Schlagwort: Amnesty International

By: Graciela Martínez, senior campaigner, and Adeline Neau, researcher for Central America at Amnesty International.

A year ago, in Tocoa, northern Honduras, environmentalist Juan López was shot dead in front of his family, friends and neighbours as he was leaving a religious service. The alleged perpetrator of the shooting and two alleged accomplices have been formally charged and are being held in pretrial detention. However, those who may have ordered his murder have not yet been held to account. Since then, his family and fellow activists have launched a legal battle to seek justice, truth and reparation.

Juan’s murder, like that of Berta Cáceres almost ten years earlier, has left a huge void in the leadership of environmental defence in Honduras. For his community role in promoting ecology and the environment within the Catholic Church, Pope Francis himself at the time mourned Juan’s death.

Juan’s murder, like that of Berta Cáceres almost ten years earlier, has left a huge void in the leadership of environmental defence in Honduras.

Honduras tops the list of per capita killings of environmental defenders worldwide over the last decade, according to reports by Global Witness. In addition to lethal violence, environmental defenders often face threats, harassment, arbitrary detention and even enforced disappearance. All this in a climate of impunity.

At the start of her term in office, the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, promised to protect the environment and those who defend it. However, with just a few months of the term remaining, we note with concern her repeated failure to fulfil those human rights commitments.

Regarding the right to a healthy environment, in 2024 Congress approved a decree to protect the Carlos Escaleras National Park defended by Juan López and his community, a decree that is yet to be implemented. However, Congress also promoted a controversial bill to ease the granting of environmental licences for certain projects. In addition, the president has not yet signed the Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, known as the Escazú Agreement, which, among other issues, includes specific provisions for the protection of environmental defenders.

The murder of Juan López shines a harsh light on these contradictions. The crime was committed in Tocoa, in the Aguán Valley, an area rich in biodiversity and among the most conflict-ridden in the country. Although Juan had precautionary measures granted in his favour by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Honduran authorities failed to guarantee his protection. The National Protection System, responsible for his safety, has been strongly criticized by local and international organizations for its inefficiency.

The history of violence in Aguán goes back a long way. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, banana, palm oil and mining companies have disputed its lands, with the endorsement of the authorities, thereby weakening protection of communal property. Unofficial figures suggest that nearly 200 people have disappeared or been murdered in the region since 2009. In February 2022, to address this serious situation, farmer organizations signed an agreement

with the Honduran government that included the creation of a tripartite commission to investigate human rights violations. However, three years later, no significant progress has been made. Furthermore, in 2023, three individuals associated with the Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods (CMDBCP) – led by Juan – were murdered, with no justice having been served in these cases to date. Others have been forced to leave the region due to the violence.

Juan moved as a child to Bajo Aguán with his family, who were looking to work on the land. It was there that he learned of the challenges facing farming communities and began to get involved in defending their rights. Years later, in 2015, he and other colleagues who shared his faith and activism, concerned about community issues, in particular regarding water, founded the Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods.

The mobilization of the communities of Tocoa came about in response to a series of decisions taken by the Honduran authorities. In 2012, Congress declared what is today the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras Mejía National Park, to protect the area from the effects of heavy industries, including mining. However, a year later, that same Congress decided to extend the Park’s buffer zone, thereby reducing the extent of its most protected area. This opened the door for the government to grant mining permits there. As a result, between 2014 and 2015, the Honduran authorities granted exploration and exploitation concessions to a mining company. Since then, Juan and the Committee organized peacefully to defend the National Park, challenging the legality of the mining concessions and denouncing their impact on the water quality of the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers.

Attacks against Juan and the Committee soon materialized after the mobilizations, with smear campaigns, threats and trials. Several activists, including Juan, were wrongfully imprisoned. Amnesty International declared eight Committee activists prisoners of conscience in 2021; they spent more than two years in prison solely for peacefully defending the environment.

Juan’s murder is not an isolated incident. It is indicative of a systematic pattern of violence and institutional negligence that must stop. In the face of a global climate emergency, protecting the planet cannot come at the cost of human lives.

Juan’s murder is not an isolated event. It is indicative of a systematic pattern of violence and institutional negligence that must stop. In the face of a global climate emergency, protecting the planet cannot come at the cost of human lives.

Honduras will hold presidential elections on 30 November. It is time to demand that protecting the environment and those who defend it becomes a priority on the political agenda. Justice for Juan is a debt owed to his wife and two daughters, to his community and to our planet. Juan López is one of nine cases selected for Amnesty International’s annual global Write for Rights 2025 campaign.

