“Terror and impunity against the Garifuna of Honduras”, 22 July 2021

...Miriam Miranda…[,]...defender of the rights of the Garífuna populations of the Central American country, demands that the Government, led by the controversial Juan Orlando Hernández, press the State institutions to clarify what happened to the young people, whose case has triggered the alarms on the situation of violence suffered by the Honduran Garifuna people, haunted by crime and powerful economic groups interested in exploiting the wealth of the region where these indigenous populations settle. “These are forced disappearances and the State does not show political will to investigate what happened. What’s more, the State denies what happened, ”says Miranda...The four actively participate in the defense of the rights of the Garífuna people through the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH), coordinated by Miriam Miranda. The testimonies collected by the organization reveal an excessive use of force and the violation of the rights of the detainees...Due to the threat that threatens this population, the community obtained in 2015 a judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court), that he condemned the Honduran State for various violations of his rights…In the case of the disappeared Garifuna activists, Miranda denounces that the Honduran State has refused to set up an International Committee for the Search and Investigation of the Disappeared of Triunfo de la Cruz (called SUNLA, in the Garífuna language) that is made up of experts international organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)...Miriam Miranda has also received threats for her work and complaints, despite having precautionary measures issued by the IACHR. “I have suffered kidnappings from criminal groups. I fear for my family. The organization [OFRANEH] it has been criminalized ”...