continued harassment, threats and attacks by state and non-state actors before her death. On 18 October, José Ángel Flores and Silmer Dionisio George of the Unified Campesino Movement of the Aguán were murdered. Both human rights defenders were shot dead after attending a meeting with several campesino (peasant farmer) people in the Bajo Aguán region, northeastern Honduras. In November, Bertha Oliva, coordinator of the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) was subjected to a smear campaign, aimed at linking her with drug cartels and discrediting her human rights work. COFADEH has a long history of promoting human rights of campesino people in the Bajo Aguan region. According to the NGO ACI-PARTICIPA, more than 90% of all killings and abuses against human rights defenders remained unpunished. LGBTI human rights defenders were also particularly targeted with threats and attacks. René Martínez, president of the Sampedrana Gay Community in the city of San Pedro Sula, was found dead on 3 June with his body bearing signs of torture. The Worldwide Movement for Human Rights reported that members of the LGBTI rights group Asociación Arcoiris were victims of 36 security incidents between July 2015 and January 2016, including killings, threats, surveillance and harassment. The military was accused of infiltrating social movements and attacking human rights defenders. The Law to Protect Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Commentators and Justice Officials had yet to be properly implemented. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS A lack of resources for institutions responsible for supporting Indigenous Peoples continued to be a concern. Several Indigenous Peoples claimed their rights to consultation and to free, prior and informed consent had been violated in the context of projects to explore and exploit natural resources in their territories. A lack of access 180 to justice for Indigenous Peoples in cases of aggression, including killings, remained a challenge. In addition to Berta Cáceres, one Tolupán Indigenous leader was killed on 21 February; he had been granted precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in December 2015. The perpetrators had yet to be brought to justice. WOMEN’S RIGHTS Women were routinely subjected to violence. Between January and June, 227 women were murdered. During the same period, 1,498 attacks and 1,375 incidents of sexual violence against women were recorded. Attacks against women remained widely underreported. The country continued to lack specific mechanisms for collection and disaggregation of data related to the killings of women. Abortion remained a crime in all cases, including when the life and health of a woman were at risk, or when the pregnancy was a result of sexual violence. Emergency contraception continued to be banned. JUSTICE SYSTEM In February, the National Congress elected 15 new members of the Supreme Court of Justice for the next seven years. Several civil society organizations raised concerns about the selection process, which they said failed to comply with international standards of impartiality, independence and transparency. Honduras had not yet complied with the resolution of October 2015 of the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights in which it found that the rights of four judges dismissed for opposing a coup in 2009 were violated. The judges had yet to be reinstated, and other measures of reparation were still pending. 1. Home sweet home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s role in a deepening refugee crisis (AMR 01/4865/2016) 2. We are defending the land with our blood: Defenders of the land, territory and environment in Honduras and Guatemala (AMR 01/4562/2016) Amnesty International Report 2016/17

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