PBI-Honduras observes presentation of amparo appeal in the disappearance of four Garifuna social leaders

On August 24, PBI-Honduras tweeted:

“Today we observe the presentation of an appeal for amparo [remedy or action for the protection of constitutional rights] against the Attorney General for omission in the investigation of the crime of forced disappearance suffered by four social leaders of the community #Garífuna of Triunfo de la Cruz in July 2020.”

Photo: Anti-riot police outside the Honduran Supreme Court as Garifuna leaders arrive to present the legal petition.

The PBI-Honduras Twitter thread also noted:

“Yesterday we met with the lawyer Edy Tábora from @BufeteBJP [Justice for the Peoples Law Firm], who highlighted the importance of clarifying these events, which occurred more than two years ago.

Through @ofraneh [the Honduran Black Fraternal Organization], the Garífuna people defend their ancestral territory against the planning of tourism projects. In 2015, the @CorteIDH [the Inter-American Court of Human Rights] found #Honduras responsible for the violation of the right to collective property to the detriment of two Garífuna communities.

Recently, the Public Ministry opened a criminal investigation against Miriam Miranda of @ofraneh, the lawyer Edy Tábora and the minister Luther Castillo [an Indigenous Garifuna physician and the Secretary of Science, Technology, and Scientific Innovation], for an action carried out at the MP’s facilities to claim the ancestral rights of the Garífuna people.”

Criterio.hn reports: “The disappearance of the president of the board of trustees of the community of Triunfo de la Cruz, Alberth Sneider Centeno Tomas; together with Suami Mejía García, Gerardo Róchez Cálix and Milton Martínez Álvarez it happened more than two years ago, and to this day the authorities continue to keep a hermetic silence about the case.”

The full Criterio.hn article on the amparo presentation can be read at: Ante negligencia del MP, presentan amparo para garantizar investigación por desaparición de jóvenes Garífunas.

Telesur also reports on this at: OFRANEH Presents Legal Disposition Against Honduran Prosecutor.