadalupe Carney but we decided to make a visit to the small city of Trujillo close to Guadalupe where we arrived in the middle of the "day of the environment" action.

Trujillo is an old Spanish colonial city right on a beautiful bay on the sea. It is a part of the Garifuna coast where the Garifuna people have ancestral rights to the coast under international and national agreements. It is on the edge of of the Aguan Valley's fertile palm growing region, home to thousands of campesinos and their communities as well as to the wealthiest landowners in the country like Miguel Facusse, Reynaldo Canales and Rene Morales: perpetrators of incredible violence against campesino and Garifuna groups in the region.

Another piece of the land conflicts in the region has to do with the struggle to protect the environment and includes the concerns of most of the residents of the area about the destruction caused by mining, tourism and mega-agricultural projects.

The action we saw today was part religious procession, part parade and part protest march with several hundred people carrying placards and banners, children dressed as animals riding on colorfully decorated "floats" created on pick-up trucks. The paticipants were Garifunas, campesinos, school children, nuns, and a variety of Trujillo residents. I spoke with one of the participants who told me the Catholic church in Trujillo was the main organizer of the action with the participation of a lot of different people.  They were chanting slogans such as "no puede ser indiferente--a la defensa del ambiente" (you can't be indifferent to the defense of the environment) and against the new (2013) mining law which granted more concessions to private mining companies. Around 35% of the total country is now concessioned to mining and hydroelectric projects. Communities, especially indigenous and rural communities, all over Honduras are resisting displacement and/or the contamination of their water and soil. In the Trujillo area there are dozens of mining concessions that the people oppose. We talked earlier in the week to one of the long time campesino leaders at Guadalupe Carney who is part of a regional group organizing to resist the mining companies and the Honduran government and keep mining out of the area.

Another big environmental and land tenancy issue is related to the attempts
to develop mega-tourism in the area. Randy Jorgensen (the Canadian porn king millionaire) is one of the highest profile "developers". He is leading an aggressive and threatening push to displace the Garifuna communities in the Trujillo area so that he and his investors can take over the beaches for cruise ship landings and high end large tourist resorts. This kind of development  degrades the fragile environment in the area as well as displacing the indigenous Garifuna from their land and destroying their way of life and stability.  So far the communities have resisted despite threats of violence and it was good to see the different groups whose lives are affected joining together.

The UK based group, Global Witness, issued a report earlier this year that showed that Honduras has had the highest per capita rate of people murdered because of their activities to defend the earth and environment, for each of the past five years, than any other country in the world. In 2014, three quarters of these murders were in Central and South America, including 12 in Honduras. Global Witness reported that world-wide these murders and conflict in general are increasing because of the intensifying competition over land and land use and the fact that the lack of government action to protect people or environment is putting the ordinary residents and their organizations on the front lines of the conflict.

From Honduras: Chance for Justice #2

 Chabelo’s Trial - Day 4
Thursday, October 1, 2015

V. Cervantes

It was already dark Wednesday evening when we got off the bus at the entrance to the community of Guadalupe Carney on the highway to Trujillo. We walked through the community, quiet except for the dogs and roosters announcing our arrival, to the house where we are staying while we accompany Chabelo, his family and community during this trial.

During the bus ride we were listening to Radio Globo’s audio broadcast of a video from a very violent eviction of campesinos in Palomar, near Choluteca, by the National Police in which one campesino was killed and many injured. The audio was chilling with women and children screaming, people yelling and the noise of tear gas and people running. Those sounds were still ringing in my ears as I looked at the community that has been a symbol of success for organized campesino recuperation of lands since its beginnings 15 years ago when 900 families moved on to an abandoned joint US/Honduran military base. Despite evictions, assassinations, and all the problems that affect the poorest campesinos, the community persisted and fought to win titles to most of the land they cultivate; only two landowners continue to dispute the campesinos’ right to the land, the most powerful landowners in Honduras, the Facusse  family, and former military death squad member, now a police commissioner, Henry Osorto.

