#WHRDAlert HONDURAS / Acts of intimidation, harassment, and threats against Elizabeth Zúniga

Elizabeth Zúniga is a social communicator, works as a teacher at the Regional University Center of the Pacific Coast (CURLP), and is a member of sectional 6 of the Union of Workers of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (SITRAUNAH).

Elizabeth has been providing support to CURLP-UNAH students who are victims of criminalizations by the authorities of the UNAH.

On August 12, Elizabeth Zúniga realized that her vehicle was making strange noises after having picking it up from the parking of the National Autonomous University of Honduras, which has private security. Three days later, the noises persisted so the defender took the car to a mechanic, who, after inspection, informed Elizabeth that she had three loose screws on the left front tire - which could easily have caused a serious accident. During that same period, Elizabeth Zúniga’s mother received a call where the caller said: “Tell your daughter to shut up, if not I’ll hit her where it most hurts”.

After reporting the facts, Elizabeth Zúniga was called in to the CURLP offices, where she was questioned, threateningly, about the public statements she had made about the sabotage of her vehicle and on the working conditions within the university.

Both incidents, the sabotage of the vehicle and the harassment at the offices of the university, follow the same pattern of intimidation to which Hector Motiño had been subjected. Hector was the union president of CURLP-UNAH and was killed on June 17 despite being a beneficiary of precautionary measures from the IACHR. His murder remains unpunished.

Given the seriousness of this situation, the IM-Defensoras and the National Network of WHRD in Honduras demand that the university and state authorities to put an end to acts of intimidation, harassment, and threats against Elizabeth Zúniga, and fulfill their obligation to ensure the safety of the WHRD.

More alerts: