The Bajo Aguán valley is witnessing an alarming situation of violence and repression against peasant communities: between January 2010 and early October 2011, 40 people involved in peasant organizations in the region were murdered. For several years, approximately 3,500 peasant families have claimed their right to food and access to agricultural lands in an environment infused with rural conflicts with the principal palm oil producers in the region. National and international human rights organizations have monitored the situation and concluded that the peasant communities are completely defenseless and unprotected against the authorities´ actions and omissions. Testimonies from the victims, their families and witnesses point to the private and public security forces as those responsible for the deaths, torture, threats and harassment of the peasant communities.
This case needs your URGENT ACTION, by writing to the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights in Honduras, Attorney Sandra Ponce, to demand that an investigation of the murders be conducted, the repression cease, and an effective solution to the rural conflict in accordance with the State´s obligations regarding the right to food be found. Please send a copy to the FIAN International Secretariat, who will submit the letters to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteurs, institutions of the European Union and other intergovernmental organizations.
Background
Respect for and protection of human rights has consistently declined since the breakdown of constitutional order brought about by the coup d'état on June 28, 2009. This has been documented by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations, and national and international non-governmental human rights organizations.
Bajo Aguán is one of the regions most affected by the tension and repression. During the 1990s, businesses in the region took over a large part of the fertile lands in the area in order to grow oil palm. The peasant communities have reported a climate of widespread fear and terror provoked by continual threats and harassment, kidnappings and torture perpetrated by the military forces, police and the security guards of businesses in the area.
Since 2000, FIAN has been following the rural conflicts in the area, including when the lands of the former Regional Center for Military Training (CREM) were granted to landless peasant families. Thanks to the peasants´ organized fight and the support of national organizations and international monitoring, the peasants were granted the majority of the 5,700 hectares. Nevertheless, the authorities, due to a lack of will or capability, have yet to recover the remaining lands from the hands of influential businessmen and transfer them to the peasants.
In March 2011, six international networks and organizations, including FIAN, conducted a fact-finding mission of the human right violations in Bajo Aguán.
The mission´s report (see: http://www.fian.org/resources/documents/others/honduras-human-rights-violations-in-bajo-aguan/pdf ) documents in detail the situation of extreme violence and impunity in which the peasants live, where they are victims of on-going attacks and violations of the right to life, the right to personal integrity, to food, to health, to housing and education. Furthermore, the authorities fail to investigate or sanction these actions properly.
The mission´s report, presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the European Parliament's Sub-commission on Human Rights, explains that the forceful evictions of the communities were ordered and executed in violation of international human rights standards.
The legal dispositions in force and the political agreements established between parties regarding different conflicts in Bajo Aguán address the transfer and legal compensation of the lands formerly belonging to the CREM, totaling over 11,000 hectares included in an agreement signed April 13, 2011 by the President of the Republic and the peasant leaders. Despite some advances and partial transfers, this rural conflict is far from resolved.
We must also note that a State policy clearly exists to criminalize the peasant struggle and militarize the area. As of July 2011, at least 162 peasant members of organizations in Bajo Aguán have been prosecuted. In August, the Government authorized a new permanent military operation in the area (Xatruch II), including the deployment of a thousand police and military officers, which entails an increased risk of violence for the peasant community. During the last six weeks, four male peasants and one female peasant were murdered, two of whom were principal leaders of the Bajo Aguán peasant movement.
FIAN Mandate
Honduras is a State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Therefore, the authorities are obligated to respect, promote and guarantee human rights, in particular the right to life, the right to food, to housing, to health and education, and the right to personal integrity.
ACTION
Please send the sample letter in Spanish by e-mail or ordinary mail to the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights in Honduras, Ms. Sandra Ponce, to demand an investigation of the murders, an end to the repression and an effective resolution to the rural conflict in accordance with the State´s obligations regarding the right to food. Please send a copy to the FIAN International Secretariat, who will submit the letters to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteurs, European Union institutions and other intergovernmental authorities.
Please inform FIAN if you receive a response to your letters.
Original Letter:
Estimada Abogada Ponce:
Por medio de la presente le manifiesto mi profunda preocupación por la alarmante situación de violencia y represión contra las comunidades campesinas en el Bajo Aguán. Según información documentada por organismos internacionales de derechos humanos, fueron asesinados entre enero de 2010 y principios de octubre de 2011, 40 personas vinculadas a las organizaciones campesinas de la región. Desde hace varios años, aproximadamente 3,500 familias campesinas han venido reclamando su derecho a la alimentación con el acceso a tierras de vocación agrícola, en un ambiente colmado de conflictos agrarios con los principales productores de palma aceitera de la región. Según la información recibida, las comunidades campesinas en la región se encuentran en un estado de total indefensión y desprotección ante las actuaciones y omisiones de las autoridades. Los testimonios de víctimas, familiares y testigos señalan a los cuerpos de seguridad pública y privada como responsables de muertes, torturas, amenazas y hostigamiento en contra de las comunidades campesinas.
Honduras es Estado Parte del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales y del Pacto Internacional de Derechos Civiles y Políticos. Por lo tanto, las autoridades están obligadas a respetar, proteger y garantizar los derechos humanos, en particular el derecho a la vida, el derecho a la alimentación, a la vivienda, a la salud y educación, el derecho a la integridad de la persona.
Por lo tanto, insto a la Fiscalía Especial de Derechos Humanos a que procure que las autoridades nacionales competentes:
- Investiguen y sancionen de forma expedita todos los crímenes y las otras violaciones graves de derechos humanos cometidas en el Bajo Aguán, incluyendo la persecución de los autores materiales e intelectuales de estos hechos;
- Cesen de inmediato la represión y la violencia contra el movimiento campesino, en particular los desalojos forzosos, y adopten medidas efectivas que brinden protección a las personas en riesgo;
- Regulen debidamente el funcionamiento de las empresas de seguridad privada, imponiéndoles el respeto pleno de los derechos humanos de la población so pena de la cancelación del permiso de operación en el país;
- Cumplan las disposiciones legales y los acuerdos políticos relativos a los conflictos agrarios, y lleven a cabo las medidas necesarias para lograr una solución justa y sostenible del problema de la tenencia de la tierra conforme con las obligaciones asumidas por el Estado de Honduras con el Derecho a la Alimentación.
Atentamente,
