#Oquelí Domínguez

[violetsandshrikes]

Aly Dominguez (38) and Jairo Bonilla (28) were two Guapinol water defenders who were killed in January of this year, 2023. Their movement involves organising to protect their rivers from an open-pit iron oxide mining project in the Carlos Escaleras National Park, Honduras.

The families of Dominguez and Bonilla say they were killed by unidentified gunmen after weeks of threats related to their activism. Honduran police have said that Dominguez and Bonilla died in a robbery gone wrong, but family members say their motorcycles and personal belongings were not taken. 

Oquelí Domínguez, brother of defenders Aly and Reynaldo Domínguez was killed in the community of Guapinol (department of Colón, northern Honduras) on June 15th, 2023.

Every year, environmental defenders are intimidated and killed for the work they do in their communities, and many of these cases never leave the local news cycles or are investigated further. One thing we can do is to not forget their names or contributions.

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[humanrightsupdates]

Urgent Action: Water defenders killed in Honduras

Oquelí Domínguez, brother of defenders Aly and Reynaldo Domínguez was killed in the community of Guapinol (department of Colón, northern Honduras) on June 15, 2023. Five months earlier, defenders Aly Dominguez and Jairo Bonilla Ayala, members of the resistance of Guapinol against an iron ore mine, were also found dead.

In February 2023, six other defenders of the Guapinol river found out that they could face criminal prosecution for peacefully questioning the legality of a mining project in the Carlos Escaleras National Park.

We demand the Honduran authorities to ensure a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation of the attacks against the defenders of the Guapinol river, and to refrain from using the justice system to harass them and to ensure their protection.

Take action now

[humanrightsupdates]

Urgent Action: WATER DEFENDERS KILLED (Honduras: UA 003.23)

Please write to the authorities in Honduras to call for justice, truth and reparation for the water defenders who have been killed in Guapinol this year, before August 14 2023

To remember that your actions make a difference, read about Amnesty International’s victories here

I am writing to express my concern about the serious risk situation of the defenders of the Guapinol River in Tocoa, department of Colón. Five months after the killing of human rights defenders Aly Magdaleno Domínguez Ramos and Jairo Bonilla Ayala on January 7, 2023, Oquelí Domínguez was killed in the community of Guapinol on June 15, 2023. The authorities have yet to identify all responsible for these murders. Oquelí Domínguez is the brother of Aly and Reynaldo Domínguez. Reynaldo is one of the five Guapinol defenders that on February 7, 2023 were notified that the prosecutor’s office in Tocoa had appealed in December 2022 a favorable resolution of the Supreme Court of Justice that annulled unfounded criminal proceedings.

The authorities responsible for the investigation of the killings of Oquelí and Aly Domínguez, as well as Jairo Bonilla must respect the right of the human rights defender’s families to justice, truth, and reparation. According to international human rights standards, authorities must consider the victim’s human rights work as a hypothesis for these crimes. Therefore, I urge you to urgently to conduct a prompt, independent, impartial, and exhaustive investigation to identify all responsible for the murders of both defenders. Authorities must refrain immediately from using the justice system to harass the defenders of the Guapinol river and take immediate steps to fully provide appropriate protection.