Case History: Gilberto Vásquez

On 20 December 2015, the body of Mr Javier Vásquez Benítez was found in a ravine in the municipality of Santa Elena, department of La Paz. Javier Vásquez is the son of human rights defender and prominent indigenous leader Mr Gilberto Vásquez.

Gilberto Vásquez is the president of Consejo Indígena de la Comunidad de Gualinga (Indigenous Council of Gualinga). The Council works for the defence of indigenous peoples' rights in the department of La Paz defending and promoting the indigenous communities' rights to their ancestral lands. The human rights defender has actively opposed the construction of the Los Encinos Dam (Hidroelétrica Los Encinos), owned by the company Los Encinos S. de R.L, through participating in many marches and demonstrations, sometimes accompanied by his son. The Los Encinos Dam has been constructed and it is operating in the region despite the fact that no consultations were held among the local indigenous communities.

This assassination follows the killings of two human rights defenders and indigenous leaders in the Gualinga community and the targeting of many other human rights defenders. It is believed that Javier Vásquez's assassination is linked to his father's work as a human rights defender, as a way to intimidate him and prevent him from continuing his opposition to the Los Encinos Dam.

In May 2015 Mr Silvestre Manueles Gómez's body was found, dismembered, on the bank of the river Chinacla, on the border of the departments of Intibucá and La Paz. The assassination occurred in the context of a conflict between the indigenous peoples in the region and the company Los Encinos S. de R.L. The human rights defender played a prominent role in speaking out against the Los Encinos Dam project and had denounced on several occasions the lack of prior consultation with local communities about the mega-project, where the right to prior consultation as per Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) of the community was disregarded.

In January 2015, Mr Juan Francisco Martinez, who was an active member of Movimiento Indígena Lenca de la Paz, Honduras – MILPAH (Lenca Indigenous Movement of La Paz, Honduras), was killed. He worked on issues relating to the right to water, land and territory for the Gualinga community. Impunity remains for both killings.

Human rights defenders in the department of La Paz have reported an upsurge in the number of attacks and intimidations they have been subjected to as a result of their opposition to the Los Encinos Dam project. The high risk situation led the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to issue precautionary measures for 14 indigenous leaders that have been fighting for the recognition of their ancestral lands and against the mega-project. Mr Gilberto Vásquez is not among the beneficiaries.

Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the killing of Javier Vásquez Benítez and expresses its grave concern at the lack of protection for human rights defenders and of effective investigation by the police into the previous killings of indigenous leaders and human rights defenders in the community.