PROTECT TOMÁS GÓMEZ MEMBREÑO AND OTHER LAND DEFENDERS AT GRAVE RISK IN HONDURAS
Tomás Gómez Membreño is in grave danger because of
his efforts to defend Indigenous lands and rights, work that includes
challenging powerful economic interests like the Agua Zarca dam on the
Gualcarque River.
Tomás is General Coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (known as COPINH). He courageously assumed the role following the March 2016 assassination of the organization’s then-leader Berta Cáceres, amidst outspoken campaigning to stop the Agua Zarca dam.
DEADLY ATTACKS
On October 9, 2016, gunmen opened fire on Tomás as
he was leaving COPINH’s meeting centre in the community of La Esperanza.
Thankfully he survived the attack.
But Tomás remains in ever-present danger amidst an escalation of surveillance, threats, attacks and murders of women and men who dare to defend land rights, Indigenous territory and the environment in Honduras.
Deadly attacks are on the rise. Berta Cáceres, leader and co-founder of COPINH, was murdered in her home in La Esperanza on March 2. Less than two weeks later, COPINH community leader Nelson García was shot dead in the face by unidentified men in Río Lindo. The death toll grew with the murder of COPINH supporter Lesbia Urquía in July and the gunning down on October 18 of José Ángel Flores, President of the Unified Campesino Movement of the Aguán and his colleague Silmer Dionisio George.
Please raise your voice to protect Tomás and ensure his vital work for human rights can continue.
Tomás is General Coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (known as COPINH). He courageously assumed the role following the March 2016 assassination of the organization’s then-leader Berta Cáceres, amidst outspoken campaigning to stop the Agua Zarca dam.
DEADLY ATTACKS
AGAINST LAND DEFENDERS
ARE ON THE RISE
On October 9, 2016, gunmen opened fire on Tomás as
he was leaving COPINH’s meeting centre in the community of La Esperanza.
Thankfully he survived the attack.But Tomás remains in ever-present danger amidst an escalation of surveillance, threats, attacks and murders of women and men who dare to defend land rights, Indigenous territory and the environment in Honduras.
Deadly attacks are on the rise. Berta Cáceres, leader and co-founder of COPINH, was murdered in her home in La Esperanza on March 2. Less than two weeks later, COPINH community leader Nelson García was shot dead in the face by unidentified men in Río Lindo. The death toll grew with the murder of COPINH supporter Lesbia Urquía in July and the gunning down on October 18 of José Ángel Flores, President of the Unified Campesino Movement of the Aguán and his colleague Silmer Dionisio George.
Please raise your voice to protect Tomás and ensure his vital work for human rights can continue.
Learn more about the human rights crisis in Honduras >>Blog: One year after the killing of Berta, other threatened land and water defenders in Honduras are counting on our support
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