This decision is unjustified and unnecessary: Gustavo Castro, who was injured during the murder of Berta Cáceres on March 3rd, in La Esperanza, Intibucá, Honduras, has provided the Prosecutor´s Office with all the information requested to clear up the facts. In addition, he hasn´t been informed what else they need from him.

On March 6, the Honduran General Prosecutor´s Office told Gustavo Castro, inside the Mexican Embassy in Tegucigalpa, that after providing his statement on March 7 in La Esperanza, he would be allowed to leave the country.

By being withheld in Honduras, Gustavo Castro is not being treated as a victim of attempted murder; his life is being put at risk and his right to free movement is being violated.

We also state that the environmental activist, coordinator of Otros Mundos AC / Friends of the Earth Mexico never refused to collaborate with the Prosecutor´s Office to clear up the murder of the Lenca indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, coordinator of the Council of Indigenous and Popular Organization of Honduras (COPINH).

We join COPINH´s demand for an investigation focused on the company Desarrollos Energeticos SA (DESA), promoter of the Agua Zarca dam, against which COPINH has been fighting for years in a dignified way. At the same time it is necessary to state that COPINH´s and Berta´s struggles for the defense of land and the territory against different companies and corporations is the reason behind this murder.

We would like to thank Mexican Ambassador to Honduras, Dolores Jiménez, who has devoted all efforts and influence since March 3rd to ensure the physical and psychological integrity of Gustavo Castro and to allow him to leave Honduras. It is very important that the Ambassador keeps this same diplomatic strategy to continue defending the human rights of the environmental activist.

We demand the Mexican Government to act more strongly to make the Honduran Government ensure the immediate return of Gustavo Castro to Mexico.

We ask all of you to demand the repeal of this decision, contacting:

Honduran Presidency
Telephone number: 2290-5000
E-mail: info@presidencia.gob.hn

Human Rights, Justice, Governance and Decentralization Secretariat of Honduras
(504) 2232-7800 y (504) 2232-8900
@sdhjgdhn