Redacción Tegucigalpa, Honduras
El asesinato de la ambientalista hondureña sigue causando repercusiones e nivel internacional
"Nosotros escribimos para instar a que actúe con prontitud para hacer frente a terribles niveles de violencia y violaciones extremas de derechos civiles en Honduras", inicia el documento.
Y puntualiza que "estamos profundamente entristecidos y enojados por el brutal asesinato de Berta Cáceres, y horrorizados por la asistencia continua de nuestro gobierno a las fuerzas de seguridad de Honduras, tan ampliamente documentado que ser corrupto y peligroso".
Asimismo, solicitaron a la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) apoyar una investigación internacional independiente del caso.
La nota enviada a Kerry está firmada por los 60 legisladores, quienes se unen junto a cientos de organizaciones mundiales para que se esclarezca lo más pronto posible el homicidio de la laureada dama.
A continuación la carta en inglés
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http://www.elheraldo.hn/pais/941136-466/congresistas-de-eeuu-piden-suspender-ayuda-a-honduras-por-crimen-de-berta
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Rep. Hank Johnson |
Congresistas Johnson, Ellison y 60 miembros del Congreso de los Estados Unidos urgen a una investigación independiente en el asesinato de defensora de derechos humanos Berta Cáceres
Mar 17, 2016 Issues: National Security and Foreign Policy
Hoy los Congresistas Hank Johnson and Keith Ellison junto a 60 miembros del Congreso de los Estado Unidos enviaron una carta al Secretario de Estado Kerry y al Secretario del Tesoro Lew
expresando profunda preocupación por el asesinato de la activista Berta
Cáceres, la manera en la que se ha conducido la investigación de este
hecho hasta ahora de parte del gobierno hondureño, urgiendo al gobierno
de Honduras a iniciar una investigación independiente mediante un
acuerdo con la Comisión Inter-Americana de Derechos Humanos y pidiendo
la revisión de los fondos que los Estados Unidos otorgan a Bancos de
Desarrollo para préstamos en proyectos que se realizan en Honduras.
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March 17, 2016
Reps. Johnson, Ellison call for independent murder investigation of human rights activist Cáceres
More
than 60 colleagues sign on to effort to hold Honduran government
accountable, urging Sec. Kerry to push pause on Central American
nation’s security
funding pending outcome of review
In
the wake of the tragic killing of the Honduran environmental and
indigenous leader Berta Cáceres on March 2, Reps. Hank Johnson (GA-04)
and Keith Ellison
(MN-05), together with 60 House colleagues,
today sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew requesting their support in combating human rights violations and rampant impunity in Honduras.
In
the letter, members of Congress call for an independent, international
investigation into the murder of Cáceres with backing from the
Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights (IACHR). The letter was signed just hours before the
murder of Berta Cáceres’ colleague and fellow activist, Nelson García,
further highlighting the ongoing nature of these crimes and the need for
urgent action.
In
addition, the letter calls for the full implementation of IACHR
precautionary measures for Berta Cáceres’ family, COPINH and key witness
Gustavo Castro and
the immediate institution of an effective system of protection for
Honduran social activists, human rights defenders and members of the
political opposition.
The
letter urges the State Department and Treasury to carry out a review of
the scheduled increase in security funding to Honduras and of U.S.
support for multilateral
loans to private-sector projects in Honduras.
“The
U.S. provides millions of dollars of security assistance to Honduras
and yet frequent attacks and killings of environmental activists like
Cáceres continue
without any effective response from the authorities,” said Rep.
Johnson. “It’s time for our government to leverage security assistance
and multilateral loans so as to put real and lasting pressure on the
Honduran government to protect its activists and pursue
those responsible for these hideous crimes.”
“Peaceful
activists should be able to speak out without living in fear, or being
killed for their work. Berta Cáceres and Nelson García were courageous
and
extraordinary leaders who fought for Honduras’ indigenous community
despite ongoing threats. We’ve waited too long for action already – the
U.S. government should pressure the Honduran government to make sure
those responsible for these horrific crimes are
held responsible,” said Rep. Ellison.
Berta
Cáceres – co-founder of the indigenous rights organization COPINH and
winner of last year’s Goldman Environmental Prize and one of Honduras’
most prominent
activists – was shot by an unknown gunman on March 2 at her home in La
Esperanza. She had received numerous threats as a result of the campaign
she and her colleagues at COPINH have been waging against the Agua
Zarca hydroelectric dam project in the Rio Blanco
Lenca indigenous community. Four other COPINH members have been
murdered over the last few years.
International
Environmental NGO Global Witness reports that Honduras is the most
dangerous place in the world for people engaged in environmental
activism with
109 environmental activists killed between 2010 and 2015. In recent
years, Honduras has also been identified as one of the most dangerous
places in the world for journalists, legal professionals and LGBTI
activists.
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Letter below:
March 16, 2016
The Honorable John Kerry
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
2201 C St NW
Washington, D.C.
The Honorable Jacob Lew
Secretary
U.S. Department of Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220
Dear Secretary Kerry and Secretary Lew:
We
write to urge you to act expeditiously to address appalling levels of
violence and extreme violations of civil rights in Honduras. We are
profoundly saddened
and angered by the brutal assassination of Berta Cáceres, and appalled
by our government's continuous assistance to Honduran security forces,
so widely documented to be corrupt and dangerous.
