Five members of Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH) are facing criminal proceedings after being arrested during a police operation in the Garífuna community of San Juan, Tela. They are accused of aggravated usurpation for defending ancestral territory. Their prosecution comes amid racist rhetoric targeting Garífuna communities and Honduras’ failure to fully implement four Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgments protecting Garífuna territorial rights. We call on the Public Prosecutor’s Office to end the criminalization of these five defenders and ensure that Garífuna people can defend their ancestral territories without fear of harassment.
