Rally Tally: Dozens of activists condemn the murder of Berta Ceres

Yesterday, Friends of the Earth co-sponsored a rally at the UN in New York City for Berta Cáceres and International Woman’s Day. Berta is a well-known indigenous environmental activist who was murdered in her home on March 2.

Dozens of activists and human rights supporters denounced the criminal violence plaguing Honduran environmentalists – violence that has increased dramatically since the 2009 coup in that in that country.We joined the Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH), Associates (JASS), Indigenous Environmental Network and Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP) to host a rally demanding justice for Berta Caceres and liberty for Gustavo Castro, outside the Honduran mission to the United Nations on International Women’s Day.

Friends of the Earth and others delivered a letter to Ambassador Mary Elizabeth Flores Flake, Permanent Representative of Honduras to the United Nations, demanding an immediate end to state and corporate violence and calling for a return to the rule of law and real democracy in Honduras.

The letter also condemns murder of Berta Cáceres and expresses concern about how the Honduran authorities are handling the investigation and the safety of key leaders within the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras and other members of civil society including COPINH member Aureliano Molina Villanueva.

The rally was covered this morning on Democracy Now.

Amnesty International today denounced irregularities in the Honduran government’s handling of the investigation.