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href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/28/berta-caceres-honduras-military-intelligence-us-trained-special-forces?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/28/berta-caceres-honduras-military-intelligence-us-trained-special-forces?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Berta Cáceres court papers show murder
suspects' links to US-trained elite troops</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">Nina Lakhani - 28
February 2017<span class="content__dateline-time"><br>
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<p>Leaked court documents raise concerns that the murder
of the Honduran environmentalist <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/berta-caceres"
data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"
data-component="auto-linked-tag" class="u-underline">Berta
Cáceres</a> was an extrajudicial killing planned by
military intelligence specialists linked to the
country’s US–trained special forces, a Guardian
investigation can reveal.</p>
<p><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/03/honduras-berta-caceres-murder-enivronment-activist-human-rights"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">Cáceres
was shot dead a year ago</a> while supposedly under
state protection after receiving death threats over her
opposition to a hydroelectric dam.</p>
<aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail
element-rich-link--upgraded" data-component="rich-link"
data-link-name="rich-link-4 | 1">
<div class="rich-link tone-feature--item ">
<div class="rich-link__container">
<p class="rich-link__standfirst u-cf"> Berta
Cáceres, the environmental advocate shot dead in
her home in March, told friends of a hitman
boasting about his plans as she ‘worked
frantically’ </p>
</div>
</div>
</aside>
<p>The murder of Cáceres, winner of the prestigious
Goldman environmental prize in 2015, prompted
international outcry and calls for the US to revoke
military aid to <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/honduras"
data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"
data-component="auto-linked-tag" class="u-underline">Honduras</a>,
a key ally in its war on drugs.</p>
<p>Eight men have been arrested in connection with the
murder, including one serving and two retired military
officers. </p>
<p>Officials have denied state involvement in the
activist’s murder, and downplayed the arrest of the
serving officer Maj Mariano Díaz, who was hurriedly
discharged from the army.</p>
<p>But the detainees’ military records and court documents
seen by the Guardian reveal that:<br>
</p>
<ul>
<li>Díaz, a decorated special forces veteran, was
appointed chief of army intelligence in 2015, and at
the time of the murder was on track for promotion to
lieutenant colonel.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Another suspect, Lt Douglas Giovanny Bustillo joined
the military on the same day as Díaz; they served
together and prosecutors say they remained in contact
after Bustillo retired in 2008.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Díaz and Bustillo both received military training in
the US.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>A third suspect, Sgt Henry Javier Hernández, was a
former special forces sniper, who had worked under the
direct command of Díaz. Prosecutors believe he may
also have worked as an informant for military
intelligence after leaving the army in 2013.</li>
</ul>
<p>Court documents also include the records of mobile
phone messages which prosecutors believe contain coded
references to the murder. </p>
<p>Bustillo and Hernández visited the town of La
Esperanza, where Cáceres lived, several times in the
weeks before her death, according to phone records and
Hernández’s testimony. </p>
<p>A legal source close to the investigation told the
Guardian: “The murder of Berta Cáceres has all the
characteristics of a well-planned operation designed by
military intelligence, where it is absolutely normal to
contract civilians as assassins.</p>
<p>“It’s inconceivable that someone with her high profile,
whose campaign had made her a problem for the state,
could be murdered without at least implicit
authorisation of military high command.”</p>
<p>The Honduran defence ministry ignored repeated requests
from the Guardian for comment, but the head of the armed
forces recently <a
href="http://confidencialhn.com/2017/02/19/jefe-de-ffaa-de-honduras-niega-existencia-de-bandas-paramilitares/"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">denied
that military deaths squads were operating in the
country</a>. </p>
<aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail
element-rich-link--upgraded" data-component="rich-link"
data-link-name="rich-link-4 | 2">
<div class="rich-link tone-news--item ">
<div class="rich-link__container">
<p class="rich-link__standfirst u-cf"> After the
murder of at least 123 activists since 2009
military coup, the Global Witness group points to
involvement of politicians and business moguls </p>
</div>
</div>
</aside>
<p>Five civilians with no known military record have also
