The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:
“’We warn that the ‘terrorism’ designation will be used for political ends, and we call upon the country’s organizations to take immediate action before a de facto declaration of war against the people which has nothing to do with gangs escalates further.’
This excerpt is part of a statement issued by @arcahhonduras [the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras] outside the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Tegucigalpa, following the filing of a formal complaint against three members of parliament for inciting hatred and for a ‘direct attack on human rights in Honduras.’”
ARCAH also posted: “ARCAH—joined by organizations advocating for human rights, the common goods of nature, the rights of children and adolescents, and diverse groups—has filed a formal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office against deputies Francis Cabrera, Rashid Mejía, and Saraí Espinal.”
ARCAH explains: “This citizen complaint seeks an investigation into the anti-human rights rhetoric they have publicly espoused—rhetoric that disregards and rejects the existence of constitutional guarantees, as well as the international commitments made by the State of Honduras regarding children and adolescents.”
And the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras posted on social media: “The complaint was filed with the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Human Rights of the Public Prosecutor’s Office by the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation in Honduras (ARCAH), with the support of the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras, La Ilimitada [a self-managed cultural space], COIPRODEN [the Coordinating Body of Private Organisations for Children, Adolescents, Young People and their Rights], the Arcoíris LGBTI Association of Honduras, and various other human rights organizations.”
Criterio.hn reports: “Christopher Castillo, a member of the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras (ARCAH), questioned the allegations of the three congressmen and described them as hate speech that, in his opinion, threatens the freedoms and guarantees of the population. Castillo warned that the fight against crime should not be used as a justification to restrict rights and recalled that organized crime has also had links with state structures.”
That article also highlights: “Marcela Licona, a member of ARCAH, reported that, in addition to filing a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the organizations went to the National Human Rights Commissioner (Conadeh) to file a complaint about the situation of defenselessness in the face of the loss of constitutional guarantees and the violation of human rights.”
Photo by ARCAH.
Photo by ARCAH.
The Criterio.hn article further explains: “Licona expressed concern about the speeches of deputies Cabrera, Espinal and Mejía, which she described as anti-rights and offensive, considering that they stigmatize and threaten the guarantees of Honduran children and youth. She warned that these approaches ignore the contexts of violence and vulnerability to which these sectors are exposed, particularly in the face of the violence that affects the country.”
Accompaniment
Peace Brigades International has been accompanying the Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras (ARCAH) since September 2022.
PBI-Honduras has explained: “ARCAH is a space for community articulation and an anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, anti-colonialist and anti-classist social movement that seeks to defend territories and common goods from any project that threatens the peace and cosmovision of communities.”
Peace Brigades International-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met Castillo in Tegucigalpa on October 28, 2024, then again on March 3, 2026.
