On Feburary 2021 the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights provided a country report to the High Commissioner included in the annual report to the Human Rights Council. The report raised a series of human rights concerns, including the misuse of the judicial system in the Guapinol case in order to unfairlyContinue reading “2021 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report to the Human Rights Council on Honduras”
Subsoil Municipality Archives
2007- Municipalities Declare Territories Free of Mining [ASP1 and ASP2]
Between 2013 and 2015, approximately 20 municipalities across Honduras declared themselves “territories free of mining” by holding public referenda or consultative assemblies (cabildos abiertos) in which communities voted on whether to allow mining operations where they lived. These municipalities included, among others, Sabá and Balfate in Colón; Danlí and Teupasenti in El Paraíso; El Negrito,Continue reading “2007- Municipalities Declare Territories Free of Mining [ASP1 and ASP2]”
2016-2020 Tocoa Municipal consultative assembly to declare “Territory Free of Mining”
According to Article 25 of the Honduran Law of Municipalities, the Municipal Council is empowered “to call a plebiscite of all municipal citizens to take decisions on issues that the Council considers of great importance. The result of the plebiscite is binding and should be made public” (See Legal Action entitled “2007- Municipalities Declare TerritoriesContinue reading “2016-2020 Tocoa Municipal consultative assembly to declare “Territory Free of Mining””
2016 Ceibita community consent for mining project
On 30 June 2016 EMCO Mining (which changed its name to Inversiones Los Pinares (ILP) in 2017 and became part of the EMCO Group) approached locals of Ceibita to build an access road through their community to the processing plant and mining site. The company promised jobs and investment in Ceibita in return for agreeingContinue reading “2016 Ceibita community consent for mining project”
2015 Law to protect Human Rights defenders and journalists
In May 2015, Decree 134-2015 created the Law to protect human rights defenders, journalists and justice officials. In 2016 the regulatory code of the law was enacted. The 2015 law, modelled on similar experiences in the Latin American region, was passed in response to national and international pressure to address the wide range of threatsContinue reading “2015 Law to protect Human Rights defenders and journalists”
2018 Criminal complaints by CMDBCP against local authorities
On 8 June 2018, during the protest outside Tocoa’s Town Hall, the Municipal Committee in Defence of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP) filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office against the previous and present mayors of Tocoa for failing in their legal duties by unlawfully granting municipal permits to the mine resulting inContinue reading “2018 Criminal complaints by CMDBCP against local authorities”
2018-2019 Criminal complaints by CMDBCP against private company and State authorities
Since 2018 the Municipal Committee in Defence of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP) have filed a series of criminal and administrative complaints against state institutions, such as Honduran National Institute of Geology and Mining (INGEOMIN), the Honduran Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources, Environment and Mines (MiAmbiente+) and Honduran Institute of Foresty Conservation (ICF), as wellContinue reading “2018-2019 Criminal complaints by CMDBCP against private company and State authorities”
2018 Eviction of protest encampment
On 31 July 2018, after repeated failures of local and national authorities to address their concerns regarding the ASP mining concessions, the Municipal Committee in Defence of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP) and supporters established a protest encampment on the access road to the mine. The protest encampment in defence of water and life lastedContinue reading “2018 Eviction of protest encampment”
2018-2022 Criminalisation and detention of CMDBCP environmental rights defenders
The criminalisation and unwarranted detention of human rights defenders in Honduras has been widely documented by national and international human rights organizations (IACHR, 2019: para. 306; Statement at the end of visit to Honduras by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, 2019). This includes the manipulation of the justice system to mountContinue reading “2018-2022 Criminalisation and detention of CMDBCP environmental rights defenders”
2018-2022 Legal challenges to criminalization of environmental defenders
Facing criminalization for protesting against the ASP1 and ASP2 mining project, the Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP), partner organizations and defence lawyers have mobilized to challenge their baseless judicial persecution (See Legal Action entitled “2018-2022 Criminalization and detention of CMDBCP environmental rights defenders”). This involved the voluntary presentations ofContinue reading “2018-2022 Legal challenges to criminalization of environmental defenders”
