A guy who protested a mining progression in Honduras was shot dead at his home last week.
Arnold Joaquín Morazón Erazo was one of 32 other people in the El Guapinol network charged with crime offences for protesting against an open pit iron oxide mine that, according to the network, threatens its supply of land and water. Since this month, official court proceedings are expected soon 8 men have been detained in pre-trial detention for more than a year and five others, whose cases in the past have been reopened, also await a hearing date.
Opposition to the mine began about a decade ago, in 2011, after the nearby Mount Botaderos was designated a national park. Rivers and other water sources, first through national park status, were threatened when the government left room for the mine in the park through the logging of un urbanized areas. Among the rivers is Guapinol, on which the population of El Guapinol depends.
Honduras is the deadliest country in the world for environmental activists, according to global studies organization Global Witness. Nearly 150 more people have been killed in the last decade, 14 in 2019.
The company that owns the mine against which Morazón protested is Inversiones Los Pinares, Lénir Pérez, a businessman related to human rights violations, and Ana Facussé, daughter of the wealthy Honduran Miguel Facussé, rich in palm oil backed by the United States, lead the operation.
Ana Facussé is a strong advocate for the current pro-business Honduran government, which took hold in 2009 after a coup d’eer. Similarly, the government favors Inversiones Los Pinares.
The fees against Guapinol activists come from one occasion in 2018: they set up a camp to protest the mine and its only new water source. The effort came after the tap water in the village turned brown and muddy by the mine, according to the Guardian. Because of the infected water, citizens were stressed about buying bottled water to drink, eat and wash.
After 88 days of nonviolent protests, the camp was violently demolished. A protester fired and was wounded through a security guard. The other people in the camp who arrested the gunman were accused of holding him after the police arrived. Twelve members were released in primavera. de 2019, while 8 were detained pending trial.
In a 2020 report, Nelson Camilo Sánchez, director of the University of Virginia’s International Human Rights Clinic, and his team suggested Honduras to water protectors.
“In order to address the potentially illicit measures taken against proponents of the Guapinol River, the State of Honduras freed them without delay and gave them the opportunity to freely deal with the criminal process,” Sanchez said of the investigation. “Our studies illustrate the government’s tendency to publicize economic interests over human rights. The will to attack freedom of association. “
In June, the Honduran government also criminalized social protests, putting those protesting in blank water in additional danger.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, families cannot stop at criminal water advocates. His lawyers, who have filed appeals, were quietly received. At a press convention organized through the base organization protesting against mining and defense lawyers, members discussed the reopening of the five dismissed instances in the first place.
“The court’s ruling reaffirms the transparent alliance between the prosecutor, the judiciary and the personal sector, to punish all who dare to protect Honduras’ herbal resources,” defense team attorney Edy Tubora said in a statement.
Elena Bruess writes about the intersection of the environment, fitness and human rights for Circle of Blue and covers conflicts and water for Circle of Blue’s HotSpots H2O.
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