been arrested. They include Sergio Rodríguez, a manager
for the internationally funded Agua Zarca hydroelectric
dam which Cáceres had opposed.</p>
<p>The project is being led by Desarrollos Energéticos SA,
(Desa), which has extensive military and government
links. The company’s president, Roberto David Castillo
Mejía, is <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/31/honduras-environmental-activists-global-witness-violence-berta-caceres"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">a
former military intelligence officer</a>, and its
secretary, Roberto Pacheco Reyes, is a former justice
minister. Desa employed former lieutenant Bustillo as
head of security between 2013 and 2015.</p>
<p>Cáceres had reported 33 death threats linked to her
campaign against the dam, including several from Desa
employees. Desa denies any involvement in the murder.</p>
<p><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/apr/25/berta-caceres-murder-honduras-death-threats-hitman-agua-zarca-dam"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">Cáceres
was killed at about 11.30pm on 2 March</a>, when at
least four assassins entered the gated community to
which she had recently moved on the outskirts of La
Esperanza. </p>
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<p>A checkpoint at the entrance to the town – normally
manned by police officers or soldiers – was left
unattended on the night she was killed, witnesses have
told the Guardian.</p>
<p>Initially, <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/28/berta-caceres-murder-witness-honduras-appeals-to-mexico"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">investigators
suggested the murderer was a former lover or
disgruntled co-worker</a>. But amid mounting
international condemnation, <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/02/berta-caceres-murder-four-men-arrested-honduras"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">Díaz,
Bustillo and two others were arrested in May 2016</a>.</p>
<p>Hernández, who was <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ex-Honduran-Soldier-Linked-to-Berta-Caceres-Murder-Arrested-20170113-0006.html"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">eventually
arrested in Mexico</a>, is the only suspect to have
given detailed testimony in court. He has admitted his
involvement, but says he acted under duress.</p>
<p>All eight have been charged with murder and attempted
murder. The other seven suspects have either denied
involvement or not given testimony in court.</p>
<p>Prosecutors say that phone records submitted to court
show extensive communication between the three military
men, including a text message which was a coded
discussion of payment for a contract killing.<br
tabindex="-1">
</p>
<p>American experts have been involved in the
investigation from the start, according to the US
embassy in Tegucigalpa.<br>
</p>
<p>Senator Ben Cardin, ranking member of the Senate
foreign relations committee, said US support should not
be unconditional: “It is essential that we not only
strengthen our commitment to improving the rule of law
in Honduras, but we must also demand greater
accountability for human rights violations and attacks
against civil society.”</p>
<p>Last year, the Guardian reported that a former Honduran
soldier said he had seen Cáceres’s name <a
draggable="true"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/21/berta-caceres-name-honduran-military-hitlist-former-soldier"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">on a
hitlist that was passed to US-trained units</a>.</p>
<aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail
element-rich-link--upgraded" data-component="rich-link"
data-link-name="rich-link-4 | 3">
<div class="rich-link tone-news--item ">
<div class="rich-link__container">
<p class="rich-link__standfirst u-cf"> A unit
trained by US special forces was ordered to kill
the environmental activist who was slain in March,
according to an ex-member who now fears for his
life </p>
</div>
</div>
</aside>
<p>1Sgt Rodrigo Cruz said that two elite units were given
lists featuring the names and photographs of activists –
and ordered to eliminate each target.</p>
<p>Cruz’s unit commander deserted rather than comply with
the order. The rest of the unit were then sent on leave.</p>
<p>In a follow-up interview with the Guardian, Cruz said
the hitlist was given by the Honduran military joint
chiefs of staff to the commander of the Xatruch
multi-agency taskforce, to which his unit belonged.<br
tabindex="-1">
</p>
<p>Cruz – who asked to be referred to by a pseudonym for
fear of retribution – deserted after Cáceres’s murder
and remains in hiding. The whereabouts of his former
colleagues is unknown.</p>
<p>Following the Guardian’s report, James Nealon, the US
ambassador to Honduras, <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/08/honduras-military-hitlist-activists-us-investigation"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">pledged
to investigate the allegations</a>, and in an
interview last week, said that no stone had been left
unturned. </p>
