Another Indigenous activist brutally killed in Honduras

Honduran officials stated on Wednesday that they are investigating the killings of two activists and indigenous leaders killed in separate incidents during the weekend.

On Sunday, Jose Aden Medina was shot and killed in a remote location in the community of El Volcan, also in western Honduras. Medina Tolupan was a member of the Swadeshi group. Felix Vasquez, a longtime environmental activist of the Lenca indigenous group, was shot dead by masked people in front of family members on Saturday at his home in Santiago de Puringla.

Vasquez, who was seeking the opposition Libre Party nomination for Congress, had fought for hydroelectric projects and abused land for years. National elections are due in March.

Alice H Shackelford, a UN resident coordinator in Honduras, called Medina's killers to be held accountable.

“How sad the end of 2020! Another human rights defender murdered! Indigenous Tolupan leader Adan Mejia!! Justice and Zero Impunity! Quick investigation and identification of criminals as soon as possible, ”Shackelford said on Twitter.

Yuri Mora, a spokesman for the Honduras prosecutor's office, said the Office on Ethnic Groups and Cultural Protection was investigating the murder of Vasaj. He said investigators carried out the searches and were about to call people to give statements, but no arrests were made.

He said Vasquez had lodged complaints with the prosecutor's office against hydropower projects in the past and on land management issues.

The National Human Rights Commission of Honduras condemned both murders and said it would investigate. It confirmed that Wascage had reported threats and harassment. The Commission requested protective measures for Vasquez in January 2020, but they were never carried out.

Rafael Alegria, the coordinator of the Via Campesina, an NGO in Honduras, said Vasquez had been threatening complaints and reporting since 2017, but the government never took action.

Alegria, herself a former national legislator, said activists had been reporting harassment at the La Paz department for years from mining, timber and hydroelectric companies, as well as large landowners.

"There is a consortium of deviant interests in western Honduras. Farmers and indigenous communities are under constant persecution. He killed Bertha Caesar in Intibuca and now Felix Vasquez, and others are threatened. "

Caceres, also a Lenca environmental activist, was killed in March 2016 when gunmen barged into his house and shot her. Caceres' assassination gained global attention in part as she was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Award.

She fought for years against a dam project. Several men have been convicted in her murder, but her family continues to seek justice against those believed to be the masterminds.

According to data provided by the advocacy group Global Witness, Honduras is considered the fifth deadliest country for activists, with 14 land and environmental defenders killed last year.

National Police spokesman Dania Cruz said they were investigating the murders of Vasquez and Medina, but told local media that he would not share additional information to avoid interfering with the investigation.