Consuelo Soto is an indigenous Tolupán land rights defender from the San Francisco de Locomapa tribe in the municipality of Yoro and a member of the Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y Justicia, MADJ (Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice).

Consuelo Soto was granted precautionary measures by the IACHR after receiving death threats. The imposition of mining projects has aggressively taken collective resources from indigenous communities. The result is an unsafe climate including social unrest in the area.

Dilma Consuelo’s apartment was gunned-down with her inside on May 22nd by suspected assassins from the area, who are also suspects in the August 2013 murder of 3 Tolupán activists from the San Francisco de Locomapa tribe.

Consuelo’s husband and fellow activist, Luis de los Reyes Marcia, was killed 47 days earlier by stab wounds to the chest and neck, another crime that like the 3 other cases, has gone unpunished.

Dilma Consuelo Soto and her family returned to their territory on February 22nd 2014, after having left for 6 months following death threats for having opposed forest clearing and the imposition of mining projects.

The woman human rights defender recently took part in a number of demonstrations outside of Yoro’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, demanding justice for the murders of her husband and comrades and denouncing those attempting to strip them of their ancestral territories.

We call upon the authorities to fulfill their duty of guaranteeing Consuela Soto’s safety and to adequately investigate the murders of her husband and the 3 other Tolupán activists to ensure that those responsible do not go unpunished.