Source: Human Rights Watch
Killers of Antonio Trejo Should Be Brought to Justice
Authorities in Honduras should ensure a prompt, thorough, and impartial
investigation into the killing of attorney Antonio Trejo Cabrera, Human
Rights Watch said today. Trejo, a lawyer who advocated for peasant land
rights and publicly opposed the creation of special autonomous
development zones, was shot and killed on September 22, 2012, after
attending a wedding south of Tegucigalpa.
“Authorities need to act swiftly to bring to justice those responsible
for Trejo’s murder, and send a clear message that attacks on human
rights defenders will be dealt with firmly,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.
Trejo was shot several times at approximately 9:30 pm, just after he
exited the church where the wedding had taken place. He was taken to the
hospital but died shortly after arriving. The circumstances of his
murder strongly suggest that it was a targeted killing and he was not a
victim of common crime.
According to news reports, police have opened an investigation into Trejo’s murder.
Trejo was the lead lawyer for a peasant group in the Bajo Aguán Valley,
the Movimiento Auténtico Reivindicador Campesino del Aguán (MARCA),
which has had a longstanding territorial dispute with local landowners.
More than 80 people have been killed in related violence in the valley
in the last three years, according to local human rights groups.
Trejo had received death threats on multiple occasions in June 2011,
according to a report issued by various international and national
nongovernmental organizations that conducted a fact-finding visit to the
Bajo Aguán Valley in 2011. Trejo filed a formal complaint regarding the
threats to federal authorities from the General Directorate for
Criminal Investigations (la Dirección General de la Investigación Criminal), the report said.
Trejo was one of 25 people detained on August 21, 2012, while
participating in a protest outside of Honduras’s Supreme Court related
to land disputes in the Bajo Aguan Valley. The protesters were charged
with holding an illegal protest, charges Trejo said were unfounded, and
were awaiting trial.
Together with a group of lawyers, Trejo presented a constitutional
challenge on September 5 to stop the creation of “special development
regions” in Honduras. The proposed “model cities” would be granted
special regulatory and trade conditions to promote investment, and have
their own laws, police, and justice systems.