The level of threats, intimidation, attacks and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala who campaign to defend the rights of marginalised communities is reaching 'worrying proportions' said Amnesty International today (8 August) as it published its new report.  

Amnesty International's report - Persecution and Resistance: The experience of human rights defenders in Guatemala and Honduras - exposes a systematic pattern of attacks against those who defend the rights of marginalised communities, including indigenous peoples and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
 
Director of Amnesty International's Americas Programme, Susan Lee, said:

'Those who protect others from suffering human rights violations end up suffering abuses themselves. The insecurity of human rights activists in Honduras and In Guatemala is reaching worrying proportions.
 
'Threats, intimidation, unfounded criminal charges and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala are designed to stop them from protecting people's rights, particularly when their work goes against powerful economic interests,' said Susan Lee.