This week, our international delegation – made up of human rights defenders representing organizations, movements and communities from Latin America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe – had the opportunity to witness first-hand the reality faced by the Garífuna people in Honduras.

We learned about the struggle of the Barauda Reoccupation in the Garífuna community of Nueva Armenia, which for years has sustained the defence of its ancestral lands. Today, more than 58 families are working to build their homes and restore the soil’s fertility for planting, in a territory once dominated by the environmentally harmful monoculture of African palm.

We had planned to visit several Garífuna reoccupations in the Bay of Trujillo, but in the current context of judicial persecution against the Garífuna people – which is now focused on criminal proceedings against five community leaders (Cesia Guillen, Cindy Fernández, Gilma Bernárndez, Luis Calderón and Geovanny Bernardez) – we joined OFRANEH in supporting them during the prolonged initial hearing. These leaders are facing unfounded charges of aggravated usurpation and forced displacement in their own ancestral territory. We have identified this case as part of a clear pattern of judicial harassment and institutional racism, used as a strategy to dismantle the Garífuna people’s struggle and drain OFRANEH’s resources and energy.

Nevertheless, what we witnessed was the resilience of the communities, who stand with determination, perseverance, and in peaceful protest outside the court in Trujillo.

We observed the selective application of criminal law and the manipulation of the judicial system by the economic power of foreign actors and large companies, aimed at protecting interests related to the real estate and tourism sectors. This is exemplified by the case of Randy Roy Jorgensen, accused of money laundering and aggravated fraud against his fellow Canadian nationals, yet still at liberty.

We were also welcomed in the community of Faya, Vallecito, a territory recovered by OFRANEH from landowners and organized crime, which has been transformed into a sanctuary for the Garífuna people and other allied communities. In these territories, proposals are being implemented to ensure the continuity of the Garífuna people in the face of policies of dispossession and cultural extermination, to which the State and other power groups respond with systemic violence and repression.

We are inspired by their unwavering commitment to defending their ancestral lands, despite a political economy of violence that enables extractivism and the destruction of ancestral lands, benefiting corporations, colonial land grabbers, and criminal organizations – all shielded by impunity.

We call on the authorities to end the violent displacement and dispossession of the Garífuna people and all Indigenous communities in Honduras. All people are entitled to their fundamental economic, social, and cultural rights. As a State party to multiple human rights treaties – including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the ILO Convention No. 169 – the Government of Honduras must put an end to racism, discrimination, and the systematic criminalization of Garífuna communities.

We therefore demand:

1. Immediate compliance with the rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) in the Triunfo de la Cruz, Punta Piedra, and San Juan cases, including the restitution and collective titling of ancestral lands, and guarantees of non-repetition.
2. An end to violence and criminalization against the Garífuna people and OFRANEH; full investigation and prosecution of all threats, attacks, and enforced disappearances, ensuring accountability for all those responsible, at every level.
3. Truth and justice for the enforced disappearance of the four young men from Triunfo de la Cruz (2020), with effective search efforts, verifiable progress, and comprehensive support for their families and community.
4. Investigation and prosecution of Randy Roy Jorgensen for aggravated fraud and money laundering against his fellow Canadian nationals, trafficking of over 3,500 stolen cultural heritage pieces, and his alleged involvement in the recent armed incursion by security guards identifying themselves as sent by the OABI against the Garífuna community at the “Hachari Wayúnagu” Ancestral Knowledge Centre.
5. Recognition and effective implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in all projects affecting Garífuna territories.
6. Immediate suspension of tourism, real estate, and agribusiness projects imposed without prior consultation, particularly in Vallecito, Trujillo, Tela, and Nueva Armenia.
7. Comprehensive protection measures with a collective, ethnic, and gender perspective for community leadership and Garífuna human rights defenders, and an end to the misuse of criminal law to hinder the defence of rights.
8. Respect for the autonomy and right to self-determination of the Garífuna people to manage, administer, and protect their territory.

The eyes of the movements and organizations that make up ESCR-Net will remain on the Government of Honduras, which must respect and guarantee the ancestral rights of the Garífuna people. We reaffirm our permanent support for OFRANEH in their struggles, transformative proposals, and demands for justice.

Signatory Organizations

This final declaration is endorsed by the organizations and movements that formed the International Delegation of Solidarity with the Garífuna People:

• Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH) – Honduras
• Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (COPINH) – Honduras
• Red Nacional de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos en Honduras – Honduras
• Consejo de Pueblos Wuxhtaj – Guatemala
• La Colectiva Feminista en Construcción – Puerto Rico
• Movimiento Nacional CIMARRÓN – Colombia
• Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Mujeres Defensoras de Derechos Humanos (IM-Defensoras) – Mesoamérica
• Front Line Defenders – Ireland / International
• Entrepueblos – Spain
• Calan Institute for Transterritorial Justice (CATRA) – United States / Honduras
• International Secretariat of ESCR-Net – International

Press contact: To arrange interviews with OFRANEH spokespeople, please contact: Francis Cálix, Red de Defensoras – Honduras, +504 8998-0084.
Other spokespeople from the organizations listed above are also available for interviews.