Afro-Descendant & Indigenous: News & Updates

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) submitted an application to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the case of Leonela Zelaya, a transgender woman from Honduras who faced extensive gender-based violence and discrimination. Zelaya, a sex worker, was brutally attacked by police in 2004 and later found dead under suspicious circumstances, with evidence suggesting she was a victim of transfemicide. The Honduran state failed to adequately investigate the crime or prevent violence against LGBTI individuals, violating multiple human rights treaties.

The IACHR found Honduras responsible for violating Zelaya's rights to life, personal integrity, dignity, and non-discrimination, among others. They recommended comprehensive reparations for these violations, including financial compensation, healthcare for affected parties, and improvements in law enforcement training and public awareness campaigns to prevent future violence. The case underscores broader issues of systemic discrimination and impunity faced by LGBTI individuals in Honduras, highlighting the ongoing struggle for justice and equality in the region.

The UN Human Rights Committee reiterated its concern about the large scale of intimidation and violence and the high rates of killings of human rights defenders committed by both State agents and private individuals or groups. The Committee was also disturbed by the difficulties faced by victims in accessing justice, the lack of effective investigations, and the delays in judicial proceedings. It called on Honduras to adopt effective measures to protect human rights defenders, particularly environmental and land rights defenders, journalists, trade unionists, agrarian and peasant activists, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and LGBTI people. The State party should also promptly and thoroughly investigate these human rights violations, bring those responsible to justice, and provide full reparations to victims. 

Garifuna Afro-Indigenous peoples on Honduras' northern Caribbean coast are facing severe threats and violence from private developers, drug traffickers, and state forces as they seek to reclaim their ancestral lands. Despite a 2015 ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ordering the Honduran government to return these lands, the state has not complied, and the situation has worsened. Since the early 17th century, the Garifuna have lived on this land, relying on subsistence agriculture and fishing. However, the expansion of palm oil plantations, tourism developments, and drug trafficking has threatened their way of life.

Human rights activist Rony Leonidas Castillo Güity recalls seeing changes in his community with the construction of a highway in the early '90s, leading to the influx of outsiders. Now, luxury developments, like the Indura Beach & Golf Resort, have been built on Garifuna land without their consent. Activist Miriam Miranda notes that these territories have been overtaken by African palm oil cultivation, contributing to the displacement of traditional farming and the loss of livelihoods.

The Garifuna communities continue to face criminalization, threats, and violence. More than 150 Garifuna people have been killed, and several leaders have been disappeared or murdered. The Honduran government and military have been accused of acting in favor of private interests, including protecting developers involved in questionable land transactions. Despite international rulings and protests, the Garifuna's struggle for their rights and lands persists, with activists like Miranda emphasizing their desire for peace and a future for their youth.

The United States has long been a destination of migrants from around the world seeking safety and new opportunities. The image of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty welcoming “the poor huddled masses” is ingrained in our collective memory and culture.

Yes, there are many coming to our southern border seeking safety. Many of those come from countries whose people have been negatively impacted by US economic and military policies. They come here because we went there.

While the US was the world’s largest recipient of new asylum applications in 2023 (1.2 million), it is desperately trying to deter migrants from seeking refuge here. On June 4, the Biden-Harris Administration announced new plans to “secure our border.” It bars migrants from even asking for asylum. The unwelcoming attitude that the US presents toward migrants is illustrated not only by Biden’s recent asylum ban and the monthly increase in US migrant detention, now standing at 38,525.

In IRTF’s July 2024 Migrant Justice newsletter, please read about (1)   Asylum Processing at the US-Mexico Border, (2) ICE Air: Update on Removal Flight Trends, (3)  Migrants in Colombia: Between Government Absence and Criminal Control, (4) At the Border: Recent Incidents at and around the US-Mexico Border, (5) Honduras plans to build a 20,000-capacity ‘megaprison’ for gang members as part of a crackdown, (6) Thousands of displaced residents in southern Mexico fear returning to their homes after violence, (7) Danger in the Darién Gap: Human Rights Abuses and the Need for Humane Pathways to Safety, (8) America Turned Against Migrant Detention Before. We Can Do It Again, (9)  Asylum claims are down over 40% in Mexico, and (10) UN Refugee Agency Global Trends Report 2023.

Then take a few minutes to read what you can do to take action this week in solidarity with migrants and their families. (See details at the bottom of this newsletter.)

A) Act Now for welcoming, dignified and just immigration policies

B) Root Causes: Stop Deportation Flights to Haiti

C) Root Causes: Restore Asylum for LGBTQ+ Refugees in Danger

D) Think Globally. Act Locally: Help Migrants and Refugees in Cleveland

Read the full newsletter at https://www.irtfcleveland.org/blog/migrant-justice-newsletter-jul-2024

It is impossible to discuss justice and democracy in Guatemala without considering the outsized role of the Guatemalan army in every sphere of Guatemalan politics. To analyze the role and rise to power of the army, we must go back to the year 1954, when what has been called the October Revolution (1944 to 1954) was interrupted. Guatemalan playwright and author Manuel Galich refers to those ten years as “the revolutionary decade” in his article "Ten Years of Spring in the Country of Eternal Tyranny."

IRTF is among the 50 faith-based organizations representing many faith traditions calling
on the Biden Administration to immediately rescind harmful and sweeping asylum bans – including
the “Securing the Border” Proclamation and its implementing Interim Final Rule (or the ‘Rule’) first
announced on June 4. We, the signatories on this letter to President Biden, insist that the US support asylum and border policies that live up to our values
and affirm the value and dignity of all