Honduras: Court of Appeals reopens criminal process against environmental defenders from Guapinol; one of them had been killed five days before
PBI Honduras
"Legal proceedings reopened against five environmental defenders from Guapinol, including late Juan López", 25 September 2024
...On 19 September 2024, the Second Court of Appeals of the municipality of La Ceiba, in the department of Atlántida, decided for the reopening of the criminal process against environmental defenders Carlos Leonel George, Reynaldo Domínguez, José Adaly Cedillo, Marco Tulio Ramos and Juan López, members of the Comité Municipal de Defensa de los Bienes Comunes y Públicos (CMDBPC)...
...[T]he Second Court of Appeals...ordered to reopen the legal process...for the fabricated charges of aggravated arson and unjust deprivation of liberty due to their work in defence of the Guapinol river in face of the environmental damages caused by the presence of mining and extractive activities in the zone.
The criminalization process against them started in September 2018, after the installation of the “encampment for water and life” for the defence of the national park Carlos Escaleras Mejía against the presence of extractive projects...
For more than six years, the defenders of the Guapinol river have faced harassment, arbitrary detentions and threats as reprisal for their work, including the killing of Juan López on 14 September 2024.
Front Line Defenders expresses its deep concern over the reopening of the criminal process against the defenders of the CMDBCP, as it considers it is a form of reprisal for their environmental work. Front Line Defenders reiterate its call for an investigation into the murder of Juan López. The undue use of criminal law, as well as the threats and attacks against those who defend human rights in Honduras illustrate the insecurity faced by defenders in the country...