The Garifuna Heritage Foundation has also expressed concern about the recent abduction and forced disappearance of five members of the Garifuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz in Honduras.
A release from the Foundation says one of the men, Sneider Centeno is the President of the elected community council in Tri-unfo de la Cruz. He and his community won a case heard in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2015 against the Honduran State for property rights violations and failure to consult the Garifuna community about tourism developments on their land.
The Foundation says it has made contact with the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras, the Garifuna organization based in Honduras which has been spearheading the mobilization of the Garifuna Community of Tri-unfo de la Cruz in recent years in the defense of Garifuna communal land rights.
The release also disclosed that there have been large protests in Garifuna communities since the disappearance of the men, and on August 6th, the Inter American Court of Human Rights demanded that the Government of Honduras respond to them regarding the disappearance of the four abducted men.
The Foundation says National Garifuna Council (NGC) of Belize, as well as several other Human Rights bodies across the world have raised their voices against this action, including members of the United States Congress.
And, it called on the Government of Honduras to immediately investigate the incident with a view to finding and returning the men to their communities unharmed.