Today, Thursday, the Morales family and supporters from Guadalupe Carney, the Human Rights Observatory of the Aguan, COPA, Fundacion San Lorenzo and other campesino movements in the Aguan mobilized early to get to the court in Trujillo before 9am. Only a handful of people were allowed into the courtroom to observe, but everyone else continued their accompaniment by hanging up banners and placards in from of the court and maintaining a visible presence, keeping an eye on the 8 or so armed soldiers who were standing watch outside. In the courtroom we watched the panel of judges file into the room and call for the prosecution witnesses. One witness appeared, a doctor who received the body of Carlos Manrique Osorto; the doctor read out loud his original statement which details the injuries but, of course, has no information or evidence relevant to the charges against Chabelo. That testimony lasted about 20 minutes then it was announced that none of the other prosecution witnesses had come to court, including Henry Osorto  and that the trial would reconvene tomorrow morning.



The trial so far, like the previous 2 trials, has seen no concrete evidence presented linking Chabelo to the death of Carlos Manrique Osorto and has been marked by the failure of witnesses called by the prosecution to show up to testify. Henry Osorto himself has missed two scheduled appearances. (See the report from Greg McCain below for Tuesday and Wednesday’s court sessions).

Of course, we can only imagine what would happen if campesino witnesses ignored the summons to court to testify, but it is unlikely they would be allowed to delay a trial the way the prosecution witnesses are doing.

It seems that these delays, that may now stretch out the trial through the end of the month, are part of a strategy to wear out the supporters; reduce the number of international observers and hope that the Honduran media and people lose interest in Chabelo’s chance for justice. This is important also because attempts to intimidate defense witnesses and fear of violence against Chabelo, his family and the community to prevent a verdict in his favor continue.

This afternoon, we gathered with Chabelo and his family members and were watching the news on TV Globo when the video of the eviction in Choluteca was aired. We were frozen with outrage and sadness, watching the police attack the campesino community, mostly women of all ages and a few young men and small children. The women rushed to defend the community members being beaten and one woman passed out with blood seeming to pour out of a head wound. The policeman stood over her and a young man lying on the ground,  with his combat style nightstick still raised. The TV Globo commentator was indignant and cited the statistics that there is enough land for everyone in Honduras to have 20 manzanas (50 acres) of land.  One of Chabelo's brothers turned to me to say, imagine what we could do if everyone had land like they are saying,  but the big landowners and government only want to do that, and he pointed at the violence on the screen.



Link to another broadcast of the Choluteca eviction video

We also got word that today there were multiple protests blocking streets in Tegucigalpa as students, youth and other resistance members continued the protests against Juan Orlando Hernandez. The police violently displaced all the blockades.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Greg McCain
Defensor Internacional de Derechos Humanos Honduras
September 30, 2015
Yesterday, after the lunch time break, the trial resumed with a witness for the prosecution. It was an investigator from the DNIC, his testimony was intende to basically to back up one of the protected witnesses' testimony. Instead he added to the inconsistency of the testimony by stating that the protected witness stated that he could identify with 100% certainty who killed Enrique Osorto, the man Chabelo is accused of killing. The problem being that the protected witness has changed his testimony on several occasions, unable to identify Chabelo until instructed to by investigators.

This was the only testimony given before the hearing ended for the day. The other witnesses for the prosecution didn't show up so the judges adjourned for the day.

Today, the trial started around 9:30am.

Again only one prosecution witness showed up. This was a fireman from Trujillo who got to the scene after the fact. He wanted to read his testimony from a notebook that he brought in, but the judges told him he needed to tell it from his own memory. He basically offered nothing to the prosecutor's case against Chabelo.

The judges wanted to offer suggestions on how to proceed in light of the prosecution witnesses not showing nor being able to state when they will show up. This includes Henry Osorto. The Prosecutor informed the judges that Osorto was upset with being expected to state exactly when he would show up stating, "he is concerned for his saftey and can't give specifics in advance." This from a police officer who has recently been promoted to a police commissioner thus having the entire police force at his disposal.

It was finally decided that the hearings would proceed tomorrow and Friday. If the two protected witnesses didn't show  the prosecution agreed to give up that evidence. The judges then stated that after this Friday the trial would be suspended until Oct 19th so that the Prosecution could have ample time to have their agenda for witnesses in place. Nevermind that they had 2 months since the initial hearing to get their agenda in place, let's see what they accomplish in 19 days.

After the hearing I spoke with one of the international jurists who are here to observe. He stated that it appeared to him that it was obvious manipulation of judicial proceedings on Osorto's part and that the judges had the power to order him to testify on a specific date.