To
combat harsh violations of human rights and a growing culture of
impunity in Honduras, we request that the Department of State and the
Department of Treasury
use all possible resources to achieve the following:
•
Significant pressure on the Honduran government to sign an agreement
with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to create an
independent
international investigation into the murder of Berta Cáceres, as
requested by her family;
•
Strong pressure on the Honduran Public Prosecutor to allow Berta
Cáceres’ family limited access to the investigation, including proposing
independent
experts.;
•
Significant pressure on the Honduran government to implement and comply
with the precautionary measures granted by the IACHR to Berta Caceres’
family,
members of COPINH, and Gustavo Castro;
•
Significant pressure on the Honduran government to immediately
institute and fund a system of protection for the social activists,
human rights defenders,
and members of the political opposition who remain at risk, from
providers of each individual’s choosing. This system could be modeled
after other systems in place in countries such as Colombia and Mexico;
•
A review of the scheduled increase in funding for the Honduran security
forces. We strongly believe that the U.S. government should immediately
stop
all assistance to Honduran security forces, including training and
equipment, given the implication of the Honduran military and police in
extrajudicial killings, illegal detentions, torture and other violations
of human rights;
•
The review of U.S. support for loans to projects in Honduras from
U.S.-funded multilateral development banks, including the Inter-American
Development
Bank, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund to ensure no
future awards are funding projects in Honduras that undermine the land
rights of indigenous people and small farmers; and
•
Significant pressure on the Honduran government to immediately and
permanently stop the Agua Zarca dam, following the request made by
Senator Leahy.
The
murder of Ms. Cáceres, the co-founder and coordinator of COPINH, the
Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, should
trigger the strongest
possible diplomatic response. She was internationally renowned for her
courageous work defending indigenous land rights and opposing
environmentally destructive megaprojects. In 2015, she was awarded the
prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.
The
killing of Ms. Cáceres fits into a broad pattern of attacks against and
targeted killings of Honduran activists, and community leaders since
2009, in which
state security forces have allegedly been involved. COPINH has been a
frequent target. In July 2013, the Honduran armed forces shot and
killed Tomás García, a COPINH Lenca community leader, while he was
peacefully protesting against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric
dam. Amnesty International reports that Cáceres and other COPINH
leaders have been subjected to judicial persecution and have faced
"unfounded charges in relation to their actions as human rights
defenders." In 2013, Cáceres was jailed on a falsified charge
of weapons possessions, and only freed thanks to the pressure of
Amnesty International and an international outcry.
We
also note that many other Honduran social activists, members of the
political opposition, and human rights defenders have been victims of
targeted killings
and attacks. According to Global Witness, Honduras was the most
dangerous country in the world for environmental activists in 2015.
International human rights bodies including Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, the United
Nations, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have all
documented a dramatic increase in targeted killings of journalists,
legal professionals, LGBTI activists, land rights activists, labor
activists, Afro-Indigenous and Indigenous activists,
and other activists in the years since the 2009 military coup.
Disregarding
her family's request, Ms. Cáceres’ body was subjected to an autopsy by
Honduran officials without the presence of an independent forensic
expert.
Such action underscored the danger of allowing the Honduran
government--with its established track record of corruption and
subversion of the rule of law, including the destruction of evidence--to
proceed further in the investigation without independent international
oversight.
Honduras
and the world have lost an extraordinary advocate for environmental and
social justice. We must now do everything in our power to ensure that
her
tragic assassination will serve as a catalyst for positive change in
Honduras, not just empty promises and more of the same. Therefore, we
urge you to carefully rethink our country’s close and supportive
relationship with the Honduran government.
We look forward to your response to our heartfelt concerns about terrible human rights violations in Honduras.
Sincerely,
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson
Member of Congress
Keith Ellison
Member of Congress
Co-signers:
Henry C. “Hank” Johnson
Keith Ellison
Marcy Kaptur
Betty McCollum
John Conyers, Jr.
Chellie Pingree
Jim McDermott
Lloyd Doggett
José Serrano
Earl Blumenauer
Donald Payne, Jr.
Ron Kind
Loretta Sanchez
Zoe Lofgren
Raúl Grijalva
Maxine Waters
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Luis Gutiérrez
Suzanne Bonamici
Stephen Lynch
Barbara Lee
Richard Nolan
James McGovern
Danny Davis
John Lewis
Emanuel Cleaver
Bonnie Watson-Coleman
David Cicilline
Mike Quigley
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Donna Edwards
Mark DeSaulnier
Ted Lieu
Jackie Speier
Jerrold Nadler
Rosa DeLauro
Janice Schakowsky
Mark Pocan
Charles Rangel
Michael Honda
Robert Scott
Ruben Gallego
Lacy Clay
Peter DeFazio
Yvette Clarke
Anna Eshoo
Katherine Clark
Paul Tonko
Peter Welch
Scott H. Peters
Cheri Bustos
Beto O’Rourke
Chris Van Hollen
Carolyn Maloney
Frank Pallone
John Yarmuth
Nydia Velazquez
Louise Slaughter
Bill Keating
Sander Levin
Karen Bass
Ann Kirkpatrick
Alan S. Lowenthal
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Elise Roberts, Director
Witness for Peace - Midwest
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