Photo: PBI-Honduras accompanying Dina Meza in 2019.
The Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Honduras (ASOPODEHU) has posted on social media:
“Human rights are not improvised or negotiated. They are guaranteed.
The Secretariat of Human Rights is not a symbolic position or a political appointment: it is a constitutional obligation of the Honduran State and a key element for the protection of dignity, life, and fundamental freedoms.
In a context where violence, impunity, the criminalization of protest, and attacks on journalists and human rights defenders persist, the selection of the head of this institution must be based on technical, ethical, and democratic criteria, not partisan interests.”
La Tribuna reports: “The Association for Democracy and Human Rights (ASOPODEHU) and Young Promoters and Defenders of Human Rights (JOPRODEH) issued a national and international alert statement in response to public information about a possible dissolution of the Honduran Human Rights Secretariat [SEDH], considering that it would be an event of ‘extreme institutional gravity’ and a direct risk to the protection of fundamental rights in the country.”
The article adds: “[The organizations] also emphasized that the SEDH fulfills strategic and irreplaceable functions, including the coordination of the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators, and Justice Operators, as well as the mechanism for attention to people displaced by violence. Weakening the institution, they warned, could increase the risk of irreparable damage, including attacks on life, personal integrity and freedom.”
Excerpt from statement.
The Associated Press has reported: “Trump-backed businessman Nasry Asfura was sworn in [on January 27] as president of Honduras, and pledged to create jobs, crack down on crime and improve key social services like education and health care.”
The day prior to the swearing in of Asfura, Infobae reported: “The next administration headed by Nasry ‘Tito’ Asfura in Honduras is preparing to implement an ambitious reduction of the state apparatus. The elimination of 38 public institutions and a strict austerity policy define a structural shift whose purpose is to optimize spending and generate substantial savings.”
Dina Meza, the director of the Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Honduras (ASOPODEHU), has been accompanied by Peace Brigades International since 2014.
We continue to follow this.