In the meantime, more suspicious men have been seen walking around Guadalupe Carney. Yesterday, two of Chabelo' sisters saw a man enter the yard of Chabelo's mom stood there for awhile than wandered off.

Another chance for Justice - Chabelo Morales

Thirty-two organizations signed a letter of support, demanding freedom for campesino political prisoner, Jose Isabel "Chabelo" Morales Lopez as his third trial on the same charges begins.

 La Voz de los de Abajo will join others in accompanying the trial later this week. On Monday September 28th, organizations from the region including the Jesuit communications organization ERIC-SJ held a press conference with distinguished international jurists who are observing the trial.  Here for Spanish news story
We publish the letter and a report on the first day of the trial from Greg McCain, a human rights observer living in Honduras. 

Chabelo's new trial comes at a time when Honduras continues to reel from the corruption and violence that has increased as the coup governments continue their projects of privatization/impoverishment, militarization and land grabbing. The resistance movement and the newer movement against corruption that is made up of more than one distinct grouping continue to be in the streets in protest. 

La Voz's observer will be in Honduras for two weeks and will be sharing observations and information on this blog.
29 - Sept-2015

 

September 2015

As representatives from the international human rights and solidarity community, we come together to demand justice for José Isabel “Chabelo” Morales during his retrial. In that there are currently over 5000 campesinos with judicial proceedings against them, Chabelo’s case is emblematic of the criminalization of peasant farmers (campesinos) who struggle for access to land.

In light of the persistent violations to human rights in Honduras, we demand:

⦁ That Chabelo’s retrial scheduled for September 28th - October 9th, 2015 be fair and impartial.

Further, we demand unconditional freedom for Chabelo.

⦁ A full investigation into human rights violations and judicial irregularities surrounding all of Chabelo’s judicial hearings.

⦁ A full investigation into the ongoing threats and intimidation against the Morales family and community of Guadalupe Carney.

⦁ A full investigation into the abuse of authority of Colonel Henry Osorto Canales who was recently nominated for advancement from Sub-Commissioner of the National Police to the position of Commissioner.

⦁ A suspension of aid to Honduran police, military and security until the human rights violations perpetrated by these forces ceases; specifically, the continued aid by the United States to the National Police and funding to the Public Prosecutors office (Ministerio Publico) given the ongoing abuses.

José Isabel “Chabelo” Morales López, 39, was in prison for 6 years, 9 months, and 7 days for a crime that he did not commit. He and his family are campesinos in the Aguán Valley in the heart of the African palm-producing region of the northern coast of Honduras. His arrest and imprisonment were aimed at punishing and criminalizing the campesino movement in Honduras as well as being products of the well-documented corruption and impunity that has this country in its grip. Chabelo is recognized as being unjustly imprisoned by numerous human rights and rural advocacy groups including Via Campesina, SOAW, FIAN International, COFADEH and ERIC-SJ.

Chabelo was arrested in October 2008 after heavily armed members of Henry Osorto’s family and private security attacked the campesinos in an attempt to illegally take land that had been legally granted to the campesinos. One campesino was killed by shots from the Osorto house and 11 members of the Osorto group were left dead. In a clear conflict of interest and abuse of authority, Henry Osorto led the investigation which was incomplete, inconsistent, and forensically questionable.

Arrest warrants for 36 residents of Chabelo’s community were issued without evidence that the individuals were involved. Chabelo was one of them, he and one other person were the only ones arrested and charged with 11 counts of murder, arson, and robbery despite there being no concrete evidence of their involvement. At his trial over two years after his detention (a clear violation of the Honduran Penal Code, and notably after the military coup in June 2009) the charges were reduced to one count of homicide. The other person was found not guilty due to contradictions in the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and yet they let these same contradictions stand in the conviction of Chabelo.

The panel of judges found Chabelo guilty despite a lack of evidence and the contradictory stories, but sentencing was delayed for over 2 years. Because of that and many other irregularities, the Honduran Supreme Court annulled his conviction and ordered a new trial which took place in January 2014. The new trial was moved to another department, but was assigned judges from the Aguán, including two who had refused to release Chabelo from prison pending the new trial, a clear violation of the Supreme Court order. The defense asked for the two judges to recuse themselves but lost the decision.

