Honduran hitmen kill fifth indigenous land activist amid protests against mining and illegal logging

Honduran hitmen kill fifth indigenous land activist amid protests against mining and illegal logging
June 23, 2015

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Erasio Vieda Ponce has become the fifth victim of a spate of murders targeting land activists in a small community in northern Honduras, allegedly at the hands of hitmen employed by local landowners. (1) He was an indigenous leader of the Tolupán community in Locomapa, whose members have been killed, threatened and criminalized for taking a stand against mining and illegal logging on their land.

Witnesses say that Ponce was murdered by two brothers, Selvin and Marlon Matute, who have outstanding arrest warrants for killing three Tolupán leaders in August 2013 but are regularly seen in Locomapa. (2) Just two months ago, another of the community’s members was beaten to death after receiving threats against his life. According to local rights group The Movement for Dignity and Justice (Movimiento Amplio por la Dignidad y La Justicia - MADJ) the local authorities have done nothing to bring the killers to justice.

Global Witness drew attention to the plight of the Locomapa community in its April 2015 exposé How Many More?, which found Honduras to be the world’s most dangerous country per capita to be an environmental or land defender, with at least 101 people killed between 2010 and 2014. (3) The organisation is calling on the Honduran government to provide urgent protection to Ponce’s family and his colleagues in Locomapa, and to hold the perpetrators to account.

“Honduran indigenous peoples are being gunned down for simply defending their rights to their own land,” says Billy Kyte, campaigner with Global Witness. “In Locomapa, assassins continue to roam free, regularly spotted by the community whilst the authorities do nothing. The Tolupán are paying in blood for their government’s inaction."

More:
https://www.globalwitness.org/press-releases/honduran-hitmen-kill-fifth-indigenous-land-activist-amid-protests-against-mining-and-illegal-logging/