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Pressure on the Honduran government to get to the bottom of the murder of renowned Indigenous leader Berta Caceres continues from many sides as U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy echoed the family’s calls on Thursday for an independent, internationally-led investigation into the high-profile assassination.
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Leahy also urged the Honduran authorities to cooperate with the anti-corruption body launched earlier this year with the backing of the government and the Organization of American States.
The Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity, better known as Maccih, kicked off in January after widespread high-level government corruption implicating the ruling National Party came to the fore last year, sparking months of protests.
“The Honduran Government has sought to limit Maccih’s mandate from the beginning, but the Honduran people have made clear that they are fed up with the corruption and impunity that have been tolerated and even encouraged by elites in that society for generations,” Leahy said in a statement Thursday.
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“The sincerity of the Honduran government’s support for efforts to respond effectively to corruption and the appalling violence and poverty that have caused a flood of Hondurans to flee to the United States, will be judged in large measure by its cooperation with Maccih and its acceptance of an independent, international investigation by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights into the killings of Berta Caceres and other social activists and journalists,” Leahy continued.
It’s not the first time Leahy has spoken up to demand justice for Caceres. Days after she was gunned down, the Senator extended his condolences to her family and urged authorities to involve an independent team of experts in the case. He also called for the controversial Agua Zarca hydroelectric project that Caceres resisted to be definitively canceled.
The statement comes as the United States has committed to contributing US$5.2 million to support Maccih, while calls from Caceres family and members of her Indigenous movement for an independent investigation into her murder continue to fall on deaf ears.
As longtime human rights defender Annie Bird, director of Rights and Ecology, recently told teleSUR, Washington has “not shown any real indicator” that it is putting pressure on the Honduran government to ensure a thorough probe into Caceres’ killing.
Bird added that stopping U.S. funding to Honduras is key to putting an end to the rampant repression of social activists and poor human rights situation that has spiraled downward in the wake of the U.S.-backed 2009 coup.
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Meanwhile, though Maccih is widely seen as a step forward in the fight against corruption, it is also not without criticism in Honduras. Local activist Ariel Varela told teleSUR in January following the initiative’s launch that Maccih “does not seem to have sufficient autonomy and strength” to carry out thorough investigations.
Although five suspects have been arrested in connection with Caceres’ murder, family members and supporters insist that there not be justice in her case as long as there is impunity for the masterminds who ordered her killing.
On June 15, international activists will participate in a global day of action at Honduran embassies in different cities around the world to demand justice for Caceres and an end to criminalization and repression in Honduras.
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