Prosecution witnesses including Henry Osorto perjured themselves once again, radically changing their testimony and contradicting their sworn statements in an attempt to incriminate Chabelo. The judges refused to allow the defense to place those contradictions into the record. The prosecution echoed statements made by Osorto about the small farmers in general being violent terrorists rather than giving evidence as to Chabelo’s involvement. Defense witnesses presented the same testimony as previously, noting that Chabelo was not present at the scene when the confrontation and deaths occurred. The judges found Chabelo guilty and he was sentenced to 17.5 years. Chabelo’s defense lawyers filed an appeal, which was finally reviewed by the Supreme Court. 

The court once again annulled the conviction and sentencing based on procedural inconsistencies on the part of the prosecutor and judges, but once again ordered a retrial. The Defense also solicited the court to free Chabelo pending the retrial based on numerous violations to the penal code. This was the seventh solicitation in five years based on these violations.

The initial hearing of the retrial was held on July 24th, 2015 in La Ceiba. The magistrates quickly ruled in favor of Chabelo’s release based on the violations and scheduled the retrial to be held between September 28th and October 9th in Trujillo.

Based on the clear violations to the human rights of Chabelo Morales, we demand his unconditional freedom. In addition to the demands stated above we further demand protection from retaliation on the part of Colonel Henry Osorto Canales against Chabelo Morales and his family.

Signed,

1) La Voz de los de Abajo, Chicago

2) Alliance for Global Justice

3) Nicaragua Center for Community Action (NICCA), Berkeley, CA

4) International Action Center

5) Michigan Emergency Coalition Against War and Injustice

6) Colectivo Honduras USA Resistencia=libre (D19/New York)

7) Task Force On the Americas

8) San Francisco School of the Americas Watch (SOAWSF)

9) Latin America Solidarity Committee, Milwaukee

10) Bay Area Latin American Solidarity Committee (BALASC)

11) The Cross Border Network, Kansas City, MO

12) Portland Central America Solidarity Committee

13) Hondureños Por La Pachamama

14) Oakland - School of the Americas Watch, USA

15) Hondureños D19 Northern California

16) Radios Populares, Chicago

17) Witness for Peace Southwest

18) Gay Liberation Network, Chicago

19) US El Salvador Sister Cities

20) Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America, St. Louis

21) School of the Americas Watch (SOAW)

22) Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)

23) FIAN Internacional - Sección Honduras

24) Movimiento Ambientalista Santabarbarense (MAS)

25) Foro de Mujeres por la Vida

26) COLLETTIVO ITALIA CENTRO AMERICA, CICA

27) Grassroots International

28) Observatorio Permanente de Derechos Humanos del Aguán

29) Voices for Creative Nonviolence

30) Workers World Party

31) Loretto - Kansas City

32) 8th Day Center for Justice, Chicago

Chabelo with defense team
and supporters 2014

The Trial Begins - September 29, 2015 

Yesterday was the opening session for Chabelo Morales' 2nd retrial. It didn't get started until a little before 2pm. It consisted mostly of the formality of the judges setting the ground rules and listening to opening arguments of each side. The highlight came when the defense team solicited the court to only allow evidence related to the one charge of homicide which Chabelo was convicted of and later anulled and to not put Chabelo in Double (triple?) Jeopardy by having to defend himself against the 13 other charges of which he was found innocent in the previous 2 trials. In a huge victory the judges sided with the defence thus eliminating about 70% of the Prosecutor's evidence. This motion by the judges set this trial in a completely different frame from the previous trial and kinda guaranteed that the trial won't last the entire scheduled 10 days.

On day 2, which began at 9:30 today, and is currently on a lunch break until 2pm, the prosecution witnesses presented their testimonies. Mainly it consisted of them affirming that the signatures on documents from the investigation and a previous trial were theirs and the defence pointing out discrepancies in their testimonies.

The Prosecutor is not the same one from the previous trial and he appears to not be too invested in prosecuting this case. He has not prepared questions for the witnesses and so asks one, maybe two, and when the Defense pressed one of the witnesses regarding his inconsistencies the Prosecutor didn't contest or attempt to counter in any way.

