Honduras: DESA Executives in Berta Cáceres Trial are ‘Political Prisoners'

Years of politically motivated violence, crime, corruption, poverty, underdevelopment and other chronic social ills in Honduras had by 2016 engendered widespread fear, desperation and anger. And following the 2016 murder of the famous Honduran environmental activist Berta Cáceres, this already-fragile social and political climate was understandably pushed to the breaking point.

And since her death, an outraged coalition of domestic and international civil-society organizations has coordinated a campaign against economic development in Honduras and elsewhere. Rooted in false claims conceived from the findings of an investigative report rife with procedural failings, the coalition’s campaign successfully pressured the state into abandoning the rule of law. The result has been the judicial and extra-judicial prosecution against two innocent businessmen accused of participating in her killing.

In this White Paper, titled “War on Development: Exposing the COPINH Disinformation Campaign Surrounding the Berta Cáceres Case,” Amsterdam & Partners LLP presents findings from a review of thousands of pages of evidence and digital forensic data, which contains alarming revelations regarding the conduct of Cáceres’ former organization, the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH).

 

Download the full PDF here.