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Honduras: News & Updates
Honduras did not experience civil war in the 1980s, but its geography (bordering El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua) made it a key location for US military operations: training Salvadoran soldiers, a base for Nicaraguan contras, military exercises for US troops. The notorious Honduran death squad Battalion 316 was created, funded and trained by the US. The state-sponsored terror resulted in the forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of approximately 200 people during the 1980s. Many more were abducted and tortured. The 2009 military coup d’etat spawned a resurgence of state repression against the civilian population that continues today.
Learn more here:
RRN Letter
July 16, 2019
destruction of crops that occurred on July 15 at the sites of La Vege del Culatón and El Achotal in the Río Blanco community in Intibucá Department. The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) announced that during the night members of the Madrid family, associates of the Atala Zablah family, destroyed with machetes more than 15 manzanas of the Lenca indigenous community's corn harvest. At least 25 families have lost their principal food and main livelihood.
News Article
July 16, 2019
RRN Letter
July 14, 2019
death threats directed at Edwin Espinal, Raul Alvarez, and Romel Portillo, human rights defenders imprisoned in the maximum security, military run “La Tolva” military prison, where they and other political prisoners have been detained since 2018 (cf our letters of February 11 and March 21, 2018).
News Article
July 12, 2019
Through hotlines and clinics, activists and health experts are trying to change the stigma associated with abortion. Honduras is one of six countries in Latin America with a total abortion ban. But reproductive rights advocates say the bans do little to stop women like Padilla from having an abortion, and instead push more to do so through drastic, life-threatening means.
News Article
June 24, 2019
A 14-year old told us she was taking care of a 4-year old who had been placed in her cell with no relatives. "I take her to the bathroom, give her my extra food if she is hungry, and tell people to leave her alone if they are bothering her," she said.
News Article
May 29, 2019
As people from Guatemala and Honduras continue to seek sanctuary in the US for a variety of reasons, including violence and poverty, another factor driving their migration has gotten much less attention: climate disruption.
Many members of the migrant "caravans" that made headlines during the 2018 US midterm elections are fleeing a massive drought that has lasted for five years.
News Article
May 26, 2019
Campaigners say Honduras suffers from one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the hemisphere, and that half of sexually active young women face obstacles to obtaining modern contraceptives.
“We should unmask the myths and unite so that the ministry of health...guarantees the reproductive rights of all women in Honduras and protects them from preventable traumas as victims of a rape.”
RRN Letter
May 22, 2019
constant threats and attacks against Rosalina Domínguez, Finance Coordinator for the Indigenous Council of Río Blanco in Intibucá Department, her four sons (ages 16 to 30), and two other members of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH).
News Article
April 19, 2019
Nicole García Aguilar was granted asylum in October but was held another seven months while ICE appealed
RRN Letter
April 12, 2019
Recent attack on human rights workers and their families in Honduras. This case is especially shameless as a 90-year-old woman was one of the victims. Injured in the attack by police was the mother of Hedme Castro, director of Asociación para una Ciudadanía Participativa (ACI PARTICIPA) in Choluteca, where residents have been protesting government policies that open up land to extractive activities, such as mining.