UN rights experts on Monday called [press release] for Honduras to provide justice in the murder case of Berta Cáceres [backgrounder], as well as broad protection for everyone defending human rights and the environment. Cáceres was the founder of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations Honduras (COPINH) [advocacy website, in Spanish] and a prominent defender of indigenous rights and the environment, but she was murdered at the beginning of March for her positions despite a 2009 decision requiring Honduras to protect her. The UN experts hope for swift justice, but they fear for Cáceres’ relatives and other human rights defenders. The experts stated:

We encourage Honduras to act with due diligence in investigating Berta Cáceres’ murder, and to effectively ensure the protection of her relatives and members of COPINH as requested by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

The UN experts also noted that women rights defenders are generally at more risk due to the patriarchal traditions in the society.

The experts are pleased with the arrest of a suspect for the murder of another COPINH leader, Nelson García, occurring less than two weeks after the murder of Cáceres. After the death of García, UN experts made a similar call for the protection of human rights defenders [JURIST report]. However, Honduras has been experiencing unrest throughout the country for some time now. Last November a UN human rights expert urged [JURIST report] Honduras to address internal displacement caused by organized gang violence and a failing criminal justice system. UN human rights expert Victoria Tauli-Corpuz expressed concern [JURIST report] about the situation faced by the indigenous people of Honduras, specifically in connection with their land and natural resource rights, their lack of access to justice, education and health, and the general environment of violence and impunity affecting their communities. In October Honduran Congressional Vice President Lena Gutierrez began her trial [JURIST report] for her role in the nation’s recent medical sale scandal. The charges include falsification of public documents and fraud against the government by drug sales to the Ministry of Health. In June 2015 thousands of protesters marched [JURIST report] in Honduras on calling for the resignation of President Juan Hernandez and demanding an independent investigation into his role in an ongoing corruption scandal.