Several people were killed in ongoing land disputes in the Aguan region. Forced evictions
left hundreds of campesino (peasant farmer) families homeless. Impunity persisted
for human rights violations by the military and police, including those committed
during the 2009 coup d’état. Human rights defenders continued to be subjected to intimidation.
In January, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stated it was “deeply concerned
about threats, serious acts of violence against and killings of members of the transgender
community”.
In November, 28 Honduran mothers, whose children had gone missing in Mexico while
travelling to the USA, went to Mexico to urge the authorities to establish an official
search mechanism to help trace their loved ones and to enhance the protection of the
tens of thousands of Central American migrants who travel through Mexico each year
(see Mexico entry).
In April, the government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to analyse
the events leading up to and during the coup d’état. In its report issued in July,
the Commission acknowledged that the events of 2009 did constitute a coup d’état and
that multiple human rights violations occurred, including acts of excessive use of
force by the military and police. By the end of the year, no one had been brought
to justice or held to account for these human rights violations.
In June, Honduras was readmitted to the OAS; it had been expelled following the 2009
coup d’état.
Members of the judiciary who were dismissed in unfair proceedings under the de facto
government had not been returned to their posts by the end of the year.
Human rights defenders were threatened and harassed as they carried out their work.
In January and June, Alex David Sánchez Álvarez was threatened and physically attacked
by unidentified individuals in connection with his work for the Colectivo Violeta,
which works for the protection of the rights of members of the LGBT community, and
his work with the Centre for the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture
Victims and their Families. Both incidents were reported to the Public Prosecutor’s
Office, but those responsible had not been brought to justice by the end of the year.
By the end of 2011, no one had been brought to justice for the killing in 2009 of
LGBT human rights activist Walter Trochez.
A decree concerning contraception that had been issued in 2009 by the de facto authorities
remained in place. This criminalized the use of emergency contraception by women
and girls whose contraceptive method had failed or who were at risk of pregnancy resulting
from sexual coercion.
Military personnel and large numbers of police were deployed in the Aguan region,
where disputes over land ownership between hundreds of campesinos and various companies and private landowners erupted into violence.
Also in this context, forced evictions occurred throughout the year in the Aguan region,
and little effort was made to resolve the problem. Agreements drawn up between the
government and campesino organizations were not implemented, leaving thousands of campesino families homeless or at constant risk of eviction.
In June, police forcibly evicted a community in the town of Rigores, in Colón department.
The eviction order was issued in May, but the community was not informed or given
any prior warning of the eviction. Families, some of whom had lived on the land for
many years, were given just two hours to pack up their belongings and leave their
homes. During the eviction, houses belonging to community members, as well as seven
classrooms that formed part of the local school and kindergarten, and two churches
were destroyed. Some 493 people were made homeless. Nobody was offered alternative
housing, resettlement or access to productive land, either in advance of the eviction
or after it had happened. Nor was anyone guaranteed safe access to tend their crops,
many of which were destroyed during the eviction.
There were further allegations of human rights abuses by police.
In October, two university students were found shot dead in Tegucigalpa, the capital.
Four police officers were charged with the killings, which they had reportedly carried
out while on duty patrolling the city. Reports indicated that up to eight police officers
may have been involved. Following public outrage at the killings of the two students,
the government established a cross-party committee of members of Congress and representatives
from the Executive to review public security policies.
