* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Honduras, considered to be one of the world's most dangerous countries, is plagued by assassinations of journalists, lawyers and activists, very few of which are ever prosecuted. Since the coup d’état in June 2009, there has been an on-going and worsening situation in Honduras of systemic violence and assassinations of human rights defenders.
This is particularly serious for Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs), whose risks are aggravated by the increase in femicides and violence against women in Honduras since the coup. The State of Honduras is demonstrating a systematic policy of silencing the legitimate claims of those who struggle for democracy, freedom of expression, land and natural resources. Sadly, albeit typically, the interests of private enterprise and multinational corporations are prioritized over the rights of the local population. ‘Megaprojects’ such as the expansion of mining and other extractive industries, and the conversion of peasant and natural lands to monoculture plantations - among other large-scale ‘development’ projects - and the recently rejected ‘model cities’ projects are at the centre of state priorities. Peasant and indigenous communities who oppose megaprojects and model cities have been confronted daily with the arbitrary use of State security forces in evictions, threats, defamation and assassinations. These types of projects however, violate their right to consultation, threaten the cultural identity of their peoples and result in forced evictions and multiple forms of violence against its inhabitants.
Violence against women and WHRDs in particular has increased. Numerous cases of sexual violence have been documented during forced evictions, which are rarely reported for fear of retaliation and because of the rampant impunity in situations of violence against women throughout the country. The violence is more serious against WHRDs who also face public accusations that they are going against the traditional role assigned to women. WHRDs are threatened with death and sexual violence and are criminalized. Just last week on Tuesday October 23, Karla Zelaya, a journalist of the Unified Campesino Movement of the Aguán (MUCA), was kidnapped for some three hours by three men. She was terrorized, threatened, interrogated and even tortured by these unknown men who told her that they knew all her movements and could kill her at any time.
A case study by AWID about post-coup Honduras, part of a publication from the International Coalition of WHRDs , revealed how repression and denial of rights are not isolated cases, but demonstrate rather a general policy of terror and abuse enacted with impunity – particularly towards women. Since the current President took office, authorities have increased the persecution and threats against feminist and women’s organizations.
Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchú Tum organized a delegation to Honduras in January this year which confirmed reports coming from WHRDs and their organizations. In their report: "From Survivors to Defenders: Women confronting violence in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala" the delegation found that violence against women is reaching crisis dimensions and in the last decade, femicides have risen by alarming rates – as much as 257% in Honduras. The report concurred that indigenous women and women human rights defenders are particularly vulnerable to attacks, which include rape, torture, murder, and forced disappearances. Alarmingly, more than 95% of crimes go without punishment. Most are never even investigated by authorities.
Martha Velazquez, member of the Movimiento de Mujeres in Honduras is quoted in the report as saying “Since the [2009 government] coup we’ve gone back some 40 years in the rights women had gained”.
In light of this alarming situation, and to stop the repression and violence that has been systematically directed against WHRDs and communities fighting for their rights, the Meso-American Initiative of WHRDs (convened by Just Associates (JASS), Consorcio Oaxaca (Mexico), UDEFEGUA (Guatemala), Colectiva Feminista (El Salvador), Central American Women’s Fund (FCAM), and AWID) and allied organizations organized the 11 October Day in Solidarity with Honduras.
121 human rights defenders, networks and international organizations, as well as activists from 10 countries demanded an end to repression and violence in Honduras. At the Honduran embassies in the United Kingdom, Colombia, Mexico, United States, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama, for example, letters were delivered and protest actions occurred. In further acts of defiance, more than 100 people of at least 10 organizations in Honduras held demonstrations in front of the Dinant Corporation - owned by Miguel Facusse, one of Honduras' richest men - as a sign of resistance to landowners. Facusse is linked to the murder last month of a prominent Honduran human rights lawyer Antonio Trejo Cabrera, who had complained about death threats, including in documents filed last year seeking protection from the billionaire landowner. Trejo was a lawyer for three peasant cooperatives in the Bajo Aguan, a farming area plagued by violent conflicts between agrarian organizations and land owners.
The recent acts of repression against the peasant farmers of Aguán are yet another demonstration of the Honduran State’s policy against community protest. This has been denounced by well-known human rights organizations like Committee of Families of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), the National Network of WHRDs, and the Women’s Movement for “Visitación Padilla”.
Women Human Rights Defenders from around the world, joined by human rights and women’s rights organizations stand in solidarity with Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras for the 11 October Day of Action and onwards.
We demand an end to the violence against women and Women Human Rights Defenders.
To see the official statement endorsed by organisations and individuals, click here.
