PBI-Honduras accompanies Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) in call for application of Amnesty Law

COFADEH video: “#Cofadeh accompanied Jose Antonio Torres Meza since he was persecuted by the coup regime in 2009, 12 years later we advocate for his final release, being the first beneficiary of the Legislative Decree 004-2022 for the political prisoners and defenders of National Sovereignty.”

On March 3, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “PBI accompanies @defencofadeh [Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras] in the search for the application of the Amnesty Law in cases of human rights defenders. We recall that human rights defenders must be able to carry out their work in conditions of safety and freedom.”

Their Twitter thread adds:

“We applaud the release of José Antonio Torres Meza, the first beneficiary of Legislative Decree 004-2022 for political prisoners and defenders of National Sovereignty.”

Recently @defencofadeh requested the application of Legislative Decree 004-2022 in the case of Vicente Castro, Juan Mejía and Santos Vásquez, defenders of the land and members of the Associative Peasant Company ‘11 de Marzo’.”

Decree 004-2022

COFADEH has explained: “Torres Meza was the first beneficiary of the Legislative Decree 004-2022 for the political prisoners and defenders of National Sovereignty.”

It has also stated: “The Law for the Reconstruction of the State of Law and so that the facts are not repeated, considers Political Amnesty to defenders of the Homeland Sovereignty, among them farmworkers.”

José Antonio Torres Meza

On February 24, Defensores en linea reported: “After 2:00 pm this Thursday, February 24, Torres Meza, 40, met first with his legal defense team from the Committee of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), then with observers from Peace Brigades International (PBI), with whom he walked to the exit of the ‘El Porvenir’ medium-security prison to merge into a hug with his nephew Mario Joel.”

That article adds: “The lawyers Cynthia Turcios and Dora Oliva, presented the letter of release from prison, so that the first beneficiary of the Political Amnesty according to Legislative Decree 04-2022, can reunite with his four minor children and be able to visit his mother’s grave.”

Torres Meza had lived in exile in El Salvador since 2010 but was arrested on February 11 of this year when he returned to Honduras for his mother’s funeral.

Vicente Castro, Juan Mejía and Santos Vásquez

In March 2019, Business and Human Rights explained: “Two members of the peasant organization Peasant base (Base campesina), located in Siguatepeque, Honduras, José Santos Vázquez and Juan Mejía, were accused of encroachment on land, designated for logging.”

That article adds: “The members of organization are trying to recover the land for the support of their families. The president of the peasant base, Vicente Castro, came to show solidarity with his criminalized comrades, but when he arrived to the court, police arrested him, also, and accused him of the same crimes.”

“The lawyers of the Access to Justice Area of ​​the Committee of Relatives of Detained Persons Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), teaming with attorney Elvis Colindres, will assume the defense of the three peasant leaders.”

That article concludes: “According to the president Vicente Castro, at least 120 families that comprise 5 to 6 members each, decided to recover about 90 “manzanas” (blocks) of land in order to plant their crops and support their families.”

We continue to follow this.