copinh-12102016-eng

#WHRDAlert / COPINH members at risk after new attempts on lives of General Coordinator and community leader

Organization
Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH)

Activity
Territorial defense

Attacks faced
Attempted murder, harassment, intimidation, smear campaign

On October 9. Tomás Gómez Membreño, Coordinator General of COPINH, and Alexander García Sorto, a community leader in Llano Grande, Colomoncagua, were targets of attempts on their lives.

These attacks took place shortly after the robbery of the case file on the murder of Berta Cáceres and the effort of the FMO to discredit the struggle of COPINH in a partial report aimed at legitimizing the imposition of the Agua-Zarca Project.

These acts, together with ongoing impunity in the murder of Berta Cáceres, especially in light of the refusal of the government of Honduras to create an independent commission of experts supervised by the IACHR to investigate the murder, poses a high risk for all rights defenders belonging to COPINH.

We, of IM-Defensoras:

  • Demand that the government of Honduras guarantee the security of all COPINH members and that it create an independent commission of experts supervised by the IACHR to investigate the murder of territorial defender Berta Cáceres.
  • Demand that the DESA Company and its financal backers stop the smear campaign against COPINH.
  • Urge the international community to stay on the alert for future developments in the situation.

More alerts:

México [WHRD ALERT] MEXICO / Killing of Triqui Indigenous women defenders Adriana and Virginia Ortiz García in Oaxaca
El Salvador [WHRD ALERT] EL SALVADOR / Wave of dismissals and reprisals against teachers and healthcare workers after the “White March” in defense of their labor rights.
Alerts [WHRD Alert] HONDURAS / National Police of Honduras arbitrarily detained Melissa Martínez, garifuna human rights defender and member of the Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH).arbitrarily detained at the Satuyé police post in La Ceiba.