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This incident is only the most recent in a series of mounting threats and violent attacks faced by the Garífuna community and their leaders over the last several years. Powerful business interests, who seek to benefit from developing Garífuna territory into major tourism projects, engage in intimidation and violence, with virtual impunity. Following the murder of two Garífuna community members in San Juan earlier this year and violent attacks against the San Juan community by security guards working for the real estate company, Ms. García and other Garífuna leaders are in need of immediate protection. Urge the government of Honduras to protect the safety of Garífuna rights activists and ensure that those responsible for violent threats and criminal attacks against peaceful community leaders are brought to justice. Tell Me More The Garífuna are descendents of Africans and native Carib and Arawak Indians, and they represent a sizeable percentage of Central America’s coastal inhabitants. For over 200 years, the Garífuna have managed to maintain a strong collective identity, including a distinct language, traditions and a communal way of life. The Garífuna have preserved their rich cultural heritage despite facing discrimination, including lack of adequate education or health services and entrenched poverty. For generations, the Afro-Honduran Garífuna community has resided along the northern coast of Honduras and in La Mosquitia in the east. Many of the core Garífuna religious and cultural practices are inextricably linked to the land, including their collective claim to certain territories. But because the Garífuna live on a prime section of coastal territory, the growth of the tourism industry threatens to undermine their way of life and encroaches on what they regard as their ancestral lands. Powerful business interests, which expect to benefit from major tourist projects and demand for beachfront property, have employed tactics from land invasion to intimidation and violence to secure possession of lands that they can then sell for a considerable profit. The growth of tourism has been accompanied by a dramatic rise in the number and intensity of threats to Garífuna leaders who seek to ensure that the rights of their community are protected. In particular, the real estate company Promociones y Turismo (PROMOTUR), a wealthy and politically well-connected corporation that has long been engaged in a land dispute with the local Garífuna community of San Juan, is believed by Garífuna activists and their supporters to be behind much of the intimidation and threats aimed at community leaders. International financial organizations are also playing a role in this conflict. The Inter-American Development Bank partly funds a planned massive hotel complex, the Los Micos Beach & Golf Resort in the Tela Bay region in northern Honduras, a controversial project that the Garífuna community believes will have a devastating impact on its land and resources. The Inspection Panel of the World Bank is currently investigating claims by the Garífuna community in Honduras that a land administration project it funds will have a negative impact on them. On May 30, 2005, Gregoria Flores, the General Coordinator of the Fraternal Black Honduran Organization (OFRANEH), an organization that represents the rights of the local Garífuna community, was shot and wounded as she was collecting testimony to present a few days later to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Only a few months before, several agents of the Criminal Investigative Division – some of them wearing hoods – illegally entered and searched the home of another OFRANEH leader, Miriam Miranda, claiming they were searching for weapons and stolen goods. Afterward, the judge who had issued the warrant described this apparent act of intimidation as nothing but an “intelligence error.” There have been no effective investigations into these incidents. Following the attack on Ms. Flores, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a resolution acknowledging the precarious security situation of the Garífuna activists and asking the Honduran government to adopt protective measures for Ms. Flores, her family, and other members of OFRANEH. To date, the state has not effectively implemented these measures and Garífuna activists remain vulnerable to intimidation and violent attacks. The home of another Garífuna leader in San Juan, Wilfredo Guerrero, was burned down on November 7, 2005. Although Mr. Guerrero was not home, crucial documents related to his community’s territorial disputes were destroyed in the fire. Wilfredo had denounced attempts by politicians and businessmen to expropriate the communal territories of San Juan and, as a result, has received numerous threats. Then on January 15 of this year, armed security guards believed to be employed by PROMOTUR attacked members of the Garífuna community of San Juan, following a disagreement with the company about the building of a wall on disputed territory. In retaliation for their protests to the local authorities, the guards apparently shot at unarmed members of the community, including at Mr. Guerrero. In late February, the bodies of two San Juan community members were found near Tela Bay. The youths had reportedly been detained the night before by public security forces assigned to protect the Los Micos tourism project zone. No one has been brought to justice for these murders and no explanation has been provided for their deaths. On June 22, the President of the San Juan Tela Patronato, Jessica García was approached at her home by an unidentified man, who offered her money if she agreed to sign a document surrendering ownership of communal Garífuna lands in San Juan to the company PROMOTUR. When she refused, the man put a gun to her head and forced her to sign. He threatened her life and the lives of her children if she publicized the document. The document (a copy of which has been reviewed by Human Rights First) stipulates that the disputed territories would immediately be turned over to PROMOTUR, that the Garífuna community would desist from any further legal actions or complaints against PROMOTUR, and that the company would have the right to evict and relocate Garífuna currently residing on the land they claim for their tourism project. Next to Ms. García’s signature is that of Jaime Rosenthal, the owner of PROMOTUR. The Honduran government has initiated no investigations into the grave threats to the lives of Jessica García or her family, despite the systematic intimidation and violence to which the Garífuna community has been subject. In fact, no one has been brought to account for any of the attacks against Garífuna activists and, despite calls from the Inter-American Court of Human Right and numerous human rights organizations, no effective measures to protect the safety and rights of Afro-descendent community leaders have been implemented.
