We demand an end to the attacks against Garifuna communities in Honduras
October 28, 2022
SIF calls on Honduran authorities and international cooperation to ensure the physical safety of López and other Garifuna leaders who have been threatened in recent days.
Following the death threat reported this Thursday by Garifuna leader Alfredo López Álvarez, prosecutor for the Land Defense Committee of the Triunfo de la Cruz community in Honduras, the Seattle International Foundation (SIF) calls on Honduran authorities and international cooperation agencies to ensure the physical safety of López and other Garifuna leaders who have been threatened in recent days. We also urge them to guarantee that the multimillion-dollar investments made in the country do not violate the rights and territories of ancestral Garifuna communities.
López, a member of the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH), participated this Thursday, the 27th, in the panel “Non-compliance with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights rulings: the Garifuna case in Honduras,” held during the 2022 Central America Donors Forum, an event organized by SIF in Tegucigalpa.
During his testimony, López informed the audience that he had been warned to leave Triunfo de la Cruz within 24 hours. He later explained to the news outlet Criterio HN that the threat stemmed from his community opening a cemetery within their territory, which residents of Playa Escondida then appropriated and are preventing them from using it.
The OFRANEH panel also denounced at the forum that, despite obtaining a favorable ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) for violations of the collective property rights of Triunfo de la Cruz and Punta Piedra in 2015, and obtaining precautionary measures for the forced disappearance of four residents of Triunfo de la Cruz in 2020, the persecution of the Garifuna people continues, and the State of Honduras has failed to provide reparations or protect their rights.
López, who assured reporters that he would not yield to the threats, also won a case against the State of Honduras before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2006 because his rights were violated when he was arbitrarily detained for six years.
On Monday of this week, OFRANEH also denounced in a statement that “in recent days, the Garifuna communities of Tela Bay (which includes Triunfo de la Cruz, San Juan, Tornabé, Río Tinto, and La Ensenada) are facing a cruel and cowardly wave of threats, persecution, and attacks against their leaders and members of their Land Defense Committee.” According to OFRANEH, the communities of Tela Bay are not only fighting for their territory against organized crime, but also against monocultures, the tourism industry, and large-scale cattle ranching.
In light of this new escalation of threats against Garifuna leaders who bravely defend the territories and rights of their communities, SIF calls on Honduran authorities to safeguard the physical integrity of those under threat and to fully comply with the rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
We also urge the international community to condemn the recent attacks and ensure that foreign investments on the Honduran coast do not violate the rights of ancestral Garifuna communities who have fought for decades to defend them, risking their lives and freedoms.