Sign Amnesty International petition for release of Edwin Espinal!
Edwin Espinal
From Amnesty International Canada
Long time human rights defender Edwin Espinal has paid a heavy price for courageously raising his voice. He was arrested in January during a violent crackdown on massive protests against alleged election fraud. During this crackdown scores of Hondurans were killed, injured and arbitrarily detained by heavily-armed state security forces. Edwin is now wasting away in a military-run prison with no end in sight.
Like others arrested during the protests, Edwin has limited communication with his family, including his Canadian partner Karen Spring, a human rights activist based in Tegucigalpa. Dire prison conditions are putting his physical and psychological health at serious risk.
Equally concerning are multiple serious violations of Edwin’s right to defend himself. His lawyer can speak to him for only a few minutes at a time surrounded by masked guards, and despite repeated requests has not been allowed to see the evidence used to justify imprisoning him without trial.
Please raise your voice for Edwin and the many others threatened by misuse of the criminal justice system in Honduras. Please raise your voice to ensure the right to freedom of expression and protest is respected.
Learn more:
Amnesty International’s June 2018 Report: Protest Prohibited
UN Report: Human rights violations in the context of the 2017 elections in Honduras
AWARE Simcoe note
Edwin Espinal is the longtime partner of Elmvale native Karen Spring
Check Simcoe County Honduras Monitor for updates
See also
Small rural community takes on repressive Honduras dictatorship
Springwater Township calls on Freeland to intervene in Honduras
Delegation from the Simcoe County Honduras Rights Monitor in Honduras
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