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Leaders of the Garifuna community in Honduras are facing mounting threats and violent attacks in reprisal for their defense of indigenous land rights. Community activists are working to prevent the loss of Garifuna land to powerful interests seeking to develop large-scale tourism along the coast.

Recent attacks against defenders of Garifuna rights include:

• Gregoria Flores of the Fraternal Black Honduran Organization (OFRANEH), a group dedicated to promoting the rights of the Garifuna minority, was shot and wounded on May 30, 2005 as she was collecting testimony to present before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
  
• The home of community leader Wilfredo Guerrero was burned down on the night November 7, 2005. As the president of the Committee to Defend the Lands of San Juan, Guerrero has denounced the expropriation of afro-indigenous lands and repression of the Garifuna community.

Other Garifuna community leaders have been targeted for attack and intimidation. Despite two recent resolutions by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights asking the Honduran government to implement effective protection measures for Garifuna rights leaders who face threats, the state has failed to do so.

Urge the government of Honduras to protect the safety of Garifuna rights activists and ensure that those responsible for criminal attacks against peaceful community leaders are brought to justice.