Honduras Emergency Alert – Act Today!

Below is an action alert put out by Otros Mundos, the organization headed by Mexican Gustavo Castro Soto, who is the sole witness to the assassination in Honduras of COPINH leader Berta Caceres. Gustavo was providing peace accompaniment to Berta on her last night of life; he himself was shot twice. Gustavo was detained in inhumane conditions by the Honduran government for days for “questioning.” He was then released and was accompanied by the Mexican ambassador and consul to the airport in Tegucigalpa. He was just about to go through customs when Honduran authorities tried to forcibly grab him. The Mexican government successfully intervened, and put Gustavo into protective custody in the Mexican Embassy. Now, the Honduran government has prevailed and reclaimed Gustavo, taking him back to La Esperanza. He is in terrible danger in their custody, as what he witnessed is an impediment to the Honduran government’s attempts to pin Berta’s murder on COPINH itself.

The text below is from Otros Mundos this morning.

BREAKING! Gustavo Castro is in danger in the community of La Esperanza, Honduras / March 7, 2016

– To the Secretary of Human Rights, Justice, Interior, and Decentralization of Honduras

– To the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Honduras

– To the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico

– For national and international attention

– To all organizations defending human rights

At present, the Mexican environmentalist Gustavo Castro Soto, Coordinator of Other Worlds AC/Friends of the Earth Mexico, is adding to his statement in La Esperanza, Intibucá, southeastern Honduras, where he was the victim of an assassination attempt in which indigenous rights defender Berta Cáceres was murdered on March 3.

We are on HIGH ALERT because his departure from the Embassy of Mexico and transfer back to La Esperanza represent a high risk for his physical security and psychological wellbeing.

On Sunday, March 6, upon trying to leave Honduras, legally and under the protection of the Mexican Embassy in Honduras, he was arbitrarily intercepted by Honduran authorities before passing through immigration at the Tegucigalpa International Airport. They detained him under the justification that he needed to expand upon his declaration, but without notifying him of this previously.

We want to point out that Gustavo Castro in no way resisted making the full declaration that was asked of him, and he has accepted this request to expand his statement in the interest of clarifying the facts surrounding the assassination of Berta Cáceres, and to avoid the criminalization of members of COPINH.

Despite all of the requests made to ensure that this new declaration be made under proper conditions, to guarantee his physical safety and psychological well-being within the Mexican Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the General Prosecutor decided that Gustavo needed to make his statement in La Esperanza. We believe that this puts him in physical and psychological danger. We demand guarantee for Gustavo’s safety and security during the process of expanding his declaration and during his travel from the Embassy of Mexico in Tegucigalpa. We demand that the government of Honduras fulfill its promise to lift the immigration hold that prevented Gustavo Castro from immediately leaving Honduras after completing his required statement, since there is no reason to keep him in the country.

We ask everyone to act and help us demand Gustavo’s safety and security by contacting:

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico/Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores de México, (55) 3686 – 5100 y (55) 3686 – 5581

@SRE_mx

The National Commission on Human Rights of Mexico/ Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos de México

(55) 56 81 81 25 y (55) 54 90 74 00

@CNDH

The Secretary of Human Rights, Justice, Interior and Decentralization of Honduras/La Secretaría de Derechos Humanos, Justicia, Gobernación y Descentralización de Honduras

(504) 2232-7800 y (504) 2232-8900

@sdhjgdhn

Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Honduras

(504) 2236-0200 y (504) 2236-03-00

@SRECIHonduras

(Translated by Tanya Kerssen)