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Judi Lynn

(160,211 posts)
Thu Jan 25, 2018, 05:07 AM Jan 2018

Honduras activists allege campaign of violent intimidation by security forces


Environmental campaigners report death threats amid a crackdown on continuing protests against alleged election fraud
Nina Lakhani

Thu 25 Jan 2018 01.30 EST Last modified on Thu 25 Jan 2018 01.31 EST

Activists in Honduras have been targeted in a wave of surveillance, intimidation and violence since the country’s security forces cracked down on a wave of social unrest prompted by last month’s disputed presidential election.

Lawyers from the Movimiento Amplio (MA) – a collective representing communities opposing dams and mines in the north of the country – have received death threats, while the group’s founder has been followed and assaulted by armed men.

Martín Fernández, 42 – who is spearheading a legal battle against a hydroelectric dam – has been forced to flee his home, and is accompanied 24 hours a day by volunteers from the US group Witness for Peace.

Fernández and other activists have also accused the Honduran police and military – as well as armed civilians – of intimidating protesters who are still holding regular demonstrations over alleged fraud in the re-election of President Juan Orlando Hernández.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/24/honduras-environment-activists-threats-security-forces
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