On February 1, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “PBI accompanies @Arcah_hn [Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras] in the presentation of an application before the Special Prosecutor for the Environment. 7 defenders are criminalized for their work defending the environmental rights of the Loarque community.”
Last year, Protect Defenders.eu noted: “The seven defenders are accused of ‘forced displacement’, which carries a possible sentence of three to nine years in prison.”
They further explained:
“On March 29, 2021, environmental rights defenders and other members of ARCAH held a peaceful demonstration in front of the offices of the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’ to protest the activities of the company that have polluted a local river, when they were violently detained and threatened by some 90 agents of the State security forces, elements of the Honduran National Police, the ‘Tigres’ Command and the Police Investigation Directorate (DPI).”
“The agents arrived at the scene in two military tanks and five patrols, and did not present any orders for dispersal or arrest. The agents confiscated and searched the defenders’ mobile phones, before taking them to the Police Directorate of Investigation (DPI) in Kennedy, Tegucigalpa.”
Defensores en Linea has also reported that ARCAH was demonstrating against “the pollution caused by the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’, its waste is seriously damaging at least four surrounding communities and the Choluteca River, where much of the company’s toxic waste falls.”
In response to the PBI-Honduras tweet, ARCAH tweeted: “We demand justice. We appreciate the accompaniment of @PBIHonduras.”
Photo: On April 13, 2021, PBI-Honduras observed a court hearing for the seven ARCAH environmental defenders protecting the Choluteca River.
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