Freedom for all Honduran Political Prisoners!

Loading....

On October 18th, 2019, Antonio “Tony” Hernández, brother of Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández was found guilty of drug trafficking charges by a jury in the Southern District Court of New York. While the evidence and testimony of the trial implicate the Honduran president and other high officials of the Honduran government in “state-sponsored drug trafficking”, obstruction of justice, severe abuses of power, and violence, the Honduran regime has criminalized activists and everyone that is opposed to Juan Orlando’s administration.

The continued criminalization of activists in Honduras has led to 10 political prisoners being held pre-trial in prison and at least 173 people who face prosecution for their participation in protests or their opposition to the regime. Among the political are the 7 environmental defenders of the Guapinol community who are held in the military-controlled maximum-security prison La Tolva and one in the La Ceiba Prison, and the teacher Rommel Herrera who was just transferred from La Tolva to a psychiatric hospital due to a severe mental health crisis after almost 5 months of pretrial detention under inhuman conditions.

In addition, the longest-imprisoned political prisoner, Gustavo Cáceres has been held in the prison in El Progreso despite having a medically diagnosed serious cognitive disability. Unable to speak, read, or write, Cáceres has been jailed for almost two years accused of trumped up charges related to being in the physical vicinity of protests in 2017. The trial against Cáceres will take place next Monday, October 28 in El Progreso. We demand that due process and justice be upheld in his case and that he be released immediately from detention.

A regime that was already considered illegitimate by most Hondurans and across the international community due to its continuation of the 2009 coup and Juan Orlando Hernandez’s illegal and fraudulent re- election in 2017, has now been called a drug-trafficking regime by U.S. federal prosecutors. This is the time to join the calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners from detention, that charges related to protesting be dropped, that the Honduran government respect the Constitutional right to protest without facing lethal force, and that the US and Canada end all political and material support for the Juan Orlando Hernandez regime.

Freedom for All Honduran Political Prisoners!

Ebal Diaz - Honduran Secretary of State Karla Cueva - Human Rights Secretariat Rosa Irene Gudiel Ardón - Director of the National Penitentiary Institute María Soledad Paso - Country Representative, OHCHR Rolando Argueta - Honduran Supreme Court

Subject: ¡Libertad para los presos políticos y respeto a los derechos humanos en Honduras!

Message:

Le escribo para expresarle mi indignación por la continua criminalización de activistas en Honduras. Particularmente, me preocupa sobremanera la situación de los presos políticos hondureños detenidos en prisión preventiva: los 8 defensores ambientales de la comunidad de Guapinol encerrados en la prisión de máxima seguridad de La Tolva y uno en el centro penal de La Ceiba y el maestro Rommel Herrera, trasladado de La Tolva a un hospital psiquiátrico debido a una grave crisis de salud mental como consecuencia de los casi 5 meses de inhumana detención preventiva a la que fue sometido. El preso político Gustavo Cáceres ha estado recluido en la prisión de El Progreso a pesar de tener una discapacidad cognitiva grave diagnosticada médicamente por Medicina Forense. Incapaz de hablar, leer o escribir, Cáceres ha sido encarcelado durante casi dos años acusado de cargos falsos relacionados con las protestas en 2017 y sin ninguna evidencia en su contra. El juicio contra Cáceres tendrá lugar el próximo lunes 28 de octubre en El Progreso. Exigimos que se respete el debido proceso, que se le haga justicia a su caso y que sea liberado inmediatamente. Además de los defensores ambientales de Guapinol, de Gustavo y de Rommel, es de mi conocimiento que al menos otras 173 personas enfrentan proceso legal debido a su participación en protestas y por su oposición al régimen de Juan Orlando Hernández. Entre estos detenidos encontramos a Raúl Alvarado y Edwin Espinal, liberados de La Tolva después de 18 meses en detención y cuyos cargos permanecen abiertos. En la mayoría de los casos de las personas criminalizadas por su participación en protestas, el estado de hondureño no ha respetado el debido proceso, la presunción de inocencia, ni el derecho a la defensa. Me preocupa que el gobierno de Honduras siga criminalizando el derecho a la protesta y la violenta represión por parte de las fuerzas de seguridad estatales financiadas, y en algunas circunstancias entrenadas, por el gobierno de Estados Unidos y Canadá. La reciente decisión en la Corte del Distrito Sur de Nueva York debería llamar la atención a las autoridades hondureñas actuales. Ahora es un momento clave de mostrar al mundo que las instituciones públicas hondureñas respetan los derechos humanos de la población. Por este medio le pido que, en la medida de sus facultades, garantice la liberación de los presos políticos hondureños de manera inmediata y que se desechen los cargos que sólo criminalizan a quienes buscan defender sus territorios, a quienes se oponen al saqueo y la corrupción, a quienes buscan defender sus vidas y la de sus familias. Sepa también que esta carta será también enviada a mis representantes y congresistas para exigirles el fin del apoyo político y económico de los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y Canadá hacia Honduras hasta que no se garantice la protección de los derechos humanos del pueblo hondureño. Espero una respuesta positiva a esta respetuosa petición .

