Good afternoon. Thank you.
It is a pleasure to be here today to talk to you, especially about the situation in my country.
I must say that during previous interventions, I was able to explain some of the situations we have faced, the murders and other situations. I would like to explain the situation in Honduras.
First, I would like to talk about the assassination, which expresses the fight against the people who are defending human rights, who are exercising their right in a situation of violence and conflict, especially in my country. This murder has to do with the work that the COPINH, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras, is doing. We are trying to protect...and fight the companies that are violating human rights through not respecting the free, previous, and informed consultation. We think this is something that must be highlighted in order to defend human rights.
I would also like to say that, following the murder, it has become very clear that they will continue to try to criminalize or bring false criminal cases before the law, even though what we're doing is trying to protect our own land. We see that there's conflict and that there's a fight against human rights, on the part of both the companies and the state, and we see a systematic violent response.
We are fighting to defend our land. However, we see that they are fighting against us. We are trying to defend the common natural resources, and we're looking for justice. Berta Isabel Cáceres was fighting for all this. We would like to know who is behind her murder. We would like to fight against the push to create hatred in our country. We see that there are murders and that nothing is being done.
Something very important, as you know, is that yesterday we had a preliminary hearing against four of the eight people who have been brought to justice. Most of them were intermediary actors. They perhaps coordinated, planned, or researched certain areas, or monitored different areas in regard to the murder. However, this murder had nothing to do with what happened on that specific day. What we are seeing is a consequence of persecution, a judicial persecution that has been going on for a very long time.
What would we like to highlight?
First, there is a hearing for the four people I mentioned earlier. We, COPINH, as members of the family and as legal representatives, would like to go to the next step. We would like to show that the people who are brought to justice are not only working to defend certain interests and are not protecting a clear plan to murder innocent people and detain innocent people, but we're also seeing actions by the armed forces of Honduras that are not up to par.
We would like to have the results of the hearing in two days' time, and we would like to request international support and supervision in order to ensure there are no more irregularities. This process was suspended in the past. It was said that there was not enough evidence to really bring the case forward. However, we see that the situation, although not as good as we would hope, has improved.
We would like to ask the ministry, the public, and the attorney general to take into account some of the information we have given them in regard to the assassination. There are cases that have been opened, but many of them have not been investigated or have not been followed according to the laws of our country.
I know I have to start concluding my remarks, because we don't have very much time, but we would also like to point out the following things.
First, it would be very important for Canadian MPs and the public to have a process and to supervise the situation in Honduras, taking into account what the local communities wish. We know that investment is important for Honduras, especially in the mining sector, but we know that some of the people who were part of the process and who ended up murdered were really fighting against what we're trying to defend. They do not respect human rights and what we're trying to defend.
The other aspect that we would like to highlight is the role of the army. We know that the armed forces of our country have been part of the sicarian actions that ended in murder as a result. This is a violation against human rights. We see there are military forces that are now being controlled and that have quite a bit of power. They take part in crimes and murders of defenders as well as leaders in the area of human rights.
We would like to see if Canada could perhaps sign agreements with Honduras in order to follow up on all of this.
I would also like to thank you for the opportunity today. It would be my pleasure to respond to any questions you may have in order to explain the situation that COPINH and Honduras are living in today.