Afro-Indigenous Garifuna people on red alert in Honduras U.S.-imposed ‘open-for-business’ regime rachets up “laws” to facilitate land dispossession, criminalize land and rights defenders
Canadian and U.S. tourism operators will be emboldened to ramp up efforts to take control of ever more ancestral Garifuna lands along Caribbean coast of Honduras
Responding to a communique from OFRANEH about this racist, abusive “law”, Rights Action sent a general support grant to OFRANEH, who we have supported and worked with since 1998.
Below: Canadian speaking tour, Sept.29-Oct.9, with OFRANEH & Karen Spring (HSN) + Impacts of Tourist Investments on Afro-Indigenous Garifuna Communities in Honduras
Communique
Organización Fraternal Negra Hondureña (OFRANEH)
Garífuna Territories, June 29, 2026
OFRANEH denounces Official Gazette Decree No. 107-2026, which contains the “Law for the Strengthening of the Agro-industrial Sector, Energy Projects, Tourism, Livestock, and Small-Scale Agricultural Producers.”
This law is incompatible with the Constitution of the Republic, Convention No. 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), the American Convention on Human Rights, and binding jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
This law institutionalizes the criminalization of work in defense of rights and territory, creating the legal framework to dispossess indigenous and Black peoples of their ancestral territories for the benefit of private interests.
The most serious aspect of this law: It presumes that any legal claim related to land or territory constitutes an invasion, and that land defenders are criminals. Before any investigation takes place, before any evidence is presented, and before a judge determines who has the right to the territory, this law pre-classifies legal claims to land and territory as an illegal occupation or invasion.
The law presumes guilt, supplants judicial review, and declares the defense of territory to be a public security issue. Its true purpose is to protect private interests by using criminal law to evict communities, undermine land recovery processes, and dismantle the resistance of indigenous peoples.
Although the law states “it is compatible with the application of the right to free, prior, and informed consultation with indigenous and tribal peoples in cases involving registered communal lands”, and provides that “it shall not apply to indigenous and tribal territories”, these provisions are a rhetorical devise intended to give the appearance of compliance with the State’s international obligations.
First, the law itself was passed without having been subjected to a process of prior, free, and informed consultation with indigenous peoples and people of African descent, even though it directly affects our ancestral territorial rights.
Second, one need only examine the law to see that its entire content is geared toward strengthening mechanisms for eviction, criminalization, and the protection of private interests - directly contradicting the supposed exception it incorporates.
Thirdly, and more seriously, the protection it purports to grant to indigenous and tribal territories is conditional on them being “registered” communal lands, when in fact the main land and territorial conflicts across the country exist precisely because the State itself has, for decades, failed to fulfill its obligation to grant title to, regularize, and protect ancestral territories — a situation for which the Honduran State has been repeatedly condemned by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Now, in practice, when a community is to be evicted, the police, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the judges do not verify whether the land is ancestral territory nor do they determine who has the right to the land - a complaint filed by a third party presenting a title is sufficient to activate the full repressive apparatus of the State against the communities, even if that title was fraudulently granted or registered on ancestral territory.
OFRANEH reiterates-; This law must be repealed and declared inapplicable. In addition to being unconstitutional, it presents a clear issue of compliance with international conventions. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has consistently developed a solid body of case law in cases involving the Garífuna communities of Triunfo de la Cruz, Punta Piedra, San Juan, and Cayos Cochinos.
In all these precedent-setting Inter-American Court cases, the Court has reiterated that States have the obligation to recognize and protect the collective property rights of indigenous and tribal peoples; to guarantee prior, free, and informed consultation before adopting measures that may affect their territories; to refrain from using criminal law to disregard or restrict territorial rights; and to ensure effective judicial remedies that allow for the resolution of conflicts with full respect for due process.
As Garífuna people, we join the efforts led by social movements in defense of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and life. We warn that the criminalization of protest and the persecution of those who defend rights constitute a threat to society as a whole, affecting indigenous peoples, rural communities, and all sectors committed to justice and the defense of the rule of law alike.
ENFORCE NOW
THE INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS’ RULINGS
Honduran Black Fraternal Organization (OFRANEH)
Residencial El Toronjal, Nº 2 Calle Principal, 3 Cuadras Al Fondo
Carretera CA13 Frente Floristería Honduras
La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras C.A.
Teléfono (504) 3357-3151/Apartado Postal #341
garifuna@ofraneh.org / ofraneh@yahoo.com
Canadian speaking tour, Sept.29-Oct.9, 2026
OFRANEH & Karen Spring (HSN)
Impacts of North American Tourist Investments
on Afro-Indigenous Garifuna Lands, Rights & Communities in Honduras
Information
Karen Spring, Honduras Solidarity Network
karen@hondurassol.org
+504-8785-5757 (Whatsapp)
+1-705-816-1849 (Canadian number)
+++
EcoJustice Radio interview with Grahame Russell
Garifuna people & Hondurans in resistance
to U.S. & Canadian exploitation, violence & corruption