Honduran Government Moves to Silence Indigenous Activists
Honduran Government Moves to Silence Indigenous Activists
By Larry Ladutke
September 18, 2013 at 10:27 AM
Last week, Amnesty issued an urgent action ahead of the September 12 hearing in Honduras against three indigenous leaders working on environmental issues: Bertha Cáceres, Tomás Gómez and Aureliano Molina.
They are all members of the Civic Council of the Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). Cáceres is the general coordinator of COPINH, and both Gómez and Molina work at a community radio station, Lencas’ Voice (La Voz Lenca). Amnesty has called the government’s charges of usurpation, coercion and continued damages against these Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)“unfounded.” These accusations are connected to COPINH’s opposition to a hydro-electric project on indigenous land.
According to COPINH’s website, the September 12 hearing did not go well. The Public Ministry asked the judge to sentence Cáceres to prison, and to impose a form of probation on Gómez and Molina and that would prevent them from returning to the location of the hydro-electric project. The next hearing is set for Friday, September 20.
More:
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/americas/honduran-government-moves-to-silence-indigenous-activists/
