Amnesty International on Tuesday called on the candidates in Honduras’ presidential election to commit to human rights ahead of the general election scheduled for November 30. The organization emphasized that the upcoming election presents an opportunity to improve human rights policies in Honduras and to address the country’s human rights shortfalls.
Amnesty International highlighted Honduras’ record of human rights violations over recent years, including violent attacks and harassment of journalists and activists as well as restrictions on the freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly. The organization also pointed to the government’s failure to provide security and order for its citizens amid rampant gang violence in the country. Amnesty International’s Americas director Ana Piquer stated that the presidential candidates should seize the opportunity of the upcoming general election “to demonstrate their express, clear, and firm commitment to defending human rights.”
The rights group noted that Honduran security forces have misused the prolonged state of emergency, in effect since 2022, to carry out arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and violations of the right to a fair trial. Therefore, Amnesty International called on the candidates for the 2025 presidential election to end the extended state of emergency, implement a new security policy, and investigate all previous breaches.
Amnesty International urged the candidates to make a serious commitment to effectively protect human rights activists, particularly environmental activists, who play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law. The organization also emphasized the need to refrain from misusing the judicial system to harass human rights defenders and to take necessary measures to promote Honduras’ accession to the Escazú Regional Agreement. This agreement, the first of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean, includes specific provisions for the protection of environmental human rights defenders in Article 9 and recognizes the rights of individuals, including indigenous people, to engage in environmental activism in Articles 5 to 8. Lastly, Amnesty International called on the presidential candidates to end the criminalization of abortion and to provide contraceptive healthcare to women and girls in Honduras, given the high rates of childhood and adolescent pregnancies in the country.
The organization’s statement is particularly relevant given that the upcoming general election coincides with the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Honduras. Critics have noted the high number of violent attacks against human rights defenders and environmental activists in Honduras, including murders, due to a weak judicial system and corrupt links between government officials and corporations.
High-level corruption has plagued the country, exacerbating poverty and the human rights situation for its population. To combat corruption, President Xiomara Castro initiated an international anti-corruption mission backed by the UN in Honduras. Despite these efforts, the US Department of Justice convicted former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández of drug trafficking and money laundering in 2024.
