Honduras: Hitmen Murder Journalist Who Was Under Protection

On Thursday night, armed men murdered Honduran journalist Francisco Ramirez in the city of Danlí, department of El Paraíso, while he was walking towards his home.

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During this attack, a police officer escorting him was injured. Ramirez was under protection of the Honduran state after suffering an attack in May.

For this reason, the authorities incorporated it into the security protocols of the Honduran Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Operators.

The social communicator was also waiting for a request for political asylum to be accepted in another unspecified country.

Officially, Honduran authorities have not informed about the reasons behind the attacks Ramirez experienced during his life. It is only presumed that the motivations of his murderers were related to his journalistic work.

At least 96 journalists and media owners were murdered in this Central American country in 2001. Over 90 percent of cases of violent deaths of journalists have gone unpunished, according to the Human Rights Commissioner of Honduras (CONADEH).

In 2022, Honduras recorded 133 human rights violations, 51 of them presented by journalists, and the murder of three communicators, according to data from the United Nations.