PBI-Honduras present as UN report on human rights released noting the murder of Guapinol River defender Juan Lopez
Photo: Bardia Jebelí, Deputy Representative and Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Honduras, presented the report on human rights in Honduras 2024. Photo by ReporterosdeInvestigación.
On April 9, PBI-Honduras posted:
“Yesterday we were present at the presentation of the Annual Report 2024 of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras [OHCHR]. In 2024, according to OHCHR data, 8 human rights defenders and journalists were murdered, one of them was the environmental defender Juan López of the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods [CMDBCP]. In the report, the OHCHR states that “[t]his death occurred in a context of constant attacks, threats, intimidation and criminalization of defenders” and that “the identification of the intellectual authors is still pending, which is essential to guarantee access to the right to justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition’…”
The full passage from the report reads:
“In September, Juan López, environmentalist and member of the CMDBCP [the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods], was murdered, emblematic defender of the Guapinol River against extractive projects. His death occurred in a context of constant attacks, threats, intimidation and criminalization of defenders. The defender and the CMDBCP were beneficiaries of precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights implemented through the National System for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Operators (SNP). Due to the risk they presented in 2024, the competent authorities of the System revised the protection plans on two occasions. However, there was no substantive progress in implementation of the measures until after the death of Mr. López. The investigation of the murder led to the capture of the alleged perpetrators however, the identification of the intellectual authors is still pending, which is essential to guarantee access to the right to justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.”
Photo: A photo of Juan Lopez as Bardia Jebelí presents the report.
Corporate connections in the Global North
Peace Brigades International-Canada remains particularly attentive to any connections between Canadian and U.S. capital in the Los Pinares megaproject.
An investigative report by Contra Corriente and Drilled reveals that U.S.-based Nucor maintained a relationship with Inversiones Los Pinares, the company behind a controversial mining megaproject in Honduras, at least until September 30, 2023, despite having claimed to have ended their ties in October 2019.
A previous investigative report by Contracorriente, the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP) and Univision Investiga, found that the U.S. firm has partnered with the project since March 2015 with the Panamanian company NE Holdings Subsidiary and since August 2016 through a second Panamanian firm with a similar name, NE Holdings. A spokesperson for Nucor said in November 2020 that the company decided to sell the shares in NE Holdings in October 2019.
The Charlotte, North Carolina-based Nucor has an office in Burlington, Ontario. Investors in Nucor have included the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (an institutional investor that manages the Québec Pension Plan), the Royal Bank of Canada, the Bank of Montreal, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The Valley Forge, Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Group, the largest shareholder in Nucor, has an office in Toronto, Ontario.
Photo: Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. is located in the Bay Adelaide Centre at 22 Adelaide Street West, Suite 2500, in Toronto.
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has accompanied Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa (CMDBCPT) processes and Guapinol River defenders since January 2019.
Peace Brigades International-Canada visited Tocoa (where Mr. Lopez was killed) and the village of Guapinol (and saw the Guapinol River threatened by the Los Pinares megaproject that Mr. Lopez opposed) in October 2024.
We remain attentive to this situation and the safety of Guapinol River defenders.
0 Comments