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Dionisio Díaz García, a lawyer working
for human rights
organisation Asociacion para una
Sociedad más Justa (ASJ), Association for a More Just Society, was killed in the capital, Tegucigalpa, on 4 December.
Dionisio Díaz
García and ASJ Project Director Dina Meza reported being followed by or watched from various cars without number plates close to
the ASJ office on various
occasions, from 29 August onwards.
On 25 August several threatening calls were reportedly made to the ASJ office, including
one from a man who said, no saben con quién se han metido ("you don’t know who you’re messing
with").
Dionisio Díaz García, known
to many as the "lawyer
of the poor" and known
to all as one of the most decent,
honest, friendly, was working for the ASJ, a
Christian organization working
to promote economic, social
and cultural rights. He had
been representing various
private security guards who claimed
they had suffered unfair dismissal, among other labour rights violations.
On 4 December he had driven to the Supreme Court to prepare for a hearing later that day. At
around 10am, as he was nearing the court, he was shot
dead by a man riding pillion on a motorbike. In the evening of 27 November, one of
Dionisio Díaz García’s colleagues had received an anonymous text message written in
English: "The life of Dionisio García could be in danger¡!!! Take care, loock (sic) for someone closer to your enemies!!!".
On the morning
of 7 December, the President
of the organisation, Carlos Hernández,received
a text message in
English, which read:
"You are the next becauseyou
are the heat [sic – head]". Other members of the organisation have alsobeen
threatened and intimidated
in recent months.
The ASJ uses an e-magazine to publish reports of its investigations into unjust practices by companies,
and readers can post responses. When they included reports featuring certain security firms, threatening responses were posted. On 31 October one such message read: …al final de
cuentas la justicia ha tomado su propio sendero en el cual se han
cruzado los de ASJ, a sabiendas de que serán ajusticiados por las malas acciones que llevan sobre sus hombros ("… In the end justice takes
its own path, which the ASJ people have
crossed, knowing that they will
be killed for the evil actions they are responsible for"). The same
week, ASJ activist Robert
Marín García was warned by a third party that the location of his family home and his family’s movements were known. The warning included the phrase Te tenemos
bien vigilado ("We’ve
got our eye on you").
The ASJ and other Honduran
non-governmental organisations reported
the threats and harassment
of ASJ members to President
Zelaya on 27 September
and to the Attorney General the following day. During October
and November they went on to report it to the
Attorney General’s Special
Human Rights Office and
the National Human Rights
Commission. Despite this,
the authorities took no
visible action to protect ASJ members.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The ASJ, established
in 1998, receives funding
from several
international Christian organizations for its social justice work. It began investigating violations
of labour rights by private
security firms in 2004.
Honduran human rights defenders are frequently
attacked, threatened and intimidated because of their legitimate activities. Government efforts
to protect human rights defenders at risk are sometimes hampered by long delays in acting
on requests from the
Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to protect specific individuals.
There are over 100 private security
firms operating in Honduras. Some
of these firms are reportedly hired by the Honduran government, including several of those accused of labour rights violations by the ASJ.
RECOMMENDED
ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible, in Spanish or your
own language:
- requesting that the authorities provide immediate and effective protection for all ASJ members and their families, in accordance with their own wishes;
- urging the authorities
to order a thorough and independent investigation into
the murder of Dionisio Díaz
García and the threats against
other members of the ASJ,
and to bring those responsible to justice;
- reminding the authorities
of their obligations to recognize
the legitimacy of the activities
of human rights defenders
and their right to carry out their
activities without any restrictions or fear of reprisals, as set out in the UN Declaration
on the Rights and Responsibilities
of Individuals, Groups and Organs
of Society to Promote and Protect
Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Liberties.
APPEALS TO:
Public Security Minister
Álvaro Romero
Minister of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security
Edificio Pujol, 4to. Piso, Col. Plamira (Blvd.
Morazán)
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Fax: +504 220 4352
Salutation: Dear Minister/Estimado Sr. Ministro
Attorney General
Leónidas Rosa Bautista
Fiscal General del Estado
Ministerio Público
Lomas del Guijarro, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Fax: +504 221 5667
Salutation: Dear Attorney General/Estimado Sr. Fiscal General
COPIES TO:
Foreign Minister
Milton Jiménez Puerto
Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores
Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores
Colonia Miraflores, Boulevard de las Fuerzas Armadas
Contiguo al Palacio de Justicia,
Edificio Antigua Casa Presidencial,
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Fax: +504 234 1922/1484
Human rights
NGO
Asociación para una Sociedad más Justa (ASJ)
Apartado Postal 30676, Toncontín
Comayagüela, Honduras
and to diplomatic representatives
of Honduras accredited to your
country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
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