The Committee of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH), social organizations, national and international human rights defenders and the family of Keyla Patricia Martínez Rodríguez, murdered on February 7, 2021, in La Esperanza, Intibucá, while in custody of the National Police, come forward publicly to present the following:
Twenty five days have passed since the National Police committed a criminal act against the life Keyla Patricia Martínez Rodríguez, a university nursing student, who was detained under Executive Decree PCM 012-2021 that suspends Constitutional Guarantees and which is a continuation of decree PCM #021-2020 that has kept us without Fundamental Norms for over a year. Keyla was deprived of liberty in the cells of the Departmental Police Unit #10 (UDEP #10).
As of today, we have not seen a single exemplary action on the part of the Public Ministry that would lead us to think that “we will obtain justice”. The corresponding authorities provide no response regarding what they are doing to punish the intellectual and material authors and accomplices, who through action or omission could have avoided this crime.
Therefore, we demand an investigation that shows us and her community what the motives were in the killing of this young woman, a promising professional in her field.
It is urgent to clarify why the police officers of UDEP #10 deprived Keyla Ramírez of liberty, and accused her of creating a public scandal when a video shows that she is the one who was reassuring doctor Edgar José Velásquez Orellana, in response being subjugated by the police.
We need them to tell us who were in the jail cells during the night of February 6 and 7 and to clarify how long Doctor Edgar Velásquez was detained. Doctor Velásquez was the driver of the vehicle in which he was traveling with Keyla, when they were detained by the police.
We need a full investigation that shows us the plotline of this crime, who and why they did it, and for them to be punished under the full weight of the law. Enough manipulation! They attempted to plant in the collective imagination the idea that this was a suicide instead of a homicide, as determined by the forensic medical reports.
We demand to know what actions have been taken by the prosecutor assigned to the case, what inquiries and diligences have taken place, what evidence do they have and what the lines of investigation are.
We note the diligence of the Justice System in filing charges and criminalizing five students who called for justice for Keyla.
And we note the diligence in support of impunity in releasing Levis Russi Rivera Benítez, member of the Military Police of Public Order (PMOP) assigned to the National Security and Urban Transport Force (FNSTU), identified as responsible for killing the youth, Erick Davinson Barrientos Avilés, at his workplace; they should have been so diligent in taking action against the police when the crime was committed as well as the agents on duty at the UDEP#10.
What has been observed and what we are denouncing, is that the investigation, tracking and hostility have been directed at the family of the victim. Today, they are experiencing harassment, persecution, permanent surveillance and intimidation by repressive state security forces that provide all of the logistics for their officers in uniform and men dressed as civilians that amount to death squads, to instill fear and to silence their voice and the demand for justice.
Given this context which generates more uncertainty than answers, we issue an urgent call to the national and international community to join the accompaniment of Keyla’s family because the impunity that reigns in Honduras is an enormous concern for us. We affirm that we will continue to demand Justice for Keyla! without fear and with strength.
¡De los hechos y los hechores ni olvido ni perdón!
March 4, Tegucigalpa 2021
Committee of the Families of the Detained/ Disappeared in Honduras – COFADEH
Regional Latinoamericana de la UITA / Rel-UITA
Human Rights Association of Costa Rica – Acodehu
CONVERGENCE AGAINST CONTINUSIM – CCC
