By Ines Pousadela, Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
Juan López was gunned down on 14 September. An environmental activist, community leader and member of the Municipal Committee in Defence of the Commons and Public Goods of Tocoa, he was the latest victim of extractive greed in Honduras. Communities protecting the rivers that flow through the Bajo Aguán region have seen several of their leaders assassinated.
In 2023, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights granted precautionary measures to López and 29 other members of the Municipal Committee and the Justice for the People Law Firm. In response, the state of Honduras was supposed to consult with those affected and adopt all necessary measures to protect their rights to life and personal integrity and ensure they could continue their human rights work without fear of retaliation. It clearly didn’t do any of that.
Read on Inter Press Service News
