Sr.Juan Orlando Hernández
President of Honduras
Sr. Oscar Chinchilla Banegas
Attorney General of Honduras
Dear Sirs:
We are extremely concerned about the latest assassination attempt on Jlo Cordoba, human rights defender and LGBTI advocate. On October 27 while in proximity to the office of the Rainbow Association(“Asociación Arcoiris”) in Comayagüela, an attacker attempted to shoot her point blank. The gun jammed, allowing her time to escape. The attacker repeatedly fired in her direction. Witnesses to the attempted murder reported that when the police arrived to the scene, officers picked up the bullet shells and left, without approaching or assisting Jlo Córdoba’s colleagues who were still at the scene.
On March 29 an unidentified man shot Jlo Cordoba twice causing injuries for which she had to be hospitalized (cf our letter of April 23). She has also been subjected to harassment, intimidation and threats.
We are deeply concerned by the worsening climate of repression and violence against human rights defenders in Honduras, including the assassination of several leaders of civil society in 2016, such as Berta Cáceres, (cf our letter of March 7), José Ángel Flores (cf our letter of October 25) and René Martínez (cf our letter of April 23). On August 19, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights jointly condemned the killing of human rights defenders and proclaimed thatHonduras is "one of the most dangerous countries for human rights defenders.”
In light of the violence against Jlo Cordoba and the government’s failure to protect her and other Honduran human rights defenders, we strongly urge that you
- carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the assassination attempts against Jlo Córdoba, publish the results, and bring those responsible to justice;
- take all measures deemed appropriate by those threatened to guarantee their safety;
- ensure that the human rights work of Jlo Córdoba is considered as a line of inquiry in the investigation into the attacks against her;
- guarantee, in all circumstances, that human rights defenders are free to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Stefan Szittai and Christine Stonebraker-Martínez
Co-Coordinators
