Over seven years after the assassination of Indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres, the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of Honduras confirmed the sentence of the seven convicted for the murder. Cáceres’ organization, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), announced the news in a statement released on November 25.
David Castillo, the former president of the Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA) company and a West Point trained military intelligence officer, was found guilty as a co-perpetrator of the crime. The sentences against Douglas Bustillo (head of security for the Atala family and army soldier), Mariano Díaz (Major in the Honduran army), Henry Hernández (another Honduran soldier), and the assassins Elvin Rapalo, Edilson Duarte and Óscar Torres were also ratified.
Regarding the ruling, COPINH expressed that although the ratification of the sentence is important and reveals a criminal network between political and economic powers, the intellectual authors of the crime have yet to be convicted: “The Honduran justice system confirms the criminal structure behind the assassination of Berta Cáceres. The intellectual authors remain to be captured and prosecuted: the Atala family.”
In this regard, Berta Cáceres’ daughter, Bertha Zúniga, wrote on X, “After years of waiting for justice for my mother, Berta Cáceres, the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) finally issued a sentence ratifying 7 of the 8 murderers -among them David Castillo, whose aggravating factors were removed, implying a reduction of the sentence…This sentence reaffirms the truth of my mother and the Lenca people and is the result of the struggle of many people and organizations to whom we are very grateful. The struggle continues until the intellectual authors of the crime are brought down! Berta Vive, the struggle continues!”
Berta Cáceres, human rights defender
Berta Cáceres (1971-2016), was a Honduran revolutionary who helped co-found COPINH and dedicated her life to the struggle against patriarchy, colonialism, state repression, and for political transformation of Honduras. She was assassinated amid a fierce struggle being waged by COPINH and the community of Río Blanco against the hydroelectric project Agua Zarca of the company Desarrollos Energéticos S.A. (DESA).
Read more: The radical legacy of Berta Cáceres
According to Global Witness, in 2017 Honduras was one of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists. From 2010 to 2017, more than 120 people linked to the defense of the environment who opposed mining projects, logging businesses, etc., were killed by the State, private security guards, or hired assassins.
Cáceres had denounced the threats against her family and other members of COPINH from DESA and several government security agents protecting the DESA project on countless occasions. However, Honduran security forces did not undertake any serious investigation in this regard, even after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights requested precautionary measures for her as early as 2009.
Several reports and investigations, including the report by the International Advisory Group of Experts (Grupo Asesor Internacional de Personas Expertas, GAIPE) and the recent investigation released by The Intercept, revealed that the Honduran state, in collusion with DESA and the Honduran army, took all measures possible to thwart the resistance led by Cáceres and COPINH to the Agua Zarca project. These reports revealed the inner workings and communications of this coordinated campaign which sought to infiltrate COPINH, monitor the movements, communications and habits of Berta and others, buy off media to speak out against COPINH, and plan actions of violence.
On March 2, 2016, Cáceres was murdered in her home in the town of La Esperanza. Thousands of people attended her funeral. The assassination was repudiated by progressive movements and leaders from across the world, as well as by several international organizations such as the OAS, the UN, and the European Parliament, among others. The Honduran state employed diverse methods to delay and divert the investigation away from powerful political and military elites in the country and thwart the determined struggle for justice.
Read more: The continuing struggle for justice for Berta Cáceres
On November 29, 2018, eight people were found guilty of the murder of the environmental leader, including Sergio Rodriguez, DESA’s environment manager; Douglas Bustillo, DESA’s head of security and former army lieutenant and military specialist; Mariano Diaz Chavez, special forces major; Henry Hernandez, retired special forces sergeant; among others.
Read more: David Castillo found guilty in assassination of Berta Cáceres
In December 2019, four of the killers (Rápalo, Torres, Duarte, and Hernández) were sentenced to 34 years in prison and 16 for attempted murder. The four intellectual authors (Castillo, Rodríguez, Bustillo, and Díaz) were sentenced to 30 years in prison for murder.
The ratification of their sentences is a positive step in the continued struggle for justice in a case that shocked not only Honduras, but the entire region. For now, the search for intellectual authors continues, as does the unmasking of the deep criminal networks that cross many spheres of private capital, several private companies, and some prominent families of the Central American country.
