Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Colleagues, friends, and comrades,
Walter Trochez, a well-known LGBT activist in Honduras who was an
active member of the National Resistance Front against the coup d’etat
there, was assassinated on December 4. Trochez, who had already been
arrested and beaten for his sexual orientation after participating in
a march against the coup, had been very active recently in documenting
homophobic crimes committed by the forces behind the coup.
American University Assistant Professor of Anthropology Adrienne
Pine has translated into English on her blog a statement about the
Trochez murder by the Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los
Derechos Humanos (CIPRODEH — the Center for the Investigation and
Promotion of Human Rights in Honduras). She has also translated a moving statement
about the Trochez murder from the influential youth organization Los
Necios. [Both are reproduced below].
Adrienne e-mailed me that "Walter has been one of the most
important figures in the LGBT community in Honduras for years.
Unfortunately, most of what’s written about him is in Spanish. A
volunteer is translating one of his last open letters to the
resistance condemning the large number of targeted political
assassinations of members of the LGBT community since the coup.
That letter will be available in English on my website by tomorrow."
For more info, contact Adrienne Pine at pine american.edu
Amnesty International has issued a statement calling for an
investigation of the murder, which you can read below.
More in Spanish on Trochez’ assassination at:
http://www.kaosenlared.net/noticia/110695/honduras-tantas-veces-mataron-tantas-veces-mori-walter-trochez-present
and there are several news articles in Spanish available on Google News.
Doug Ireland
Monday, December 14, 2009
Walter Tróchez assassinated
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 11:30 — AP
It breaks my heart to translate this.
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
December 14, 2009
On December 4th the human rights advocate Walter Tróchez, member of the LGBT community and active member of the Resistance Front was kidnapped and savagely beaten outside the “El Obelisco” Park in Comayaguela, by four hooded men who drove a gray pickup, without plates, presumably of the DNIC [national criminal investigation directorate] (a vehicle of similar description, as he denounced publicly several months ago, had been staking out his house, obligating him to move).
On that day the kidnappers told him they knew him well and they were going to kill him. They hooded him, insulted him, and began to interrogate him about the resistance, asking for information about its leaders and its movements. At that time he managed to escape alive, and the next day he filed a complaint with national and international authorities.
Today we have been informed that he has been assassinated by two gunshots just outside of Larach & Co. in the center of Tegucigalpa.
We denounce this deplorable act before all Hondurans and the international community; this death adds to the more than ten deaths already suffered by the gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual community of Honduras and to the persecution, harassment and threats suffered by human rights defenders and organizations since June 28th under the coup regime.
We demand to the authorities that this crime not go unpunished, that an investigation be carried forth and those responsible for it be uncovered.
We demand that the State of Honduras guarantee the physical integrity and life of those people involved in human rights work, that it respect and comply with treaties and international conventions that protect human rights defenders and the people in general.
We demand an end to the persecution, threats and harassment to which individuals, leaders and organizations who oppose and differ ideologically from the de facto regime are subjected.
CIPRODEH
HONDURAS
Letter of Bereavement, from Los Necios
Mon, 12/14/2009 - 21:07 — AP
[I have now thoroughly edited this letter for errors in translation and grammar.]
Letter of Bereavement
To the family, colleagues and friends of
Compañero Walter Tróchez
Organización Política Los Necios (OPLN)
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
14 de diciembre, 2009.
Today we face a very difficult aspect of the fight. The bestial repression has claimed another victim and it is with great sorrow that we recognize that a compañero (colleague) will no longer be in the streets with us. Nonetheless, honoring someone so deserving is a necessary task and as members of the Organización Política Los Necios (OPLN) we wish to honor our compañero, friend and companion Walter Tróchez.
We met Walter fighting; we quickly saw within him an indisputable leader in the defense of human rights. As a member of the gay, lesbian trans and bisexual community he became a leader in this struggle at the core of the Resistance against the coup d’etat, a struggle which for Honduran youth is paramount.
Recently he felt directly the fury of irrationality, the reactionary stupidity of the obsolete structures of power that sadly today exists in Honduras. The repressive forces that serve the businessmen and kill Hondurans kidnapped him and warned him that he should shut up. Walter, as was to be expected, said no.
It was a relief to know that he bravely escaped from the grip of the beast and was heartwarming to see him again in the streets this past Friday 11 of December when the force of the the Resistance was felt in the streets. Of course the compañero Tróchez led the people’s march. Walter Tróchez was shot in cowardly betrayal this past December 13, giving his life for the pueblo as real heroes do.
Writing these words is a complicated task, as it is hard to talk of our martyrs without striking a painful nerve and his example is our guide, pushing us forward, and we promise that like all of them we will fight to construct a new society for which they maintained their fist held high until the last breath. As Necios we remember Walter as a friend, we remember his presence in the celebration of our tenth anniversary in which he, along with other compañeras and compañeros of the gay, lesbian trans and bisexual community was a cherished member.
Accordingly the organization agrees:
1. To attend the funeral service of our friend Walter Tróchez
2. To deliver this letter of bereavement into the hands of his family, his organization and make this public knowledge.
3. Maintain the struggle, as part of the Resistencia Nacional Contra el Golpe de Estado along with our compañeros and compañeras of the gay, lesbian trans and bisexual community.
4. Honor the memory of Walter Tróchez as an exceptional martyr and companion in the popular stuggle whose task is to construct an equal future for all in which there exists no discrimination or abuses, where humanity is capable of leaving behind the fear and where justice and happiness is the primary role of the State.
Honduras: Full and prompt investigation needed into death of human rights campaigner
Amnesty International
14 December 2009
Honduran authorities must launch an urgent and independent investigation into the murder of human rights defender Walter Trochez who was killed late on Sunday night while walking home through the centre of Tegucigalpa, Amnesty International said today.
According to sources, Walter Trochez was shot in the chest by a drive-by gunman and taken to hospital where he later died. Amnesty International fears that he may have been targeted because of his human rights work.
Walter Trochez told Amnesty International on Friday that he had escaped a kidnapping attempt on 4 December after suffering several hours of beatings and threats by masked men. They had interrogated Walter Trochez about individuals opposed to the de facto authorities who seized power following the 28 June coup d’état.
“The murder of Walter Trochez must be investigated immediately and those responsible brought to justice.” said Kerrie Howard, Americas Deputy Director at Amnesty International. “It is essential that human rights defenders and opposition activists are able to exercise freedom of expression without fearing threats or attacks.”
Since June, Walter Trochez had been documenting human rights violations during protests against the coup d’état. He was already known for his human rights work with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Honduras.
During his kidnapping on 4 December, four armed men had forced Walter Trochez into their van before repeatedly beating him in the face with a pistol butt and threatening that “even if you give us the information we’re going to kill you, we have orders to kill you”.
After finally managing to open the van door, Walter fell out on the street and ran into a deserted wasteland where he hid until his captors drove off.
“Amnesty International’s fears that Walter’s killing may be a sign of worse abuses to come in the athmosphere of political instability and fear that has prevailed since the copu d’état in June,” said Kerrie Howard. “Walter’s killers must be brought to justice, and the de facto authorities must ensure all reports of reprisals against protestors and campaigners are fully investigated and subject to the full weight of the law.”
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