OpEd Originally published in El País Americas: https://elpais.com/america-futura/2025-09-14/justicia-para-juan-es-justicia-para-el-medio-ambiente.html

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Amnesty International condemns the massacre that took place on 11 and 12 September in Labodri, Haiti, where more than forty people were killed and dozens of homes set on fire by gangs, according to civil society organizations.

“The massacre in Labodri is a painful reminder of how precarious state protection is in Haiti. The international community and national authorities cannot remain indifferent while the country’s people continue to be victims of atrocity crimes. We demand immediate action to ensure effective protection and justice for the victims,” said César Marín, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns in the Americas.

The massacre in Labodri is a painful reminder of how precarious state protection is in Haiti. 

César Marín, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns in the Americas.

Amnesty International reiterates the call to members of the UN Security Council to act urgently in the face of the crisis in Haiti by implementing measures that guarantee the enjoyment of human rights and the humanitarian needs of Haitians.

The OAS, CARICOM, donor countries and Haitian national authorities must increase their commitment to finding long-term solutions to the human rights crisis in Haiti by ensuring the active participation of Haitian civil society.

“The Haitian population has the right to live in dignity and safety, without the constant fear of armed gang attacks.As we have already warned during previous episodes of violence, the ineffective response to this crisis only perpetuates the cycle of impunity and exposes more communities like Labodri to the same fate”, concluded César Marín.

The Haitian population has the right to live in dignity and safety, without the constant fear of armed gang attacks.

César Marín.

Amnesty International urges gangs to end attacks on the Haitian population.

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Riva Jalipa is a Researcher and Adviser in Amnesty International’s Economic and Social Justice team leading our work on financing for human rights.

Spurred on by the progress she has seen in civil society activism in Kenya over 15 years of advocacy, she is a firm believer that change can happen and that everyone has a part to play.

Following the Fourth Financing for Development Conference in Seville in July 2025, Riva makes the urgent case for reforming global financial systems, reparative justice and economic and fiscal sovereignty for low-income countries.

My dad was a humanitarian doctor, so I was born where he was working at the time, which happened to be a Thai refugee camp amongst people fleeing the Khmer Rouge. Our family moved from crisis to crisis following my father’s work: the famine in Ethiopia, the civil war in Mozambique, the collapse of Somalia.

The dichotomy of my own personal comfort in the context of so much suffering brought out a sense of social justice in me. I needed to be a part of change.

Through my work in governance and accountability, I became increasingly interested in long-term development solutions and how budgets can influence the realisation of rights. It became ever clearer that money is at the root of everything: who has it and who doesn’t and why they don’t.

All human rights require resources

Every conflict is ultimately a struggle over resources. Whether it’s land, financial or natural resources: there is always a contention over wanting more or keeping what you have.

In this context, socio-economic justice is simply the idea that everyone has the right to be fulfilled and to live a decent life. Without resources to facilitate those things for yourself as an individual, a family, a community or as a country, those rights are more likely to be violated.

When fuel tax was increased in Kenya there were big protests. Many people work informal jobs so if they can’t transport themselves to work it’s a big problem. It means no pay and therefore nothing to eat. A casual day job, that someone would need to travel to, pays a few hundred shillings but two thirds of that goes on food.

This ability to enjoy essential rights and live with humanity is part of socio-economic justice. However, these rights are affected by the rules that allow money to be made, shared and used fairly, and by whom. Therefore, it is crucial to tie these rights to the political economy and the way things work at the global level.

The ongoing economic legacies of inhumanity

From slavery to colonialism and apartheid, to neo-colonialism: our world has seen obscene levels of inhumanity. Many of the economic drivers of these systems of dominance continue to shape our world today. The following are just some of the worst examples.

Double taxation agreements were established between countries so that both states do not impose taxation on the same taxpayer’s income in both jurisdictions which could possibly tax that income. At least half of them were negotiated during colonialism giving the colonising country greater rights to the tax. Many of these are still in force today.

France invaded and colonised Haiti in the 17^th century and then post-independence crippled the country in the early 19^th century with debt requiring it to pay 150 million francs over 100 years ($560 million in today’s dollars) in order for it to be recognised as an independent state. In Kenya, we spend over two thirds of our revenue on repaying debt. It is our biggest budget item, year on year, far higher than health, education or social protection.

The Western world continues to attempt to dress up its economic dominance with more virtuous-sounding terms such as ‘investment’. However, really it’s often about extracting precious resources such as, uranium, cobalt or lithium. Now that everyone is transitioning to renewable energy, we’re witnessing a scramble for these minerals: a kind of green colonialism. Shouldn’t states like the DRC be able to make use of those resources for its own people, rather than electric vehicle companies in Europe? Isn’t that true economic sovereignty?