This trial once again, as in the previous trials, underscores the fact that there is no credible case against Chabelo and that these show trials have been a farse since the beginning.

Greg McCain

Justice Denied Once Again for Jose Isabel Morales

Trujillo Court Refuses to Release Jose Isabel Morales Pending His New Trial

6:07pm - January 6, 2014
Radio Progreso has just reported that the court in Trujillo, Colon (Tribunal de Sentencia) has denied liberty to "Chabelo" Morales pending his new trial. The radio station reporter was with Chabelo's distraught family and other members of the region's campesino organizations and social justice movement outside the court where they had been waiting all day for a decision from the court in the face of the Suprement Court ruling that his original trial can't stand and he must be given a new trial. The Supreme Court also ruled that he should be free pending retrial but the power to make that decision was then given back to the regional court where the most powerful landowners in Honduras have declared war on the campesinos. Radio Progreso reported that Chabelo was being transported to La Ceiba to await his new trial in the prison there.

Chabelo is a member of the Campesino Movement of Aguan (MCA) and of the Central Nacional de los Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC). The CNTC currently has more than 3000 members who are either charged, detained or imprisoned on charges related to the agrarian conflict in a country in which most of the population is rural, living in extreme poverty, and without the land or resources to survive while a handful of the biggest landowners and agribusiness companies control most of the land, the courts, and the power.
For more information see the blog entries below.

Update: The Case of Jose Isabel Morales and Injustice in Honduras

There has been increasing attention to the case of campesino activist, Jose Isabel "Chabelo" Morales from international and Honduran human rights and social justice organizations. This has led to a review of his case by the Honduran Supreme Court and an order for a new trial and his release pending that trial. However the court authorities in Northern Honduras in concert with the powerful land owners in the Aguan region have delayed his release so that at this time it looks as if he will remain unjustly imprisoned. Below is a statement from the Permanent Observatory for Human Rights of the Aguan.

For more information and actions for Chabelo go to these sites maintained by Greg Mccain in Honduras. 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/341/189/267/freedom-for-chavelo-now-libertad-para-chavelo-ahora/

http://freechavelo.wordpress.com/

Declaración Original en Español

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The Permanent Observatory for Human Rights of the Aguán informs the organizations of the Social and Popular Movement, National and International Human Rights Organizations and the Honduran people:

Since the beginning of our focus on the human rights violations in the agrarian crisis in the Aguán, we have accompanied the process of arrest and wrongful imprisonment of compañero José Isabel Morales, better known as "Chabelo," member of the Guadalupe Carney community who has been held for more than five years in the El Porvenir prison farm in the department of Atlantida, fighting for his freedom at a disadvantage against a justice system that continues to serve the interests of the regional economic power (Colon) and whose acts we denounce in the following:

1. After the defense filed an appeal before the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, this judicial body ruled in favor of that appeal, annulling the sentence condemning Chabelo and ordered a new trial during which, campañero Chabelo must regain his freedom because there is no judgment against him. What happened was that when returning the case to the trial court of Trujillo, the defense presented the request based on the law for a hearing to change the preventative detention that Chabelo is currently burdened with. Such a hearing, according to the law, should have been performed forty-eight hours after the request. However, the Court evidently threw out the request and instead set a date for trial while keeping Chabelo a prisoner.

2. Because of this, the defense proceeded on Tuesday the Seventeenth of this month, to bring a writ of Habeas Corpus before the Second Court of Appeals based in La Ceiba, to which, in support of the action, they appointed as Executive Judge the Coordinator of Prosecutors in Trujillo, José Antonio Maradiaga who has deliberately delayed the resolution of the appeal and refuses to provide information to the Defense Lawyer and to Human Rights organizations, arguing that the case is in under secrecy and that he may not resolve it until he sends the report to the court in La Ceiba. We also denounce his willful, intransigent and disrespectful attitude of the law. As a law officer, he is a public servant and should give information when it is requested especially to family members and to the legal defense as well as to local, national, and international human rights organizations.

Therefore, we want it noted that we know that the intent is for campañero Chabelo to remain illegally detained since the law states that pretrial detention should not exceed two years and the compañero has served five years and two months.

We call upon the organizations of the social and popular movement, peasant organizations of the Aguan and of the country, and national and international human rights organizations to be more aggressive in our call for justice for our friend Isabel Morales.

