AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

continued harassment, threats and attacks
by state and non-state actors before
her death.
On 18 October, José Ángel Flores and
Silmer Dionisio George of the Unified
Campesino Movement of the Aguán were
murdered. Both human rights defenders
were shot dead after attending a meeting with
several campesino (peasant farmer) people
in the Bajo Aguán region, northeastern
Honduras. In November, Bertha Oliva, coordinator
of the Committee of Relatives of the
Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) was
subjected to a smear campaign, aimed at
linking her with drug cartels and discrediting
her human rights work. COFADEH has a long
history of promoting human rights of
campesino people in the Bajo Aguan region.
According to the NGO ACI-PARTICIPA,
more than 90% of all killings and abuses
against human rights defenders remained
unpunished.
LGBTI human rights defenders were also
particularly targeted with threats and attacks.
René Martínez, president of the Sampedrana
Gay Community in the city of San Pedro Sula,
was found dead on 3 June with his body
bearing signs of torture. The Worldwide
Movement for Human Rights reported that
members of the LGBTI rights group
Asociación Arcoiris were victims of 36
security incidents between July 2015 and
January 2016, including killings, threats,
surveillance and harassment. The military
was accused of infiltrating social movements
and attacking human rights defenders.
The Law to Protect Human Rights
Defenders, Journalists, Social Commentators
and Justice Officials had yet to be properly
implemented.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS
A lack of resources for institutions
responsible for supporting Indigenous
Peoples continued to be a concern. Several
Indigenous Peoples claimed their rights to
consultation and to free, prior and informed
consent had been violated in the context of
projects to explore and exploit natural
resources in their territories. A lack of access
to justice for Indigenous Peoples in cases of
aggression, including killings, remained a
challenge. In addition to Berta Cáceres, one
Tolupán Indigenous leader was killed on 21
February; he had been granted precautionary
measures by the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights in December 2015. The
perpetrators had yet to be brought to justice.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Women were routinely subjected to violence.
Between January and June, 227 women
were murdered. During the same period,
1,498 attacks and 1,375 incidents of sexual
violence against women were recorded.
Attacks against women remained widely
underreported. The country continued to lack
specific mechanisms for collection and
disaggregation of data related to the killings
of women. Abortion remained a crime in all
cases, including when the life and health of a
woman were at risk, or when the pregnancy
was a result of sexual violence. Emergency
contraception continued to be banned.
JUSTICE SYSTEM
In February, the National Congress elected
15 new members of the Supreme Court of
Justice for the next seven years. Several civil
society organizations raised concerns about
the selection process, which they said failed
to comply with international standards of
impartiality, independence and transparency.
Honduras had not yet complied with the
resolution of October 2015 of the Inter-
American Court of Human Rights in which it
found that the rights of four judges dismissed
for opposing a coup in 2009 were violated.
The judges had yet to be reinstated, and
other measures of reparation were
still pending.
1. Home sweet home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s role in a
deepening refugee crisis (AMR 01/4865/2016)
2. We are defending the land with our blood: Defenders of the land,
territory and environment in Honduras and Guatemala (AMR
01/4562/2016)
180 Amnesty International Report 2016/17