The more I’ve looked at economic history, the more I remember Thomas Sankara’s words shortly before he was assassinated for trying to unite African countries against debt bondage. The people who give us loans and prescribe solutions for us are the very architects of these odious and illegitimate debts. We must have our own fiscal freedom and solutions.

Fighting back: building a progressive global economic architecture

In November 2023, the Africa Group at the UN tabled a resolution to begin the negotiations for a  UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNTC). These countries are taking ownership of their economic sovereignty. This is history in the making.

There’s a quote I love from Maria Ressa, an incredible journalist and fellow Filipino compatriot. She says that we are at our most powerful at the moment, or threat, of being violated because that’s the point at which we can hold the line. Every day we let an injustice happen, we create a new normal.

That’s why it was important for Amnesty to be at the recent Financing for Development conference in Seville: to hold the line and advance it with other civil society activists. To push for the democratisation of global economic governance in order to adequately finance the sustainable development goals.

Corporates were very much there and formed a big constituency seeking to promote private or corporate solutions to public problems. We cannot let them determine our futures for us.

We can and must fight for a fairer world

When I first started on this work, the Convention on Tax was a pipe dream, but now it is happening with negotiations underway.

There are times when it’s hard to imagine change will ever happen, but it can. Just remember people fought and won the rights to be free from slavery, to vote and to end racist segregation. And now the global majority are fighting for their long overdue economic sovereignty.

We have to fight. You never get everything you hope for, but you have to be there to speak truth to power with your banners, your voice, your protests, your boycotts, your litigation or flotillas to Gaza. Everyone has a role to play.

So, if these issues touch you in any way, learn more about them! And the more you learn, the more people you will find who you can work with, both inside and outside Amnesty. That’s what’s beautiful about Amnesty, we know that injustice is personal and we can work together to make change happen.

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In response to a report submitted by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, to the 60^th session of the UN Human Rights Council today concluding that Israeli authorities and forces have committed and are continuing to commit genocide in the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard said:  

“As Israeli authorities and forces intensify their brutal campaign of annihilation, particularly in Gaza City, the UN Commission of Inquiry’s damning report provides further confirmation of what Amnesty International and others have been concluding for months: that the Israeli authorities and Israeli forces have committed and are continuing to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.  

“Building on its previous report, the latest report by the Commission of Inquiry concludes that there is reasonable ground to conclude that Israeli forces and authorities have committed four acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, namely: killing members of the group; causing them serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part; and imposing measures intended to prevent births. Crucially, the report also concludes that the Israeli authorities and Israeli forces have had and continue to have the genocidal intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Statements made by Israeli authorities provide direct evidence for genocidal intent, and the pattern of conduct of Israeli forces provide circumstantial evidence that genocidal intent is the only reasonable inference that could be drawn from the totality of evidence.  

“The Commission of Inquiry joins a growing number of international human rights bodies and experts in concluding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. 

There is no more time for excuses: as the evidence of Israel’s genocide continues to mount the international community cannot claim they didn’t know.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“There is no more time for excuses: as the evidence of Israel’s genocide continues to mount the international community cannot claim they didn’t know. This report must compel states to take immediate action and fulfill their legal and moral obligation to halt Israel’s genocide. The international community, especially those states with influence on Israel, must exert all possible diplomatic, economic, and political pressure to ensure an immediate and lasting ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza. The findings of this report should compel all states to halt all arms and security transfers to Israel to re-evaluate their trade ties with Israel to ensure they are not contributing to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, apartheid, other crimes against humanity or war crimes, or the unlawful occupation of the OPT. 

The very existence of Palestinians in Gaza is under threat. The scale of deaths and destruction has already been cataclysmic, but we are at a juncture where states have the tools to prevent further crimes. They must demonstrate that they also have the will to do so.

Agnès Callamard.

“With Israel intensifying its brutal campaign of destruction and displacement, especially in Gaza City, including through the mass forced displacement of its residents and the erasure of its millennia-old heritage, the stakes have never been higher. The very existence of Palestinians in Gaza is under threat. The scale of deaths and destruction has already been cataclysmic, but we are at a juncture where states have the tools to prevent further crimes. They must demonstrate that they also have the will to do so.” 

“The UN Commission of Inquiry’s report also warns the international community of its serious concerns that the specific intent to destroy the Palestinians as a whole has extended to the rest of the OPT, that is the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.  

Amnesty International urges all states, beginning with those that have supported Israel for the last two years to shift course, to hear the findings of expert after expert, and to do all in their power to protect Palestinians and stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza and prevent its possible spread to the rest of the OPT.” 

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