Immediate Freedom for Chabelo!

Dignity and Justice for the Campesino Movement of Honduras!!

The Permanent Observatory of Human Rights of the Aguán

Free Chavelo - New Video -

José Isabel Morales "Chavelo" is a Political Prisoner from Honduras he is a peasant activist from the Peasant Movement of Aguan (MCA) in the Aguán Valley
Free Chavelo from Alexy Lanza on Vimeo.

Chavelo belongs to the community of Guadalpe Carney in the province of Colon, Honduras.
He is in prison for his involvement in the agrarian struggle in defense of the land. He is a member of a peasant cooperative in the Aguan.  The name of the cooperative is Saint Mary of the Angels. Chavelo has been in prison since October 17, 2008 without any evidence of committing a crime. he was captured without having any evidence. On June 25, 2010 Chavelo was declared guilty of murder. On July 24, 2012 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Visite una nueva pagina para Chavelo - Visit the new website for Chavelo
http://freechavelo.wordpress.com

URGENT ACTION for Chavelo: Sign the Petition  ACCION URGENTE: Peticion
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/We_Demand_a_Retrial_and_Freedom_for_Honduran_Political_Prisoner_Chavelo_Morales/?cpeXOab

Honduran Grassroots Groups Call for Liberty for Campesino Prisoner

Jose Isabel "Chavelo" Morales Lopez

SIGN THE PETITION BELOW! 

el texto en español sigue el ingles

 We Demand Freedom for our Compañero José Isabel Morales! The grassroots organizations, in defense of our territories and natural resources of the regions of Aguán, Atlantida, and Valle de Sula, in the Central, South and West of the country, have gathered in national assembly to denounce and repudiate the rigged and illegal process that led to the capture, detention and sentencing of our compañero Jose Isabel Morales who is imprisoned unjustly in the El Porvenir prison in La Ceiba, Atlantida.

 Compañero José Isabel Morales is in prison for his involvement in the agrarian struggle in defense of the land. The Honduran State is directly responsible for the conflict in that area because it became an accomplice to rich landlords who illegally appropriated land where the CREM (Regional Center for Military Training) operated. This land had been legally allotted to campesino groups. The State is not the only party responsible for the agrarian conflict, but it deliberately protected the rich landlords and has manipulated the justice system by showing no mercy for the campesinos, and by turning the victims, such as is the case of Jose Isabel Morales, into executioners and criminals, and presenting the perpetrators, invaders and murderers of the campesinos as honorable people and as the victims.

 We demand that the Supreme Court proceed immediately to annul the sentence imposed on our colleague due to it being unjust, unconstitutional and motivated strictly by the political interests of revenge seeking landlords who act as if it the Aguán were there own personal property. We demand from the Supreme Court a decision declaring the immediate release of our colleague José Isabel Morales, while at the same time declaring void the arrest warrants against all the campañeros and campañeras of the Campesino Movement of the Aguán. You cannot condemn people for raising there voices and for fighting to defend land that legitimately belongs to them.

 We invite all fraternal grassroots organizations to make common cause in this fight for the campesinos of the Aguán, and particularly to be in solidarity with our unjustly imprisoned compañero. Below is the link to the Petition to the Supreme Court of Justice of Honduras asking for a retrial/freedom for Chavelo Morales.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/ petition/We_Demand_a_Retrial_ and_Freedom_for_Honduran_ Political_Prisoner_Chavelo_ Morales/?cpeXOab

Immediate freedom for our compañero Jose Isabel Morales!
 Siguatepeque, 6 de octubre de 2012
Comité Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH), Organización Fraternal Negra de Honduras (OFRANEH), Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y la Justicia (MADJ), Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares del Aguán (COPA), Asociación Intermunicipal de Vigilancia Social de Honduras (AIDEVISH), Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (ERIC), Partido Socialismo o Barbarie (SoB), Coordinadora de Organizaciones Lajeñas, de Las Lajas, Comayagua Consejo Parroquial de parroquia de Goascorán, departamento de Valle Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC) Red de Mujeres de El Progreso (REMUPRO)
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Declaración por 10 Organizaciones Populares de Honduras por la Libertad de Chavelo

 Exigimos libertad para nuestro compañero José Isabel Morales Las organizaciones populares en defensa de nuestros territorios y los bienes naturales de las regiones del Aguán, Atlántida, Valle de Sula, centro, sur y occidente del país, reunidas en asamblea nacional, denunciamos y repudiamos el proceso amañado e ilegal que llevó a la captura, encarcelamiento y sentencia de nuestro compañero JOSÉ ISABEL MORALES quien guarda prisión injusta en el centro penal de El Porvenir, en La Ceiba, Atlántida.

