State must investigate and prosecute the criminal structure behind the murder of Juan López and all related crimes in Tocoa
See pictures and videos from the press conference here.
Read alert about police intimidation during the press conference here.
On September 14, 2024, our colleague and coordinator Juan López was violently murdered, leaving an irreparable void in our community and in our advocacy for the Carlos Escaleras National Park and the water sources that give us life. To date, the criminal structure behind the vile murder of Juan, and of countless illicit acts to promote the Pinares/Ecotek megaproject, remains intact and unpunished. We demand that the Public Ministry and the Attorney General immediately dismantle this structure through investigations, prosecutions and sanctions for all those responsible.
Starting today, three hearings will be held over the next week that clearly demonstrate how this criminal structure, which works for the benefit of the company, has penetrated state institutions and the municipal office of Tocoa, together with company executives.
On Wednesday, February 26, there is a hearing against former employees of the Environmental Unit (UMA) of the Tocoa Municipal Office as part of a legal case for environmental damage and abuse of authority. The following day, February 27, a hearing is scheduled against the current secretary of the municipality of Tocoa in relation to falsified public documents used by the company to fraudulently obtain environmental licenses from the Secretary of Natural Resources (SERNA).
Both cases, which are closely related, show how the municipal officials of Tocoa have been key to guaranteeing the progress of the megaproject, despite the six different community expressions rejecting it.
The accused persons who will appear in court this week are not acting as individuals responsible for minor crimes, but as part of a criminal structure that has committed a series of crimes to advance the illegal implementation of the megaproject in all its components: the two mining projects, the iron oxide pelletizing plant, the petcoke thermoelectric plant and water concessions. Apart from the environmental crimes and corruption that are being aired this week, other serious crimes related to violence, threats and intimidation committed by other branches of the criminal structure remain unpunished.
Finally, the preliminary hearing for the murder of our dear colleague Juan López is scheduled for March 4th. Juan's murder took place in the context of this criminal structure's operation to impose the execution of the megaproject, which Juan strongly denounced.
To date, only three people, the hitman and his accomplices, have been charged. Their case should clearly go to trial, but we remain concerned about the lack of investigation to prosecute the intellectual authors, especially since the Public Ministry itself has information on how this criminal structure has been operating since before Juan's murder. We demand that the MP immediately advance its investigations towards the prosecution of all those responsible for Juan's murder and the various crimes committed by this criminal structure tenaciously denounced by our colleague.
These judicial processes are being handled in isolation from each other and we denounce that there is no intention to conduct a binding investigation into the criminal structure responsible for the corruption, destruction of the park, violence and crimes against defenders.
We denounce the network of corruption that the Honduran state is hiding by not taking immediate action to implement decree 18-2024, as the megaproject continues to operate in the area with impunity and causing anxiety among the population that has remained steadfast in its resistance and care for Carlos Escaleras Botaderos Mountain.
We call on organizations and social movements to stand united and alert in the defense and protection of the common and public good, such as the right to the environment, water, health and life.
We are grateful for the national and international solidarity for its continued support and we ask that you remain vigilant in these processes of demanding justice.
We call on the Honduran state to take responsibility for the protection of all defenders and the Carlos Escaleras National Park and to put an end to the impunity for crimes committed by these criminal structures.
Justice for Juan! Justice for Berta! Justice for our commons!
Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán. February 26, 2025.
MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE IN DEFENSE OF THE COMMON AND PUBLIC GOODS OF TOCOA
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