Article by PBI-Canada

On March 3, PBI-Honduras posted: “This morning we observed the Guapinol Despierta [Guapinol Awake] conference where the legal team and the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Assets announced the resolution of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions of United Nations.”

PBI-Honduras adds: “The UN classifies the detention of the defenders of Guapinol as arbitrary and ordered their immediate release and reparation and a prompt investigation of the responsible justice operators.”

This statement from Freedom for the Defenders of Guapinol further explains the decision made by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions.

The water defenders are being held for their peaceful participation in a protest camp to protect the water sources that originate in the Carlos Escaleras Mountain National Park from the Inversiones Los Pinares iron oxide mine.

Guapinol Resiste has previously noted: “National and international law clearly establishes that preventative detention should only be used in extreme circumstances when the Public Prosecutor’s Office has proven that the requirements for a custodial measure have been met, which has not happened in this case.”

And the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) has highlighted that the detention of these human rights defenders constitutes an “arbitrary measure contrary to international human rights standards and due process guarantees.”

PBI-Honduras has been accompanying various processes in relation to the defenders of the Guapinol River for the past two years.

PBI-USA continues to watch with great concern.