( Image Description: Armed police in Nueva Armenia, Honduras. Image Credits: Ofraneh )
We, the undersigned organizations, condemn the recent attacks against Garífuna land defenders across Honduras, where Honduran National Police, private security forces, and individuals linked to organized crime have come together to harass, intimidate, and profile members of multiple Garífuna communities with the goal of displacing them out of their ancestral territories for the benefit of extractivist and colonial settler projects.
This violence reached a new climax on the night of October 6th, 2024, when Honduran National Police shot at unarmed Garífuna leaders in the Nueva Armenia community, who were peacefully reclaiming their ancestral territory usurped by the Palmas de Atlantida Company, leaving two leaders hospitalized and in critical condition. There has been no official response from the Honduras government on these attempted assassinations, which have also received minimal media coverage. In turn, Garífuna land defenders in Nueva Armenia continue living in a state of emergency, as there have been reports of strong police presence outside hospitals where injured Garífuna leaders are receiving care and in the Garifuna ancestral territory being reclaimed.
This violence is not new, contained, or an anomaly. It is part of an established history of human rights violations from the State of Honduras against Garífuna self-determination. In the case Cayos Cochinos Garífuna Community vs. Honduras, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights established that the Honduran state had not consulted with Garífuna communities for the construction of a marine conservation center in the Garífuna lands of Cayos Cochinos, which restricted the Garífuna access to their homelands and led to countless violations by the military and the Cayos Cochinos Foundation. The IACHR asked the Honduran government to adopt necessary measures to ensure Garífuna self-determination, reparations, and the non-repetition of violations. It has been almost a year since the IACHR filed this case, but state police forces continue protecting tourism projects, international corporations, and the interests of palm oil industries above Garífuna ancestral rights.
As organizations who have followed the violence, persecution, and displacement of the Garífuna for years, we stand in unwavering solidarity with the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) and we:
Publicly condemn Honduras’ police brutality and racist violence against Garífuna land defenders in Nueva Armenia;
Ask the Honduran government, by way of its Secretary of Security, Secretary of National Defense, and Secretary of Human Rights, that it guarantee the life, physical, mental, and moral integrity of Garífuna members in the community of Nueva Armenia and other communities defending their rights;
Urge the government of Honduras to carry out an immediate, impartial investigation into the attempted assassinations of Garífuna leaders in Nueva Armenia and hold accountable those responsible;
Express a deep concern that the actions committed by Honduran police officers and U.S.-vetted and trained special forces increase violence towards all Garífuna land defenders who reclaim their ancestral land rights, violating collective property rights and guarantees of non-repetition warned in the three rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights against the State of Honduras.
For the reasons stated above, as organizations dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights and the environmental, we raise our concerns about the violations occurring in Nueva Armenia and we remain firm in elevating the struggles of the Garífuna people. From different parts of the world, we reiterate our solidarity with members of OFRANEH, who are not and will not be alone in this fight for their ancestral rights.
Signatory Organizations:
Honduras Solidarity Network (HSN)
Witness for Peace Solidarity Collective (WfPSc)
Inter-Religious Task Force on Central America (IRTF)
Institute for Policy Studies – Global Economy Program
Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America (CRLN)
Hope Border Institute
Root Causes Initiative
Denver Justice and Peace Committee (DJPC)
Nicaragua Center for Community Action
The Cross Border Network for Justice and Solidarity
Rights Action - Canada / USA
Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ)
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
Latin America Caucus of Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice
Global Exchange
Massachusetts Peace Action – Latin America Caribbean Working Group
La Voz de los de Abajo
Wisconsin Environmental Justice & Infrastructure Initiative
Walnut Way Conservation Corp
Task Force on the Americas (TFA)
Rochester Committee on Latin America (ROCLA)
Grassroots International
Sustainable Agriculture of Louisville (SAL)