2011-2013 Criminal charges against Siria Valley Environmental Committee (CAVS) members

In 2011, 17 members of local grassroots organization Siria Valley Environmental Committee (CAVS) faced criminal charges, including obstructing a forestry management plan in 2010 in the community of Tepalitos, in the municipality of El Porvenir. In July 2011, CAVS spokesperson, Carlos Amador, and another activist were temporarily detained on these charges, then released on bail conditions requiring them to regularly register with the authorities. The case against the CAVS activists continued through the courts until a judge dismissed the charges in February 2013 amidst intense international scrutiny. CAVS had filed at least 25 legal actions against mining interests since 2006.

The above events are part of a general criminalization of human rights defenders in Honduras, including the use of broad terrorism provisions in the Criminal Code against evironmental activists (OHCHR, 2018) (See the Legal Action, entitled “2018 UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders visit to Honduras“, for related information). These activists also experience violence and threats of violence in relation to their work on the protection of natural resources and territory rights (Ibid). One well-known example is the death of human rights defender, Berta Cáceres. She was fatally shot in her home in March 2016 after “a long battle against a hydroelectric dam project on sacred Lenca territory” (Guardian, 2018; Lakhani, 2020). The criminal trial of 8 men accused of the murder began in September 2018, resulting in a number of convictions, including of a senior company official (Ibid).