RAPID ACTION NETWORK<\/p>\n
24 SEPTEMBER 2020<\/p>\n
RAN 09\/20<\/p>\n
PEN International urges the Honduran authorities to revoke the sentence of journalist Cesario Alejandro F\u00e9lix Padilla Figueroa. The conviction was made\u00a0<\/strong>three years after<\/a><\/u><\/strong>\u00a0the trial in which he was convicted for exercising the right to freedom of expression.<\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0sentence<\/a><\/u>\u00a0of the Cesario Padilla, board member of PEN Honduras, for the crime of \u201cillegal detention of public property\u201d, which includes three years in prison, forced labor while in prison, suspension of his rights and payment for alleged damages that the authorities of the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) claim.<\/p>\n Cesario Alejandro F\u00e9lix Padilla Figueroa, journalist, journalism graduate, student leader, and board member and founding member of PEN Honduras, was convicted of \u2018usurpation\u2019 (\u2018usurpaci\u00f3n\u2019) at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (Universidad Nacional Aut\u00f3noma de Honduras<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 UNAH) on 7 June 2017. The sentence was issued by a judge and recorded in an audio. It was not transcribed or delivered in a document to Cesario Padilla for three years, which made it impossible for the journalist to have access to justice and to present appeals or a new trial.<\/p>\n \u201cWithholding the records of the sentence to prevent Padilla from defending himself, and for such a long time, portrays how the Honduran authorities are acting against justice and democracy and limiting the freedom of our colleague Cesario Padilla\u201d, said Carles Torner, Executive Director of PEN International.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n PEN International believes that Padilla Figueroa and other university students are being persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, enshrined in the nation\u2019s Constitution (Articles 72-75 and 79), as well as the American Convention on Human Rights (Articles 13 and 15), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 19 and 21), to which Honduras is a state party.<\/p>\n The conviction represents the culmination of a pattern of harassment that he has faced since 2014 for his part in student protests at UNAH, which called for an end to plans to privatize the university and for the democratisation of its governing bodies. Padilla Figueroa has faced ongoing harassment, including surveillance, in connection with his involvement with the protests.<\/p>\n TAKE ACTION \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Share on Twitter, Facebook and other social media<\/strong><\/p>\n Please send appeals calling on the authorities of the Republic of Honduras to:<\/strong><\/p>\n Send appeals to:<\/strong><\/p>\n Supreme Court of Justice<\/strong><\/p>\n Lawyer Rolando Argueta P\u00e9rez<\/strong>\u00a0President of Supreme Court of Justice Address: Centro C\u00edvico Gubernamental Boulevard Fuerzas Armadas Tegucigalpa, Honduras Ph.: (504) 2240-6000\u00a0Email:\u00a0<\/strong>presidencia@poderjudicial.gob.hn\u00a0<\/a><\/u><\/strong>Twitter<\/strong>: @raguetaCSJ<\/p>\n National Autonomous University of Honduras<\/strong><\/p>\n Rector of the University \u2013 UNAH<\/strong>\u00a0Dr. Francisco J. Herrera Alvarado<\/strong>\u00a0Address: Piso 12, Edificio Alma M\u00e1ter, Centro Universitario, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Ph. (504) 2166100 and (504) 22167000 Ministry of Human Rights<\/strong><\/p>\n Karla Cueva, Minister of Human Rights<\/strong> Lawyer Danilo Morales Please copy your appeals to the Embassy of Honduras in your country. Details of Honduran embassies may be found\u00a0here<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n Also consider calling on your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic representatives in Honduras to raise the Cesario Alejandro F\u00e9lix Padilla Figueroa\u2019 case in bilateral and multilateral fora.<\/p>\n Please inform PEN International of any action you take and of any responses you receive.<\/em><\/p>\n PEN members are encouraged to share information about Cesario Padilla and the campaign through social media.<\/p>\n *** Please send appeals immediately ***<\/strong><\/p>\n Publicity<\/strong><\/p>\n PEN members are encouraged to:<\/p>\n Please inform PEN International of any action you take and of any responses you receive.<\/em><\/p>\n Background<\/strong><\/p>\n Protests at the UNAH have been ongoing since 2010, when students, teachers and trade unionists\u00a0marched to protest the planned privatisation of the UNAH<\/a><\/u>\u00a0\u2013 the country\u2019s only public university. Since then,\u00a0the protests have grown<\/a><\/u>\u00a0and have widened to include calls for the democratisation of the institution\u2019s governing bodies. The protests continued until the Covid-19 crisis.