#Alert Guapinol: Biased Local Authorities Carry Out Exhumation of Defenders
For Immediate Release
Today, February 2, 2023, the Tocoa prsecutor's office, under court order from Judge Zoe Guífarro, and accompanied by forensic experts from San Pedro Sula, is carrying out the exhumation of defenders Alí Domínguez and Jairo Bonilla, murdered on January 7, 2023 in Guapinol.
There is no confidence in either the Tocoa Public Prosecutor's Office or the Tocoa Police to conduct an independent investigation in this case. They have already demonstrated their bias and are responsible for using illegal evidence to criminalize defenders in the area, including Alí, and violently evicting the Agua y Vida Camp in Guapinol.
On January 19, the family of Alí Domínguez requested that the case be transferred to the Prosecutor's Office for Crimes Against Life with the support of the Technical Agency for Criminal Investigation (ATIC), but the Attorney General has not responded.
Since the murders almost a month ago, the defenders of Guapinol, Sector San Pedro and the Municipal Committee in Defense of Public and Common Goods of Tocoa continue to be at risk while the illegal mine continues to work without any consequences.
We reiterate our demand to the Honduran State for an independent investigation, the immediate cancellation of the mining concession in Carlos Escaleras National Park and the integral protection of the defenders.
We demand justice for Ali and Jairo!
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