Hernán Cruz Barnica
Hernán Cruz Barnica was a Honduran journalist and activist who hosted a radio program in San Juan de Opoa, in western Honduras. He was murdered on May 28, 2014.
Career
Cruz lived and worked in San Juan de Opoa, where he was a taxi driver and justice of the peace. In 2009 co-founded a local social movement called Los Chuñas de Opoa (The Barefoot of Opoa). He was also a co-ordinator and member of the
In July 2013, he started a local radio station, Radio Opoa, la Voz de la Esperanza (the Voice of Hope), as a project of Los Chuñas de Opoa.[1] Cruz hosted “Otro Nivel”, a daily radio program about human rights in Central America. The show “focused on investigating human rights abuses in the region,” according to one source.[2] Cruz's program aired from 5:00 to 6:00 pm daily.[3] It was transmitted on the 91.1 frequency under the auspices of the Instituto Ecuménico de Servicios a la Comunidad (INESCO), a community organization directed by a priest, Father Fausto Milla.[4]
An obituary recalled that only a few weeks before his death, he had provided a local school, la Escuelita de Opoa, with a movie projector so that the children could be shown the Charlie Chaplin film The Great Dictator.[5]
Murder
He was murdered near the town of
The night before he was killed, Cruz had reportedly spoken on his program about human rights issues and about threats he had recently received. He had reportedly picked up a passenger in his taxi shortly before he was found dead.[1]
At the time of his death, Cruz was 52 years old[8] and was no longer a justice of the peace.[5]
“Here in the city there is dismay, no anxiety; a tremendous situation, we are humbled”, said Anarely Rodríguez, his friend and colleague at Radio Opoa, said after Cruz's death that the town was full of “dismay” and “distress.”[9]
Camille Soulier, head of the Americas desk at
He was reportedly the 43rd journalist to be killed in Honduras since 2003.[2]
Cruz's death occurred two months after the murder of another Honduran journalist, Carlos Mejia Orellana, a contributor to Progressive Radio, and amidst threats on the life of Honduran journalist Alex Sabillón.[10] Four days after his murder, moreover, yet another Honduran journalist, Óscar Anthony Torres Martínez, was killed. PEN International stated that the murder of the two journalists within four days underscored the urgency of the need for improved protection for media workers in Honduras. In a statement, PEN expressed alarm at “the continued climate of fear and persecution which Honduran journalists face on a daily basis” and called on Honduran authorities “to break once and for all the country’s legacy of impunity by expediting a full, impartial and independent investigation into these and all other journalist murders.” Marian Botsford Fraser, chair of PEN's Writers in Prison Committee, said that the two murders “go to show how much further the State of Honduras has to go to protect its journalists.”[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Honduras: murder of two more radio journalists shows need for greater protection". Pen International.
- ^ a b "Hernán Cruz Barnica, Honduras". International Press Institute. Archived from the original on 2014-10-06.
- ^ a b Rodriguez, Sandra (May 29, 2014). "Asesinato de líder político en Copán, "nos arrebata la calma, a un amigo, a un compañero": Chuñas de Opoa". Honduprensa.
- ^ a b "Asesinan a Comunicador social de radio comunitaria en Honduras". Honduprensa. May 29, 2014.
- ^ a b "Asesinan a un periodista de radio rural y ex juez de paz en occidente". Honduprensa. May 29, 2014.
- ^ a b "Another journalist murdered in Honduras, no end to violence in sight". Reporters without Borders. May 30, 2014.
- ^ "Hernán Cruz Barnica". International Federation of Journalists. May 28, 2014.
- ^ a b "Director-General condemns murder of Honduran journalist Hernán Cruz Barnica". UNESCO. Jun 5, 2014.
- ^ "Otro comunicador es asesinado en Honduras". Honduprensa. May 30, 2014.
- ^ "RSF exige que se aclare el asesinato del periodista hondureño Cruz Barnica". Honduprensa. May 30, 2014.