 El compañero José Isabel Morales está preso por su compromiso en la lucha agraria en defensa de la tierra. El Estado hondureño es responsable directo del conflicto en dicha zona porque se convirtió en cómplice para que los terratenientes se apropiaran ilegalmente de las tierras en donde funcionó el CREM y que ya estaban adjudicadas a los grupos campesinos. El Estado hondureño no solo es el principal responsable de dicho conflicto agrario, sino que deliberadamente ha protegido a los terratenientes y ha manipulado el sistema de justicia para ensañarse en contra de los campesinos, convirtiendo a las víctimas, como es el caso de José Isabel Morales, en verdugos y delincuentes, y presentando a los victimarios, invasores y asesinos de campesinos como honorables y víctimas. 

Exigimos que la Corte Suprema de Justicia proceda de inmediato a anular la sentencia impuesta a nuestro compañero por injusta, inconstitucional y por esta motivada por estrictos intereses políticos de revancha de parte de los terratenientes y de quienes se afanan en seguir actuando como si el Aguán fuese su propia hacienda. Exigimos a la Corte Suprema de Justicia una sentencia que declare la inmediata libertad de nuestro compañero José Isabel Morales, al tiempo que declare nulas las órdenes de captura en contra de todos los compañeros del Movimiento Campesino del Aguán porque no se puede condenar a las personas por elevar su voz y su lucha en defensa de la tierra que legítimamente les pertenece.

 Invitamos a todas las organizaciones populares y fraternas a hacer causa común en esta lucha a favor de los campesinos del Aguán, y particularmente en solidaridad con nuestro compañero injustamente preso.

Por debajo está el enlace de la petición a la Corte Suprema de Justicia de Honduras solicitando un nuevo juicio / libertad para Chavelo Morales.

http://www.avaaz.org/es/ petition/Exigimos_un_nuevo_ juicio_y_libertad_para_el_ preso_politico_hondureno_ Chavelo_Morales/?cpeXOab

¡Libertad inmediata para nuestro compañero José Isabel Morales!

 Siguatepeque, 6 de octubre de 2012 

Comité Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH), Organización Fraternal Negra de Honduras (OFRANEH), Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y la Justicia (MADJ), Coordinadora de Organizaciones Populares del Aguán (COPA), Asociación Intermunicipal de Vigilancia Social de Honduras (AIDEVISH), Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación (ERIC), Partido Socialismo o Barbarie (SoB), Coordinadora de Organizaciones Lajeñas, de Las Lajas, Comayagua Consejo Parroquial de parroquia de Goascorán, departamento de Valle Central Nacional de Trabajadores del Campo (CNTC) Red de Mujeres de El Progreso (REMUPRO)

José Isabel "Chavelo" Morales Sentenced to Twenty Years

Chavelo Morales, political prisoner and campesino activist, member of the Guadalupe Carney community in the Aguan Valley was sentenced to 20 years in prison on July 24 without he or his lawyers being notified that the sentencing was scheduled. Chavelo has been in  prison since 2008, he was convicted despite a lack of any evidence against him, of homicide related to a confrontation that occurred after private armed guards attacked the Guadalupe Carney community in August, 2008. He was held for nearly 3 years without sentencing which also kept him in legal limbo since no appeal of the conviction could be filed until sentencing. More than 30 campesinos from the community have open arrest warrants related to the 2008 events based on no evidence other than their residence in the community. One of the campesinos, Genaro Reyes, was arrested last month by police in Tocoa and is awaiting court procedures under house arrest. The harshness of Chavelo's sentence and the continued pressure on community members reflects the fact that Chavelo and the community of Guadalupe Carney are   symbols of the organized campesinos in Aguan. The big landowners and agro-oligarchs have used all their influence to keep Chavelo imprisoned to limit his access to legal remedies and to intimidate community members.