Unveiling the Forces Empowering Corporate Interests to Violate Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Honduras
On World Tourism Day, human rights defender Melissa Martinez Reyes visited PBI UK in London to raise awareness of the destruction and violence which the tourism industry has wrought upon her Garifuna community in Honduras. Here, we take a closer look at the struggle of Indigenous communities facing violations of their fundamental rights in connection with corporate interests.
Garifuna defenders protest against recent enforced disappearances in their communities
By Amal Namugga
Honduras, a nation rich with cultural diversity and natural resources, is grappling with a complex issue that has deep-rooted implications for its Indigenous communities. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) referred a case involving the Garifuna Communities of Punta Piedra (Iriona, Colón) and Triunfo de la Cruz (Tela, Atlántida) to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2015. The case highlighted the persistent private acquisition of ancestral lands and the threats posed to the Indigenous Garifuna communities. The Court imposed a binding duty on the State of Honduras to respect their right to collective property. In spite of this, to date, Honduras has failed to adhere to several of the reparative measures ordered by the Court. Understanding the main factors behind this violation is crucial for addressing the Garifuna plight effectively, as well as reinforcing the obligatory nature of IACHR resolutions.
Violence and Intimidation
The natural wonder of northern Honduras, once occupied by a vibrant community, has faced violence and scandal over the past decade with a society now unequipped to protect itself. PBI has expressed growing concern over the significant deterioration of the environment in which Indigenous defenders carry out their work within the region. Among these human rights defenders is Melissa Martinez Reyes, a member of the Honduran Black Fraternal Organisation (Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña - OFRANEH), who recently joined PBI this September for a roundtable discussion, addressing, inter alia, violations of Indigenous land rights stemming from criminal and private interests.
The Garifuna Triunfo de la Cruz Community, a rural Indigenous community residing in Honduras, from the 1940s to the 2000s has been granted ownership of various portions of its ancestral lands by the State. Conversely, the State failed to endorse the autonomy of the Garifuna community’s territory by continuing the expansion of commercial developments onto ancestral lands. The IACHR acknowledged several complaints submitted by the Garifuna community to Honduran State officials concerning the sale of ancestral lands. These complaints included incidents of persecution, harassment and aggressions directed at members of the community in retaliation for their defence of ancestral lands. The community has endured an ongoing situation of insecurity and violence originating from stakeholders operating within the ancestral territory.
Human rights defender Melissa Martinez Reyes in London in September 2023 with PBI UK. Melissa and her colleagues have faced death threats and attacks as a reprisal for their work.
Two community members, Gino Eligio López and Epson Andrés Castillo, were tragically shot and killed by police officers in 2006. Consequently, the IACHR concluded the rights of the Garifuna community to judicial protection and guarantees were violated. Nonetheless, Honduras remains one of the world’s most notorious places for land rights activists, including the enforced disappearance of four community leaders of Triunfo de la Cruz in 2020 and nearly fourteen more members killed in comparable occurrences in July 2019. The State’s failure to conduct an independent investigation of these incidents and the presence of threatening mega-corporations has created an environment of fear. The Garifuna community has resorted to non-violent tactics to defend their territory. As OFRANEH’s Yilian Maribeth puts it, “The Garifuna village are peaceful people. We have never used weapons or violence in the struggle for the recovery of land, or in the demonstrations in major cities against the violations of the rights of our peoples.”
Lack of Government Policies and Regulations
In essence, while international standards exist to protect Indigenous rights, the reality on the ground reflects a systemic obstruction to uphold and prioritise these rights over economic interests, resulting in a weak regulatory environment which emboldens corporations to exploit ancestral resources without sufficient oversight.
Tourism in Honduras is currently a national development priority, and it’s the second largest source of foreign exchange, with the State projecting the sector to create 70,000 new direct and indirect jobs. Nevertheless, this endeavour is hampered by the absence of vigorous Government policies and regulations that protect Indigenous rights and those who defend such rights. Despite binding international laws and standards , such as the American Convention on Human Rights, to protect the collective rights of individuals through national policy, conflicts between commercialism and conservation in Honduras have often left Indigenous communities facing human rights violations. The failure to grant legal title to the entire territory of the San Juan Community, as well as deficient legislation with regards to the coherent processing of title applications, which explains the loss of the Garifuna file opened in 1997 containing the applications presented by the community, Indigenous peoples are left susceptible to violations of their land rights. This lack of legal certainty has led to authorisation of titles to third parties outside the community, namely, the construction of large-scale extractive and infrastructure projects on the community’s land, and the creation of a national park on the community’s land.
Indigenous communities amount to 621,000 of the population of Honduras, with the State being a leader in Latin America regarding granting Indigenous land titles. As evidenced in the situation of the Garifuna community, the theory and reality of enforcing legal tenure in Honduras still leaves much to be done, which is witnessed in Indigenous political participation levels as well. Despite Indigenous communities in Honduras contributing 8% to the national population, 362 Indigenous communities have no influence on political decisions regarding their natural resources and lands. It comes as no surprise that the Garifuna people have signalled a need for a regulatory framework on political participation to address legislative conflicts with Indigenous Peoples’ rights and land rights.
PBI calls on the UK Parliament to reiterate the IACHR’s recommendations to the Honduran State, namely:
The formation of prompt and efficient accountability mechanisms to guarantee the right of Indigenous Peoples to reclaim their ancestral territories and to peacefully exercise their collective ownership, through titling, demarcation, delimitation, and clean-up;
Raise awareness of the pattern of criminalization and persecution of Indigenous community leaders;
Take the necessary legislative, administrative or other measures to prevent similar events from occurring in the future; to ensure mechanisms that guarantee prior consultation, with the due participation of Honduran Indigenous communities, and that incorporate the provisions of ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and international standards in this area;
Ensure that any legislative or administrative measures or projects, including those related to concessions and business activities, that may affect the Indigenous San Juan Garifuna Community, does not begin or continue to be implemented until the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights standards on consultation and free, prior, and informed consent have been met.
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