Esly Banegas
Esly Emperatriz Banegas Ávila is a defender of land and agricultural worker's rights in the Bajo Aguán region in Honduras. In 2005 she was prosecuted, along with 10 other social leaders of the Bajo Aguán region, in a attempt to prevent them from continuing with their peaceful and legitimate work. In addittion, Esly has been continuously subjected to surveillance, harassment, death threats and violent attacks.
Human rights defenders suffer extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment as well as judicial harassment, threats and stigmatisation. Journalists, lawyers, prosecutors, those defending the rights of women, children, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community, indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities, and those working on environmental and land rights issues are particularly at risk.