<p>“I’ve spoken to everyone I can think of to speak to, as
have members of my team, and no one can produce such a
hitlist,” said Nealon.<br tabindex="-1">
</p>
<p>But the embassy did not speak to the Xatruch commander,
Nealon said. Activists, including those with information
about the alleged hitlist, have told the Guardian they
have not been interviewed by US or Honduran officials.</p>
<p>Lauren Carasik, clinical professor of law at Western
New England University, said America’s unwavering
support for Honduras suggests it tolerates impunity for
intellectual authors of high-profile targeted killings.<br>
</p>
<p>“Washington cannot, in good conscience, continue to
ignore mounting evidence that the Honduran military was
complicit in the extrajudicial assassination of
Cáceres.”</p>
<p>Extrajudicial killings by the security forces and
widespread impunity are among the most serious human
rights violations in Honduras, <a
href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/253235.pdf"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">according
to the US state department</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the US is the main provider of military
and police support to Honduras, and last year <a
href="http://securityassistance.org/data/program/military/Honduras/2011/2018/is_all/"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">approved
$18m of aid</a>.</p>
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<a
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<p>In recent years, US support has focused on Honduras’s
special forces units, <a
href="http://www.laprensa.hn/honduras/apertura/327874-98/comando-de-%C3%A9lite-protege-a-honduras-por-cielo-tierra-y-mar"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">originally
created as a counterinsurgency force</a> during the
1980s “dirty war”. </p>
<p>The elite units ostensibly target terrorism, organised
crime and gangs, but campaigners say the Honduran
intelligence apparatus is used to target troublesome
community leaders.<br>
</p>
<p>Violence against social activists has surged since a
military backed coup d’état ousted populist president
Manuel Zelaya in 2009. Since then at least 124 land and
environmental campaigners have been killed. </p>
<p>A recent investigation by corruption watchdog Global
Witness described <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/31/honduras-environmental-activists-global-witness-violence-berta-caceres"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">extensive
involvement of political, business and military elites
in environmentally destructive mega projects</a> which
have flourished since the coup. </p>
<aside class="element element-rich-link element--thumbnail
element-rich-link--upgraded" data-component="rich-link"
data-link-name="rich-link-4 | 4">
<div class="rich-link tone-feature--item ">
<div class="rich-link__container">
<p>The palm oil magnates are growing ever more trees
for use in biofuels and carbon trading. But what
happens to the subsistence farmers who live on the
lucrative land?</p>
</div>
</div>
</aside>
<p>One of the most troubled parts of the country has been
northern Bajo Aguán region, where a land conflict
between palm oil companies and peasant farmers has
claimed more than 130 lives over the past six years. </p>
<p>The Bajo Aguán is also home to the 15th battalion – one
of two special forces units in the Honduran army – and
the special forces training centre.</p>
<p>Two of the suspects, Díaz and Hernández, served in the
15th battalion together; Cruz’s elite unit was also
stationed in the Bajo Aguán.<br>
</p>
<p>Ambassador Nealon said that there was no record of
Díaz, Hernández or Bustillo attending any US training
courses in Honduras.<br>
</p>
<p>“Our training programmes for police or for military are
not designed to instruct people in how to commit human
rights violations or to create an atmosphere in which
they believe that they are empowered to commit human
rights violations, in fact, just the opposite,” said
Nealon.<br>
</p>
<p>Honduran military records show that Díaz attended
several counterinsurgency courses at special forces
bases in Tegucigalpa and in the Bajo Aguán.</p>
<p>He also attended cadet leadership courses at Fort
Benning, Georgia, in 1997, and a counter-terrorism
course at the <a
href="http://www.37trw.af.mil/Units/Inter-AmericanAirForcesAcademy.aspx"
data-link-name="in body link" class="u-underline">Inter
American air force academy</a> in 2005. </p>
<p>The court documents also reveal that at the time of his
arrest, Díaz, 44, was under investigation for drug
trafficking and kidnapping, while also studying for
promotion. </p>
<p>Military records show that in 1997, Bustillo attended
logistics and artillery courses at the School of the <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/americas"
data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"
data-component="auto-linked-tag" class="u-underline">Americas</a>,
at Fort Benning, Georgia, which trained hundreds of
Latin American officers who later committed human rights
abuses.</p>
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