Global Witness, a London based human rights organizationreleased a new report in January: HONDURAS – The Deadliest Pace to Defend the Planet.
The report identifies members of powerful economic and political elites in Honduras directly linked systemic corruption, abuse of human rights and violence targeting environmental protectors. The report also details the responsibility of the United States and International Financial Institutions in “aiding and abetting” the concerted attack on land and environmental defenders in Honduras.
The Honduran government responded to the report with calls for the arrest of Global Witness staff in the country. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras intervened on their behalf and Honduran human rights defenders demanded that the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights take urgent action to protect the lives of the Global Witness staff and the leaders and organizations that provided testimony for the report.
The report was also presented at a Congressional Briefing sponsored by the office of Rep. McGovern in Washington, DC. Global Witness urged the US Congress to pass the Bertha Caceres Human Rights in Honduras Act, “calling for the suspension of all US military and police aid to Honduras until human rights violations committed by security forces are brought to justice.”
Global Witness, is a London based organization that investigates the “world’s worst environmental and human rights abuses driven by the exploitation of natural resources and corruption in the global political and economic system,”
Global Witness Report | January 31, 2017