<\/p>\n In December 2014,\u00a0Cesario Alejandro F\u00e9lix Padilla Figueroa\u00a0<\/strong>and five other UNAH students, were arbitrarily suspended from the university after taking part in previous protests. They were subsequently re-admitted to the university after a ruling by the Honduran Supreme Court of Justice in February 2015.<\/p>\n As protests continued at the institution, Padilla Figueroa and colleagues founded the Human Rights Defence Committee (Comit\u00e9 Pro Defensa de los Derechos Humanos)<\/em>, in 2015 in order to document human rights abuses occurring as a result of the protests. Later that same year, on 17 July 2015, Padilla Figueroa \u2013 along with fellow students Mois\u00e9s David C\u00e1ceres, Sergio Luis Ulloa and Josu\u00e9 Armando Vel\u00e1squez \u2013 was charged with \u2018usurpation\u2019 (\u2018usurpaci\u00f3n\u2019) of UNAH property, under Article 227 of the Honduran Penal Code, for his part in the occupation of a university building during a student protest.<\/p>\n Padilla Figueroa and his colleagues were found guilty of \u2018usurpation\u2019 on 7 June 2017. At a hearing held on 7 August 2017, the public prosecutor\u00a0reportedly requested<\/a><\/u>\u00a0that a three-year sentence, among other penalties, be applied. According to PEN Honduras, Padilla Figueroa and his colleagues were in a form of legal limbo while they await a written copy of the sentence \u2013 which they required to file an appeal. In the meantime, he is unable to travel outside the country or have access to university facilities.<\/p>\n Shortly following Padilla Figueroa\u2019s conviction, the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras\u00a0reportedly stated<\/a><\/u>: \u201cThe office expresses its grave concern regarding the ruling made in relation to the crime of \u2018usurpation\u2019, considering that on repeated occasions, the office has signalled \u2013 both publicly and in our discussions with judicial officials \u2013 that the use of this type of crime in the context of the criminalisation of social protest presents serious problems in light of international human rights standards<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n On 13 June 2015, PEN International and PEN Honduras requested the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to intervene in the case of Padilla Figueroa and the other students. The \u2018precautionary measures\u2019 requested would oblige the Honduran state to protect the students\u2019 right to freedom of expression, association and education and to ensure a thorough investigation into alleged abuse of authority and human rights abuses within the UNAH.<\/p>\n In the interim, Padilla Figueroa has continued to face harassment and surveillance. On 15 August 2015, he reported that he had been tailed by two unknown armed men in his neighbourhood who had also been keeping watch over his home. The men had made it known to Padilla Figueroa that they intended to harm him. He and PEN Honduras believed that this surveillance was in retaliation for his activities as a student leader. He is currently working as a journalist, in one of the most dangerous countries for journalism.<\/p>\n In June 2016, Padilla Figueroa and some of his co-defendants reported that they had been subject to unlawful surveillance by agents from the Technical Agency for Criminal Investigations (ATIC), who attempted to prevent the students from entering the university campus, among other irregularities.<\/p>\n According to a\u00a0complaint<\/a><\/u>\u00a0submitted to the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office on 10 June 2016, filed by their defence lawyers, the actions of the ATIC agents constitute an abuse of power as the students are not accused of a crime that merits such surveillance. The case is still pending.<\/p>\n Since 2015, Padilla Figueroa is part of the Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, journalists and justice operators, government program to protect journalists. This includes police monitoring. Nevertheless, Padillla and PEN Honduras have reported that a police officer responsible for implementing these measures stopped doing so almost a month ago. According to his testimony, his residency has recently been photographed. Cesario Padilla is still under threat.<\/p>\n For more information, please contact Alicia Qui\u00f1ones, Americas Programme Coordinator, at PEN International, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, email:\u00a0<\/em>alicia.quinones@pen-international.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nEmail:\u00a0rectoria@unah.edu.hn
\n<\/a><\/u>Twitter: @UNAH_Rectoria<\/p>\n
\nAddress: Edificio Le Sage, Colonia Florencia Oeste, Boulevard Suyapa frente a Lama Motors \/ Volvo. Tegucigalpa M.D.C
\nEmail:\u00a0karlacueva144@gmail.com
\n<\/a><\/u>Twitter: @sedhHonduras<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Executive Director
\n<\/strong>General System of Protection of Ministry of Human Rights
\n<\/strong>Email:\u00a0analisisderiesgodgsp@gmail.com<\/a>\u00a0y\u00a0direccion.proteccion@sedh.gob.hn<\/a><\/p>\n\n