Judgment of April 3, 2009

I

IntroducTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE

1. On February 4, 2008, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, “the Commission” or “the Inter-American Commission”) lodged before the Court an application against the Republic of Honduras (hereinafter, “the State” or “Honduras”), which originated from the petition submitted on January 13, 2003, by the Center for Justice and International Law (hereinafter, “CEJIL”) and the Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación and Comunicación de la Compañía de Jesús in Honduras (hereinafter, “ERIC”). On October 13, 2005, the Commission adopted Report No. 67/05¹ declaring the petition admissible. Subsequently, on July 20, 2006, the Commission adopted Report on Merits No. 63/06,² pursuant to Article 50 of the Convention, which made certain recommendations to the State. This report was notified to the State on August 4, 2006. After considering the information provided by the parties following the adoption of the Report on Merits, and based on “the lack of substantive progress in complying effectively with [its recommendations],” the Commission decided to submit the instant case to the jurisdiction of the Court. The Commission appointed Florentín Meléndez, Commissioner, and Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary, as delegates, and the lawyers, Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Deputy Executive Secretary, Juan Pablo Albán-Alencastro and Alejandro Aristizábal, experts attached to the Commission’s Executive Secretariat, as legal advisers.

2. 
   According to the Commission’s application, on February 6, 1995, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández was shot and murdered while she was inside her home. The Commission indicated that, at the time of her death, Mrs. Kawas-Fernández was President of the Fundación para la Protección de Lancetilla, Punta Sal, Punta Izopo y Texiguat [Foundation for the Protection of Lancetilla, Punta Sal, Punta Izopo and Texiguat] (hereinafter, “PROLANSATE”), an organization created in order “to improve the quality of life of the people who live within the watersheds of the Bahía de Tela [Department of Atlántida, Honduras],” and that, in this capacity, “she had denounced, among other matters, the attempts by private individuals and entities to illegally appropriate Punta Sal, as well as the contamination of the lakes and the depredation of the forests of the region.” According to the Inter-American Commission, “the material contained in the record effectively shows solid indications to reach the conclusion that the state has direct responsibility in the deprivation of the life of the alleged victim”. Moreover, it stated that following her death “serious omissions revealed that the State authorities did not adopt with due diligence all the necessary measures to conduct an investigation that would achieve a concrete outcome. As a result of the State’s failure to comply with its obligation, the right of ‘the next of kin’ of the [alleged] victim to know the truth about what happened and to reparation for the losses they suffered has been denied.”
   

2. 
   The Commission alleged that “the effects of the impunity in this case, and the failure to adopt measures that would avoid a repetition of the facts, has contributed to a context of impunity for the acts of violence committed against defenders of human rights and of the environment and natural resources in Honduras.” In this regard, it indicated that “the case reflects the situation of defenders of the environment and natural resources in Honduras, the attacks against these individuals, and the obstacles to the investigation of acts of harassment and aggression.”
   

2. 
   Based on the above, the Commission asked that the Court declare the international responsibility of the State for the violation of Article 4 (Right to Life) of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) thereof, to the detriment of Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández; and of Articles 8 (Right to a Fair Trial) and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) also of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) (Obligation to Respect Rights) and Article 2 (Domestic Legal Effects) thereof, to the detriment of the “next of kin” of Blanca Jeannette Kawas-Fernández. Lastly, the Commission asked the Court to order the State to adopt specific measures of pecuniary and non-pecuniary reparation.
   

5. On May 7, 2008, Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director of CEJIL, and Luis Diego Obando, Ramiro Barriga, Soraya Long and Gisela de León, all of CEJIL, together with Father Ismael Moreno, Director of ERIC, representatives of the alleged victims (hereinafter “the representatives”), presented their brief with pleas, motions and evidence (hereinafter the “pleas and motions brief”), pursuant to Article 23 of the Rules of Procedure. In this brief, they alleged that “Blanca Jeannette Kawas was a well-known Honduran defender of the environment who promoted the protection of her country’s natural resources, principally in Tela, an area located on the Atlantic coast of Honduras” and that, in this capacity, she was murdered on February 6, 1995. The representatives reiterated that the death of Mrs. Kawas-Fernández “was particularly symbolic, because she was the first person murdered in Honduras for defending natural resources and the environment. After her murder, and owing to the impunity that characterized it, a series of murders of other defenders of the environment in Honduras occurred.”