Gunmen kill Honduran indigenous, environmentalist leader

[Judi Lynn]

Gunmen kill Honduran indigenous, environmentalist leader

Freddy Cuevas, Associated Press

Updated 2:54 pm, Thursday, March 3, 2016

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduran indigenous leader Berta Caceres, who won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her role in fighting a dam project, was murdered Thursday.

Caceres, a Lenca Indian activist, had previously complained of receiving death threats from police, soldiers and local landowners because of her work.

Tomas Membreno, a member of her group, the Indian Council of People's Organizations of Honduras, group said at least two assailants broke into a home and shot Caceres to death early Thursday in the town of La Esperanza. "Honduras has lost a brave and committed social activist," Membreno said in a statement.

The killing appeared to be targeted: A Mexican rights activist at the house was only slightly wounded in the attack, but Caceres's body had four gunshot wounds. Police said they had detained a suspect, but did not identify the person.

More:

http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Gunmen-kill-Honduran-Indian-environmentalist-6867750.php

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141367531

[center]

Berta Cáceres





Berta Cáceres [/center]

[Judi Lynn]

1. Honduras activists need protection after land rights leader's killing: campaigners

Honduras activists need protection after land rights leader's killing: campaigners

Reuters
By Chris Arsenault
2 hours ago

TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Honduras must do more to protect land rights activists, campaign groups said, after the killing of an award-winning indigenous environmentalist on Thursday. Berta Caceres, winner of the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, was shot dead by two men at her home, Honduran security minister Julian Pacheco said,condemning the attack.

One person, a security guard at the house, was detained in connection with the killing in La Esperanza,112 miles (180 kilometers) west of the capital Tegucigalpa, Pacheco told local media.

Threats against Caceres and other activists had increased after protests against the construction of the $50 million Agua Zarca dam that threatened to displace hundreds of Indians.

Caceres, a 43-year-old teacher, had been granted emergency protection measures by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, but she had said the Honduran government was not implementing the procedures.

More:
https://news.yahoo.com/honduras-activists-protection-land-rights-leaders-killing-campaigners-194206051.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Honduras: Indigenous Leader Murdered Despite Police Protection

Honduras: Indigenous Leader Murdered Despite Police Protection
Published 3 March 2016 (7 hours 24 minutes ago)

Several unknown assailants broke into Caceres' home early Thursday and killed her. She was a prominent Indigenous and social movement leader. Berta Caceres, the coordinator and co-founder of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras, or COPIHN, was killed by unknown assailants early Thursday morning at 1:00 a.m. local time inside her home in La Esperanza in the western province of Intibuca.

Caceres was leader of the Lenca Indigenous community and was a staunch human rights defender. She won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015. Her assassination has rapidly sent shock waves across the country and sparked outrage over her death.
Several unknown assailants broke into Caceres' home early Thursday and killed her. She was a prominent Indigenous and social movement leader.

Berta Caceres, the coordinator and co-founder of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras, or COPIHN, was killed by unknown assailants early Thursday morning at 1:00 a.m. local time inside her home in La Esperanza in the western province of Intibuca.

Caceres was leader of the Lenca Indigenous community and was a staunch human rights defender. She won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015. Her assassination has rapidly sent shock waves across the country and sparked outrage over her death.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Honduras-Indigenous-Leader-Murdered-Despite-Police-Protection-20160303-0010.html

[flamingdem]

3. This is terrible nt

[Judi Lynn]

4. You are so right. If only the truth would be told about this assassination. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

5. Time: The Prominent Environmental Activist Berta Cáceres Has Been Assassinated in Honduras

The Prominent Environmental Activist Berta Cáceres Has Been Assassinated in Honduras

Rishi Iyengar @Iyengarish
March 3, 2016

The 44-year-old activist had been under threat for her campaign against a hydroelectric project



Honduran environment and human-rights activist Berta Cáceres, winner of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her advocacy efforts, was assassinated in her hometown on Thursday.

Cáceres was shot by at least two gunmen who broke down the door of the house where she was staying in La Esperanza, Honduras, the New York Times reported.

The 44-year-old mother of four is best known for her grassroots mobilization of opposition to the Agua Zarca Dam, a hydroelectric project on a river sacred to the indigenous Lenca people that would have cut off their water supply. Through a nonprofit she had co-founded in 1993, called the National Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), Cáceres succeeded in forcing the withdrawal of Chinese company Sinohydro — the world’s largest dam builder — from the project.

. . .

Violence against human-rights and environmental campaigners in Honduras has markedly increased since a 2009 coup, and investigations into their murders and assassinations often fall by the wayside.

More:
http://time.com/4247379/berta-caceres-assassinated-honduras-activist-environment/