DOWNLOAD PDF OF UA 123/20, UPDATE 3 BELOW
After 13 months, the whereabouts of the four Garifuna activists, members of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), remain unknown. We will continue expressing concern and calling Honduras to determine their whereabouts.
NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.
On 18 July 2020, a group of individuals wearing police vests, took Garífuna activists Alberth Centeno Tomas, Suami Mejía García, Gerardo Rochez Cálix, and Milton Martínez Álvarez from their homes in the Garifuna community of Triunfo de la la Cruz (North Honduras). They belong to the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), an organization that works to protect the economic, social, and cultural rights of the Garífuna communities in Honduras. Since then, Amnesty International has demanded Honduran authorities to determine their whereabouts, ensure an independent, effective, and impartial investigation into their disappearance, and bring those responsible to justice.
The whereabouts of the four Garifuna activists remain unknown despite the demands of local and international organizations, and efforts by the Investigation and Search Committee for the Disappeared from Triunfo De la Cruz (SUNLA). The latter is an independent group supported by the OFRANEH, and composed of human rights organizations, with the participation of experts and relatives of the disappeared to monitor the investigation by Honduran authorities.
We believe that the public campaign on behalf of the defenders of the Garifuna activists, including appeals sent by Amnesty International members, contributed to bringing attention to the case. Amnesty International will continue monitoring the situation and publicly express our concern for their disappearance and call on the Honduras government to determine their whereabouts.
