Video still: Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres, general coordinator of COPINH, speaks at the GIEI presentation this morning.
The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) has posted on Facebook:
“The truth they wanted to hide is about to come out.
On Monday, January 12, the GIEI [Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts] Honduras Report will be presented: an independent investigation that marks a turning point in the fight for #JusticeForBerta.
Monday, January 12
9:00 a.m. Honduras | 10:00 a.m. Washington, D.C.
Live: youtube.com/@noticiasCanal8
The truth is coming out.
Justice is not negotiable.”
This morning, COPINH has additionally posted:
“Ten years after her planting, the Group managed to clarify the truth behind the planning and execution of the murder of Berta Cáceres.
Read the full report to know all the truth: https://9ac69281-0895-4461-a8ab-fe779cfb9e33.filesusr.com/ugd/94b2ad_1bb0f67f3fab4fbcb624ecaa86856164.pdf.”
And COPINH now highlights in this social media post:
“The murder of Berta Cáceres was directly linked to the economic interests of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, owned by the Atala Zablah family’s business group.”
Criterio.hn further reports:
“#THE LATEST~ A group of independent experts appointed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights presented a report revealing that the murder of Berta Cáceres was an economic crime, foreseeable and preventable, supported by an alliance between business elites, the state, and development banks.
It wasn’t just a dam: the investigation into Agua Zarca uncovers a network of offshore companies, the diversion of millions of dollars, and payments to the military, police, officials, and the media to impose the project on Lenca territory.
The report proves that money from development banks ended up financing violence, illegal surveillance, and community division in Río Blanco, while the real business leaders behind DESA remain uninvestigated.
500,000 lempiras, three checks, and an order “from above”: the money trail that connects DESA’s financial structure to the hitman who carried out the murder of Berta Cáceres.
Ten years later, the Agua Zarca concession is still in force, DESA continues to exist, and the community of Río Blanco still does not have collective title: impunity is also a form of violence against the Lenca people.”
Two days ago, El Siglo explained:
“The GIEI’s report will include findings regarding the actors responsible for the crime, as well as recommendations for the guarantee of justice and reparation, and represents a milestone on the path to justice for Berta Cáceres, her family, and the Lenca people by rigorously and independently reconstructing the truth about the murder.”
And yesterday, El Pais reported:
“In their work report, which is presented this Monday, and to which EL PAÍS has had access these days, the investigators point out that the criminal plot used funds from development credit banks, in Europe and Central America, to pay the hitmen who killed Cáceres. The GIEI details the paths of the money, the meanders and tunnels that the plot arranged to disguise its origin, until its collection in three checks, for more than half a million lempiras, about 25,000 dollars, and its final distribution among the hitmen, now imprisoned.”
That article highlights:
“[The GIEI] indicates without a doubt that at least part of the money used to pay the hitmen, 25,000 dollars, ‘originated in funds drawn by the [Dutch development credit bank] FMO and [the Central American bank] CABEI, in accordance with a payment order issued within the framework of the loan extended by those institutions.’”
This morning, the EU-LAT Advocacy Network also posted on LinkedIn:
“Today, the Interdisciplinary Group of International Experts (GIEI), established to investigate the murder of environmental defender Berta Cáceres, will deliver its final report to the State of Honduras, to Berta Cáceres’s family, and to the communities affected by the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project.
Monday, January 12
9:00 a.m. Honduras | 4:00 p.m. Brussels
Live: https://lnkd.in/ed4CJdwi
The GIEI, composed of three high-profile international analysts, has a direct mandate from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to conduct an independent and impartial investigation and clarify the facts surrounding the murder of the Lenca leader.
Ten years after Berta Cáceres’s murder, this new GIEI report sheds light on the financial network and the corporate and state responsibilities behind the crime.
This case is of paramount importance to the European Union and essential for the protection of human rights defenders in Honduras and throughout Latin America. The Berta Cáceres case is a beacon of hope for breaking the impunity that too often surrounds cases involving environmental defense and that weakens the rule of law and democracy.
From the EULAT Network, we urge European institutions and their Member States to continue supporting the case:
– follow-up on the recommendations presented;
– guarantees of progress in the intellectual audit investigations; and
– a comprehensive reparations plan for the affected communities, COPINH, and the family of human rights defender Berta Cáceres.
A historic opportunity to learn firsthand about the findings of the GIEI (Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts) and to reflect on the next steps to guarantee truth, justice, and non-repetition.”
We continue to follow this.
More updates to come.
Further reading: PBI-Honduras at IACHR GIEI ceremony as it begins investigation of the murder of Berta Cáceres (PBI-Canada article, February 16, 2025).
