Honduras: Calls to Protect Witness to Berta Caceres Murder Grow

[Judi Lynn]

Honduras: Calls to Protect Witness to Berta Caceres Murder Grow

Published 6 March 2016 (8 hours 3 minutes ago)

The night Berta Caceres was killed, an environmental activist was also injured but eventually found escaped from the attackers.


Various human rights group accused Honduran authorities of impeding Mexican activist Gustavo Castro Soto’s return to his country, where he was seeking protection until he would testify as the only witness of the assassination of indigenous leader Berta Caceres.

“We demand the Honduran state to immediately condemn the murder of Berta Caceres and to protect Gustavo Petro, another internationally-renown activist, who was injured during the events of Thursday's dawn,” said Friends of the Earth in a communique.

Castro Soto was heading toward the international airport of Tegucigualpa Sunday, in order to return to Mexico, but Honduran officials refused to let him fly around 5 a.m. local time, informed the organization Otros Mundos Chiapas – founded by Castro Soto.

The group added that Castro Soto's life was still in danger, as he became the only witness in the investigation over Caceres' murder, and that the Mexican Embassy in Honduras even had to drive him back to the Embassy in the official car in order to protect him.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Honduras-Calls-to-Protect-Witness-to-Berta-Caceres-Murder-Grow-20160306-0040.html

[Eugene]

1. From the Guardian, March 8...

Source: The Guardian

Berta Cáceres murder: Honduras blocks sole witness from leaving country

David Agren in Mexico City
Tuesday 8 March 2016 23.19 GMT

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In a statement on Tuesday, Otros Mundos and Friends of the Earth Mexico said the order was “unjust and unnecessary” as Castro has “provided sufficient information to prosecutors to clarify the facts of the case [and] has not been informed what procedures remain outstanding”.

“Gustavo Castro is not being treated as a victim of an assassination attempt, instead his life is being put at risk, along with his right to free movement.” The statement said that when Castro attempted to catch a flight out of the country on Sunday, he was stopped at the immigration desk of the Tegucigalpa airport and refused permission to proceed to his gate.

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Cáceres’s nephew, Silvio Carrillo, said that Soto was not allowed to sleep or change out of his bloodied clothes after the attack. “The treatment (Castro) received for three days was tantamount to abuse,” he said.

In an open letter published by Honduran newspapers, Castro alleged the crime scene was altered, while he was only offered medical attention three days after the attack.

“I did not hear cars arriving or leaving when the murder was committed; the crime scene was modified and altered,” Castro wrote. “They sent the majority of the people from Copinh” – the organisation Cáceres founded in 1993 – “to give statements and not the suspects.”

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/08/berta-caceres-honduras-blocks-sole-witness-from-leaving-country