Former Foreign Ministers press PM to condemn violence against Garinagu in Honduras

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Published by BBN Staff at August 4, 2020

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Posted: Tuesday, August 4, 2020. 1:03 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: At the urging of the National Garifuna Council (NGC), five former Ministers of Foreign Affairs – all of the People’s United Party – have written to Prime Minister Dean Barrow requesting his intervention with neighbours Hoduras over “the systematic abuse of Garifuna communities” there since 2019.

Former Prime Minister Said Musa; Ambassador Assad Shoman; and Senior Counsels Eamon Courtenay, Godfrey Smith and Lisa Shoman say they were alerted by the NGC of the plight of Alberth Centeno, a community leader and one of five men abducted on July 19 from the coastal village of Triunfo de la Cruz.

Centeno, their reports say, has been pressing the Honduran Government to comply with a ruling from the Inter-american Court on Human Rights ordering compensation and land titles for property owners challenged by tourist interests.

Earlier, 71 year old Antonio Bernardez of Punta Piedra was murdered, and since September 2019 five community leaders have been killed according to the UNHCR Honduran office.

The ex-ministers ask that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by Wilfred Elrington send a note explaining our national concerns and asking for further information about the alleged kidnapping.

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