AMR 37/002/2012

HONDURAS

Honduran journalist Gilda Silvestrucci has received death threats by phone. In recent weeks she has been campaigning for justice for Honduran journalists who have been threatened, attacked or killed as a consequence of their work, often exposing human rights violations. Her safety could be at risk.

Gilda Silvestrucci is a journalist based in the capital, Tegucigalpa, where she currently hosts a radio programme on Radio Globo that focuses on human rights issues including a new mining law, unlawful killings that have taken place in the Aguan region, and corruption. Since December 2011, Gilda Silvestrucci has been a member of the group “Journalists for Life and Freedom of Expression” (Periodistas por la Vida y la Libertad de Expresión). She joined the group after a journalist was killed in Tegucigalpa in December 2011.

On 23 January, half an hour after the end of her radio programme, Gilda Silvestrucci received a phone call to her mobile phone. The male caller asked her if she was the owner of the phone. When Gilda Silvestrucci demanded the reason for the question, the caller said “Look, we already know you have three children …that just now you were in the street with your son…and the eldest [child] …is at home, and we’re going to kill you” (Ya sabemos que tenés tres hijos… que ahorita andás en la calle con tu hijo… y que la mayor está en tu casa…y te vamos a matar).  Gilda Silvestrucci hung up the phone and alerted her colleagues who were there with her. The caller rang again immediately, but another journalist answered the phone. The man demanded to talk to Gilda Silvestrucci and claimed he was armed with a weapon.

Please write immediately in Spanish or your own language:
* Calling for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the threats against Gilda Silvestrucci, with the results made public and those responsible brought to justice;
* Urging the authorities to take immediate steps to fully provide appropriate protection to Gilda Silvestrucci and her family members in accordance with her wishes.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 8 MARCH 2012 TO:

Attorney General
Sr. Luis Alberto Rubí   
Fiscal General de la República
Lomas del Guijarro, Avenida República Dominicana, Edificio Lomas Plaza II       
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Fax: +504 2221 5667
Salutation: Sr. Fiscal General/ Dear Attorney General

Minister for Justice and Human Rights
Ana Pineda
Ministra de Justicia y Derechos Humanos
Col. Lomas del Mayab,
Ave. República de Costa Rica,
Entre BAC-BAMER y BANHCAFE
Tegucigalpa MDC
Fax: +504 2235 8379
Email: info@sjdh.gob.hn
Salutation: Dear Minister/ Estimada Sra. Ministra

And copies to:

Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH)
Barrio La Plazuela, Avenida Cervantes
Casa No. 1301
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras
Fax: +504 2220 5280

        
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

HONDURAS AMBASSAD
STJÄRNVÄGEN 2, 7 TR
181 34 LIDINGÖ
FAX 08-636 99 83
E-post: hondurasembassy@telia.com

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
“Journalist for Life and Freedom of Expression”, the group of which Gilda Silvestrucci is a member, organised a march in December 2011 to draw attention to the high numbers of attacks and killings of journalists.

Following the coup d'etat on 28 June 2009, there were closures and occupation of media outlets by military personnel, media workers were physically attacked and subjected to threats and intimidation, particularly those investigating organized criminal activity, human rights violations and those speaking out about the coup d’etat. In 2010, ten journalists were killed in Honduras. Among those killed, was Nahúm Palacios, who had been granted precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
In 2011, Amnesty International issued two Urgent Actions on behalf of journalists at risk: Esdras Amado López in January, and Arnulfo Aguilar in May.

Esdras Amado López, a journalist and the Director of Honduran TV channel Canal 36, was followed and threatened with a gun in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and he also received death threats by text message in January 2011. (See UA UA: 4/11 Index: AMR 37/001/2011)

Radio director Arnulfo Aguilar was attacked by eight to ten armed men wearing balaclavas outside his home in San Pedro Sula, north-western Honduras. (See UA: 129/11 Index: AMR 37/004/2011)

In January 2012, human rights defender and blogger Itsmania Pineda Platero, also member of the group “Journalists for Life and Freedom of Expression” received death threats by phone and text message. (See UA: 22/12 Index: AMR 37/001/2012)

Name: Gilda Silvestrucci
Gender m/f: f