Sample Letter: Manuel Zelaya Dear President Zelaya: I am writing to express my deep concern about the safety of Jessica García, a Garífuna community leader and President of the San Juan Tela Patronato. On June 22, Ms. García was approached at her home by an unidentified man, who offered her money if she agreed to sign a document surrendering ownership of communal Garífuna lands in San Juan to the real estate company, PROMOTUR. When she refused, the man put a gun to her head and forced her to sign. He threatened her life and lives of her children if she publicized the document. The document stipulates that the disputed territories would immediately be turned over to PROMOTUR, that the Garífuna community would desist from any further legal actions or complaints against PROMOTUR, and that the company would have the right to evict and relocate Garífuna currently residing on the land they claim for their tourism project. Next to Ms. García’s signature is that of Jaime Rosenthal, the owner of PROMOTUR. Apparently, there has been no effective investigation into the incident or attempt to determine the identity of the perpetrators. I strongly urge your government to initiate a comprehensive and impartial investigation into this recent and grave threat against the lives of Ms. García and her family immediately, in order to identify and bring to account the individuals responsible. Even more urgently, I urge you to provide effective protection for Ms. García and other members of the Garífuna community of San Juan, who have found themselves subject to persistent threats. This latest threat against Ms. García is only the most recent in a series of mounting threats and violent attacks faced by the Garífuna community and their leaders over the last several years. Garífuna activists have been subject to systematic violence and intimidation in reprisal for their efforts to defend peacefully what they view as the land and social rights of the Garífuna population. Despite calls from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and several human rights organizations for the Honduran government to implement effective protection measures to ensure their safety, Garífuna leaders remain at risk. On May 30, 2005, Gregoria Flores, the General Coordinator of the Fraternal Black Honduran Organization (OFRANEH), an organization that represents the rights of the local Garífuna community, was shot and wounded as she was collecting testimony to present a few days later to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Only a few months before, several agents of the Criminal Investigative Division – some of them wearing hoods – illegally entered and searched the home of another OFRANEH leader, Miriam Miranda, claiming they were searching for weapons and stolen goods. Afterward, this apparent act of intimidation was rationalized by the judge who had issued the warrant as nothing but an “intelligence error.” There have been no effective investigations into these incidents. The home of another Garífuna leader in San Juan, Wilfredo Guerrero, was burned down on November 7, 2005. Although Mr. Guerrero was not home, crucial documents related to his community’s territorial disputes were destroyed in the fire. Wilfredo had denounced attempts by politicians and businessmen to expropriate the communal territories of San Juan and, as a result, has received numerous threats. Then on January 15 of this year, armed security guards believed to be employed by PROMOTUR attacked members of the Garífuna community of San Juan, following a disagreement with the company about the building of a wall on disputed territory. In retaliation for their protests to the local authorities, the guards apparently shot at unarmed members of the community, including at Mr. Guerrero. I would like to remind you that the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders explicitly lays out the state’s responsibility in protecting human rights activists from attack. Article 12 affirms that the state “shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action” that results from the exercise of their right to defend and promote human rights. The Honduran government has a responsibility in international and regional law for ensuring the safety and rights of all human rights defenders. Promociones y Turismo (PROMOTUR), a real estate company that has long been engaged in a land dispute with the local Garífuna community of San Juan, is believed by Garífuna activists and their supporters to be behind much of the intimidation and threats aimed at community leaders. Indeed, PROMOTUR appears to be implicated in the recent threats against Jessica García and attacks against Wilfredo Guerrero. These allegations should be investigated to determine who is responsible for the alarming pattern of harassment, attacks and other acts of intimidation aimed at Garífuna activists. Furthermore, I urge the Attorney General’s office to ensure adequate protection for Jessica García and other Garífuna community leaders, in particular those who have recently been threatened for their advocacy. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We will continue to monitor this situation.
CC: Lic. Jany del Cid Martínez Ambassador and Permanent Representative Carlos Sosa Coello |
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Garífuna Community Leader in Honduras Threatened with Death