Remaining:

Lawrence J. Gumbiner, Charge d’affaires, US Embassy Tom Lantos Human Rights Comission

Subject: Freedom for Honduran Political Prisoners! Stop supporting Honduras' narco-dictatorship!

Message:

I am writing to express my outrage at the continued criminalization of activists in Honduras and the fact that 10 Honduran political prisoners continue to be held pre-trial in prison. These prisoners include the 7 environmental defenders of the Guapinol community who are held in the military-controlled maximum-security prison La Tolva and one in the La Ceiba prison, and the teacher Rommel Herrera was just transferred from La Tolva to a psychiatric hospital for a severe mental health crisis after almost 5 months of pre-trial detention under inhuman conditions. In addition, the longest-imprisoned political prisoner, Gustavo Cáceres has been held in the prison in El Progreso despite having a medically diagnosed serious cognitive disability. Unable to speak, read, or write, Cáceres has been illegally jailed for almost two years accused of trumped up charges related to being in the physical vicinity of protests in 2017. The trial against Cáceres will take place next Monday, October 28 in El Progreso. We demand that due process and justice be upheld in his case and that he be released immediately from detention. There are at least 173 other persons who face prosecution for their participation in protest and opposition to the regime. These include Raul Alverado and Edwin Espinal who were released from detention in La Tolva prison on personal recognisance after 18 months of detention in a maximum-security facility, but still face charges. This injustice is made ever more outrageous in light of the evidence presented in last week’s drug and weapons trafficking trial of Tony Hernandez, the brother of Juan Orlando Hernandez in the Southern District Court of New York. From the first day of the trial, testimony and evidence was presented implicating Juan Orlando Hernandez and other high officials of his National Party and the Honduran government in “state-sponsored drug trafficking”, obstruction of justice, severe abuses of power, and violence. A regime that was already considered illegitimate by most Hondurans and across the international community due to its continuation of the 2009 coup and Juan Orlando Hernandez’s illegal and fraudulent re- election in 2017, has now been called a drug-trafficking regime by U.S. federal prosecutors. Why do the United States and Canadian governments continue to support this regime politically and materially? Honduran and international human rights organizations are calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners from detention, that charges related to protesting be dropped, that the Honduran government respect the Constitutional right to protest without facing lethal force, and than the US and Canada end all political and material support for the Juan Orlando Hernandez regime. I will continue to take these concerns and support for these demands to my elected officials and to hold all representatives of my country responsible for the consequences of their actions for the Honduran people.

Remaining:

Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada Policy Advisor Trevor Harrison Canadian Ambassador to Honduras James Hill

Subject: Freedom for Honduran Political Prisoners! Stop supporting Honduras' narco-dictatorship!

Message:

Remaining:

Freedom for All Honduran Political Prisoners!

Thank You!