AMERICA/HONDURAS - Stop the alleged killers of environmentalist activist Lesbia Yaneth Urquía

Friday, 15 July 2016 violence   environment   politics  

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Marcala (Agenzia Fides) - The police arrested the alleged killers of community leader Lesbia Yaneth Urquia, in the municipality of Marcala, La Paz, Honduras at the center.
The activist was found dead on July 6 in Marcala, west of the capital, Tegucigalpa. The murder is part of a series of murders of members of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), who defend environmental causes and Indigenous Hondurans.
In the month of March Nelson Garcia was assassinated. Berta Caceres, co-founder of COPINH, was killed in her house in the same month (see Fides 4 and 9 March 2016). Tomas Garcia, who was head of the council, was killed by a soldier during a protest in 2013.
The Auxiliary Bishop of San Pedro Sula, His Exc. Mgr. Romulo Emiliani, had said in March, after the murder of Berta Caceres (see Fides 09/03/2016): "the statistics handled by the institutions agree on the fact that murders have decreased".
According to the latest report of the Global Witness international organization, for the year 2015, the total number of environmentalists killed last year amounted to 185 in 16 countries, 67 of them belonged to indigenous communities. In Latin America: Brazil ranked first with 50 killings, followed by Colombia with 26, Peru and Nicaragua each with 12, Guatemala 10, Honduras 8, Mexico 4 activists killed. Many human rights organizations complain that, in general, the crimes go unpunished. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 15/07/2016)


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