Dina Meza: Defending Freedom of Expression in Honduras
By Meredith Moody, PBI-USA Solidarity Fellow
Dina Meza is a Honduran journalist and human rights defender whose work focuses on freedom of expression, human rights abuses, and the protection of journalists and activists. She is the director of the Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Honduras (ASOPODEHU), president of PEN Honduras, and a correspondent for Reporters Without Borders. She also founded the independent online newspaper Pasos de Animal Grande, which reports on human rights issues in Honduras.
Since May 2014, Peace Brigades International (PBI) has accompanied Meza because of the threats and harassment she has faced as a result of her work. Throughout her career, Meza’s reporting has covered a range of issues such as land conflicts, mining, protests, freedom of expression, and abuses against human rights defenders. Her work also includes supporting other journalists and activists who have been threatened because of their reporting or advocacy. This has made her an important figure in the defense of press freedom and human rights in Honduras, but it has also placed her at significant personal risk.
Meza has faced repeated threats, surveillance, intimidation, and harassment. The situation became serious enough that she left Honduras for several months in 2013. She has also received precautionary measures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, although concerns have remained about whether those protections have been fully implemented. PBI has continued to document security incidents connected to her work. In 2025, the Association for Participatory Citizenship in Honduras documented the killings of 15 journalists in the country.
The risks Meza faces are part of a broader pattern in Honduras. Journalists, Indigenous activists, environmental defenders, women’s rights advocates, and other members of civil society have all faced threats and violence. PBI established its Honduras project after the 2009 coup, when the human rights situation in the country deteriorated significantly. In this environment, threats against journalists affect more than the individuals being targeted. Intimidation can lead to self-censorship and make it harder to document abuses or hold powerful actors accountable.
This allows violence and impunity to continue with less public scrutiny. PBI’s accompaniment is intended to help defenders like Meza continue their work more safely.
Rather than speaking for the people it accompanies, PBI uses international presence, observation, advocacy, and communication with national and international authorities to increase the visibility and protection of human rights defenders. Meza has spoken directly about the importance of that support, saying:
“Without this accompaniment, I think my name would be on a forgotten gravestone.”
Dina Meza’s work shows how journalism can serve as an important form of human rights defense. By documenting abuses, defending freedom of expression, and supporting others who face threats, she helps make violations visible and challenges the intimidation that allows them to continue. Her experience also shows the importance of international accompaniment in countries where human rights defenders face serious risks simply for doing their work.
About the author: Meredith Moody recently graduated cum laude from the University of Miami with a B.A. in Political Science and Psychology, and is currently pursuing an M.A. in International Administration with a Security Management Certificate. Her academic and professional interests focus on international security, political violence, civilian protection, human rights, and community-based responses to violence and instability. Through her work with Chicago Area Peace Action, she has researched unarmed civilian protection, community violence intervention, and nonviolent approaches to safety in both local and international contexts. As a PBI-USA Solidarity Fellow, Meredith will do a deep dive into PBI’s tool of protecting civic space and supporting human rights defenders, with particular attention to how international solidarity can strengthen locally led movements for safety, dignity, and justice on Turtle Island and elsewhere.