It was the day of the opening of the COP25 in Madrid that the verdict fell. On Monday, 2 December, the Honduran judiciary sentenced seven men to jail terms of 30 to 50 years for the murder of Berta Caceres, an indigenous ecologist shot dead on 2 March 2016, for opposing the construction of a barrage.
A renowned indigenous and feminist, 43-year-old Berta Caceres was killed in her house in La Esperanza, about 200 kilometers west of Tegucigalpa. She had received numerous death threats because she opposed the construction of a hydroelectric power station, the Agua Zarca project, by a Honduran company, Desarrollos Energéticos SA (DESA). She denounced the ecological risks of the dam and the fact that the Lenca community, which considers the Gualcarque river as a sacred place, had not been consulted.
In addition to a 34-year prison sentence for the Caceres case, the four hired assassins – Henry Hernandez, Elvin Rapalo, Edilson Duarte and Oscar Torres – have been sentenced to an additional sixteen years for the attempted murder of the Mexican sociologist Gustavo Castro, who was with Mme Caceres that night. Hit by several shots, Mr. Castro had been left for dead, but had survived.
"Crack in the wall of impunity"
Major Mariano Diaz, a DESA official, Sergio Rodriguez, and former DESA security chief Douglas Bustillo, who were accused of organizing the assassination, were sentenced to 30 years. According to the facts in the court, two men broke into the house of the activist during the night of March 2 to 3, 2016, and shot her.
The children of Berta Caceres and the Civic Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras (Copinh) – who have always denounced a biased trial and "Illegal" because evidence was ruled out and because the civil party constitution of the lawyers of the relatives of Berta Caceres and Gustavo Castro was dismissed – acknowledged that this verdict "Is the first crack in the wall of total impunity that supports the criminal structure of crime".
But, they add, "Impunity does not end with this sentence on material authors. There is sufficient evidence to try and punish members of the Atala family and others for the murder of Berta Caceres ".
Many voices highlight the responsibility of the company DESA, property of a wealthy Honduran family, the Atala Zablah. In November 2017, an international group of independent experts had made a damning report. "Existing evidence confirms the participation of many state agents (police, military and civil servants), as well as leaders and employees of the company DESA in the planning, execution and concealment of murder "assured the report.
Request for an "independent mission"
The president of the electrical group DESA, David Castillo, has been in custody since March 2018, accused of being one of the sponsors of the assassination. Arrested on March 2, 2018, the second anniversary of the death of the militant, at the San Pedro Sula airport (northwest), Mr. Castillo is accused of having "Facilitated logistics and other resources to one of the material authors". The beginning of his trial has been postponed on many occasions.
The relatives of Berta Caceres ask, in front of "Lack of justice in Honduras", setting up a "Independent mission that can bring to justice the perpetrators of the assassination".
Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for environmental activists, with 123 murders between 2010 and 2017, according to the NGO Global Witness.
