On 5 July, the city of Tegucigalpa sentencing court’s first chamber unanimously found David Castillo, Honduran businessman and intelligence officer, guilty of co-perpetrating the murder of Berta Cáceres. His sentence will be announced on 3 August. The ruling confirmed, among the main pieces of evidence, the numerous phone communications, text messages and WhatsApp chats through which Castillo coordinated actions to…
The trial against David Castillo in Tegucigalpa has been underway since 5 April, although it actually began on 26 April. Castillo is a former intelligence officer from Honduras, trained at West Point military academy, who became a state official in the energy sector and then manager of Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA) Company, in charge of carrying out the Agua Zarca…
On 30 March, Bertha Zúniga, General Coordinator of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations from Honduras (COPINH) held an online press conference, in which she called for the support of human rights organisations and activists during the trial of the former president of Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA) company. David Castillo is accused of being one of the masterminds behind…
After an 18-month suspension of the preliminary hearings to decide whether to open trial against David Castillo, a Honduran court finally announced on 26 August that he will face an oral and public trial. A military intelligence officer trained at West Point, David Castillo is also a known businessman linked to the Atala Zablah family. The Atalah Zablah business group…
48 hours after the kidnapping and disappearance of Sneider Centeno, President of the Triunfo de la Cruz Community Board and active member of the Black Fraternal Organisation of Honduras (OFRANEH), Real World Radio interviewed fellow OFRANEH member César Benedith, who denounced that they have not yet received “any type of answer from the government.” At the time of the interview,…
After 42 months of the political femicide of Berta Cáceres in Honduras, and while people await the definitive ruling against the seven men accused as the perpetrators of the crime and the beginning of the trial against David Castillo as one of the masterminds, the organization that was coordinated by the late Lenca indigenous leader (COPINH) launched a report that exposes…
At the end of May, Juan Orlando Hernández´ administration announced several reforms aiming to privatize services, through the passing of the Law of Restructuring and Transformation of the National Education and Healthcare System. So people took to the streets once against in Tegucigalpa against the threat of massive dismissals of doctors and teachers and to denounce the general state of…
March 14th marks the International Day of Action against Dams and for Rivers. Mobilizations around the world denounced the socioenvironmental impacts of these construction works that operate in hydroelectric and mining projects. The Climate Justice and Energy Program of Friends of the Earth International expressed its solidarity with the communities affected by hydroelectric dams, especially the Lenca indigenous people defending…
Three years ago, Honduran activist and community leader Berta Cáceres was brutally murdered. Every year, around 200 environmental defenders are killed or assaulted around the world - crimes that are often linked to multinational companies violating human rights. Only a binding agreement on a global basis could put an end to this horrendous injustice. On 2nd of March 2016 Berta was…
December 2nd marked 33 months of the murder of the Lenca people defender, Berta Cáceres, at her home in La Esperanza, Intibucá department (Honduras) and the attempted murder of environmental activist Gustavo Castro, member of Otros Mundos Chiapas – Friends of the Earth Mexico. The case went to trial after many irregularities in the investigation carried out by the Public…
