Letter to the Honduran Government in Support of OFRANEH and the Garifuna Communities
On the occasion of OFRANEH and Garifuna communities presentation of their demands in Tegucigalpa
August 8, 2022
We are writing in support of OFRANEH and the Garifuna communities in Honduras and their demands for justice and for the defense of their territory.
Two years after the July 18, 2020 forced disappearance of 4 Garifuna defenders, Snider Centeno, Suami Mejía, Milton Martínez and Gerado Rochez from Triunfo de la Cruz, their disappearance remains in impunity with no serious investigation reported on by the authorities.
Almost 8 years after the August 2015 Inter-American Human Rights Court (IAHR) ruling in favor of the communities of Triunfo de la Cruz and Punto Piedra, the measures ordered by the court to restore and protect Garifuna territory have still not been implemented by the Honduran state.
We understand that the violations in these cases were committed by the narco-coup regime and not the current administration, but we note that the newly elected government of President Xiomara Castro has inherited the responsibilities for justice related to both cases and is now responsible for guaranteeing the rights of the Garifuna people going forward. President Castro’s election was the result of 12 years of the people’s resistance and it awakened hope for change in Honduras. Now is the time to act on these emblematic cases!
We support the following demands of OFRANEH and the Garifuna communities:
Forderungen und Unterschriftenaktion
