Dear Ambassadors of European Embassies and representatives of the EU Delegation in Honduras,
We are writing to you as human rights and development organisations and networks which promote political and social democracy and sustainable human development which benefit the most vulnerable in Latin America. We want to express our deep concern regarding the accusations brought against Carlos Amador, Martin Erazo and Marco Tulio Martinez, members of the management team of the Siria Valley Environmental Committee, as well as against 16 other community leaders from the village of El Terrero, and 13 people from the neighbouring community of El Suyatal.
These 32 people are accused of the crime of Obstructing the Implementation of a Forest Management Plan[1], which carries a penalty of 4 to 6 years in prison. On the 7th April 2010, 600 members of the municipality prevented trees being cut down which protect the stream called “Quebrada el Guayabo”, which is in the area called Tapalito in the village of El Terrero. The stream is protected under the Agreement CH - 498 – 2008 and the governing Forestry Wildlife and Protected Areas and provides drinking water to six communities in the municipality of El Porvenir, and cutting down the trees which protect this stream would affect 10,000 people. The Siria Valley Environmental Committee and the affected communities are opposed to the management plan which was granted to Ms. Hayde Urrutia Mejia by the Honduran state. The Environmental Committee questions the legality of the plan since an impartial Environmental Impact Study had not been properly carried out as is stipulated in the Law governing Forestry Wildlife and Protected Areas. On the 5th July 2011 the accused had their first hearing after which they were prohibited from visiting the land which they are defending.
The Siria Valley Environmental Committee was created with the objective of ensuring that there is a strict fulfilment of the environmental laws of the country, specifically in relation to the San Martin mine, an open cast mining project owned by the Canadian company Goldcorp and its subsidiary Entremares in the municipalities of San Ignacio, El Porvenir and Cedros (which together make up the Siria Valley). The international organisations CAFOD (Catholic Aid Agency for England and Wales) and Development and Peace (Catholic Aid Agency for Canada) have supported the communities in the Siria Valley through a programme of scientific research looking at problems related to water access in the region in which this project is located. In addition, recently the international organisation Peace Brigades International (PBI) called for the international community to pay special attention to this case of criminalisation and stigmatisation of their work defending human rights.
It is of vital importance that the international community monitors this kind of case in which weak judicial systems with laws which impose disproportionate sentences are used to prevent the defence of human rights. Given that article 10A of the Lisbon Treaty of the European Union establishes the promotion of human rights as one of Europe’s foreign affairs objectives, and also the EU Guidelines for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the organisations signing this letter ask the EU delegation and the embassies present in Honduras:
– To participate as observers in the hearings on the 2nd August (19 defenders from El Terrero), and the 5th August (13 defenders from El Suyatal), as well as in other hearings which take place related to these judicial processes;
– To urge the Honduran state to guarantee the security, physical and psychological integrity of the members of the Siria Valley Environmental Committee, as well as of all human rights defenders in Honduras;
- To urge the Honduran state through political dialogue to review the actions of the Offices in charge of Human Rights and the Environment and to guarantee the fulfilment of due process in the cases of the defenders from El Terrero and El Suyatal;
– To urge the Honduran state to promote the search for a negotiated solution which guarantees sustainable and safe drinking water and an on-going healthy environment for the communities from the Siria Valley;
– To urge the Honduran state to fulfil international human rights norms;
– To ensure the fulfilment of existing forest legislation which requires an impartial and objective Environmental Impact Study of forest management plans relating to this case;
– To carry out visits to the Siria Valley in the next few months to evaluate “in situ” the situation described by the affected communities and the criminalisation to which environmental defenders are being subject.
We will await an official response from the European Union in relation to the requests we have made,
Yours sincerely,
CIDSE
CIFCA
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT-FIDH)
Protection International
[1] The Forest Act of protected areas and wild life is punishable as an offense of interference with sentences of 4 to 6 years’ imprisonment (Article 186).