IRTF News

Men, women and children have been rounded up across the Central American country since the government declared a state of emergency on 27 March, suspending constitutional rights including the presumption of innocence. President Nayib Bukele has said that the detainees are all gang members and that they will not be released. While the police claim to have captured the MS-13 leaders who ordered the killings, there is mounting evidence that ordinary people who live or work in gang-dominated neighbourhoods have been arrested arbitrarily.

Last week, the aforementioned body approved a decision to set up a group of three experts to investigate possible human rights violations in the Central American country since April 2018. The Professor of Law at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN-Managua) emphasized that the aforementioned council has little legitimacy when dealing with the human rights agenda. Gonzalez described this agenda as colonial, adding that it was a strategy to discredit left-wing governments in the region.

Fifty social leaders were assassinated in Colombia from January this year onwards, the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz) confirmed. According to an early warning issued by the Ombudsman’s Office in 2018 for the municipalities of Mapiripan and Puerto Concordia, the presidents of Community Action Boards and governors of indigenous reservations are populations at risk.

This Monday, Honduras ratified its request to join the United Nations group for the protection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) people. "Honduras as a nation reiterates its strong interest in joining the United Nations Group for the Protection of the Rights of Persons belonging to the LGBTI community," the statement said. The Honduran government recalled that although the UN has called for the decriminalization of homosexuality, same-sex relationships between consenting adults are still classified as crimes in 70 countries, the statement said. See the full report here.

According to the INDEPAZ human rights organisation, the first three months of 2022 saw a rise in killings of social activists and massacres. From 1 January to 31 March, there were 48 murders of social activists and 27 massacres, compared with 42 and 23 respectively in 2021. There was a slight decline in the number of former FARC combatants murdered, from 14 in January-March 2021 to 11 this year. The scale of violence reflects the lack of a non-military state presence in many parts of the country and the expansion of paramilitaries and other armed groups. The government of Iván Duque still has not properly implemented security mechanisms contained in the 2016 peace agreement even though the United Nations has repeatedly said these are urgently required to address the violence. Here is JFC’s monthly summary of human rights violations in Colombia.

At the end of March, JOH had run out of almost all legal options and his extradition to the US seems imminent. The MP even requested the seizure of his properties. In a re-trial, the former first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla de Lobo was found guilty, again. And more corrupt actions will likely come to light thanks to the repeal of the JOH-era Secrecy Law. In February we celebrated the freedom of the Guapinol defenders, but one month later, while in freedom, the judges still deny to drop the charges against them. On a more positive note, several political prisoners had the charges dropped against them - among them a student leader who was able to return to Honduras after four years of exile. The situation in Azacualpa remained tense throughout the month as the mining company MINOSA continued to ignore court rulings to stop their operations. The US was very present again in March. The US Senate confirmed Laura Farnsworrth Dogu as the new ambassador to Honduras and three members of Congress visited the country and met with President Xiomara Castro. Welcome to another month in Honduras.

Witness for Peace and other organizations were honored to lead a Congressional delegation that included Representatives Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Cori Bush (MO-01), Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (IL-04), and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16) – as well as representation from the office of Jan Schakowsky (IL-09). The delegation was coordinated alongside other U.S.-based solidarity organizations, including SOA Watch, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, and the Institute for Policy Studies - Global Economy Program.

With April Fools on our doorstep, it's time we said goodbye to Banana Month. Thanks so much to everyone who came to our webinars, engaged with our traveling team, read our musings, and used our new POS in their stores!