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#WHRDAlert HONDURAS / Police violently repressed peaceful march of COPINH

Organization
Civic Councio of Popular and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras (COPINH)

Activity
Territorial defense

Attack faced
Repression of the right to protest, attempted murder, harassment, intimidation, smear campaign

This Thursday, October 20, the March to Resist Attacks against Land, Rivers and Life, convoked by COPINH in Tegucigalpa, was violently repressed by riot police. Demonstrators included rights defenders of the Lenca people, as well as members of the National Network of Women Human Rights Defenders in Honduras and OFRANEH.

According to the National Defender Network, when the march got to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, police launched repressive attacks with teargas, clubs, rocks and high-pressure streams of water shot from tanks.

Most of the people who suffered repression were women and children. An undetermined number of people have reportedly been wounded and arrested.

We, of IM-Defensoras strongly condemn this new act of repression against COPINH and the legitimate right of the Honduran people to social protest. We demand guarantees for the safety and integrity of all march participants, especially for the most visible members and spokespersons of COPINH, who have been systematically targeted for harassment and other attacks, including the recent attempted murders denounced last October 12th.

 

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