Sr. Presidente
Juan Orlando Hernández
President of Honduras
Sr. Fiscal
Oscar Chinchilla Banegas
Attorney General of Honduras
Dear Sirs:
We are outraged at the ongoing violence inflicted upon members of the Tolupán indigenous community in Yoro Department who are defending their land, natural resources and way of life. Five members of the Tolupán community of San Francisco Locomapa were killed on February 21.
For many years, Tolupán communities have been organizing to defend their ancestral lands from the economic interests of outsiders: large private landholders, hydroelectric dam companies, mining companies, and the timber industry. Many are members of the Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ). Several Tolupán residents have been killed because of their peaceful resistance to these outside forces. We have written to officials in Honduras to demand investigations into some of these killings (cf our letters ofSep 1 2013 and July 3, 2014).
Because of the danger to Tolupán residents, especially those active in environmental defense,in December 2013 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures for the protection of 18 MADJ members and their families, mostly Tolupanes. Although the precautionary measures are in force, violence against Tolupanes continues. In April 2015, Luis de Reyes Marcia, husband of Vilma Consuelo Soto (a beneficiary of the precautionary measures), was stabbed to death. In May 2015, Vilma Consuelo Soto was the victim of an attempt on her life by gunfire. In June 2015, Erasio Vieda Ponce was assassinated.
In light of the ongoing danger to the Tolupán people in Yoro, we strongly urge that you:
- carry out an immediate, thorough, and impartial investigation into the killing of the five Locomapa Tolupán residents, publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice;
- immediately take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological wellbeing of Tolupán residents, especially those who are beneficiaries of the IAHCR precautionary measures;
- guarantee that all human rights defenders in Honduras are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all undue and unlawful restrictions.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai and Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
copies:
Jorge Alberto Milla Reyes, Honduran Amabassador to the US
James Nealon, US Ambassador to Honduras
Olivia Franken, Honduras Desk, US State Dept
Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Rapporteur for Honduras and for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
US Senators Brown & Portman and US Representatives Fudge, Gibbs, Johnson, Jordan, Joyce, Kaptur, Latta, Renacci, Ryan
