Front Line is deeply saddened to report that on 13 December 2009, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex (LGBTI) human rights defender Mr Walter Orlando Trochez was shot and killed in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Walter Orlando Trochez was an active member of the “Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos” –CIPRODEH (Centre for the Investigation and Protection of Human Rights) and had also taken part in the National Resistance Front against the Honduran coup d'état.

Further Information

On 13 December 2009, at approximately 10.30 pm, Walter Orlando Trochez was shot twice in the chest by an unidentified drive-by gunman in the vicinity of Larach y Cía department store in the centre of Tegucigalpa. He had spent the evening working as part of a HIV and STD prevention programme, distributing condoms to male and female sex workers. Walter Orlando Trochez was taken to hospital following the shooting but died there later that same day.

The week before his killing, Walter Orlando Trochez reported that on 4 December 2009 he had been kidnapped by four men who held him for several hours before he managed to escape. He was kidnapped close to the Obelisco park in Comayagüela by four hooded men who forced him into a grey van with no registration plates. The men beat Walter Orlando Trochez severely, telling him that they knew him well and that they were going to kill him, saying: “even if you give us the information we're going to kill you, we have orders to kill you". They covered his face, insulted him, and asked him questions about the resistance movement and its leaders. He eventually managed to open the van's door and escape, and reported the incident the following day to local human rights organisations.

Walter Orlando Trochez had previously reported that a vehicle of the same description as the one used during the incident of 4 December wasseen outside his home and was keeping him under surveillance. At that time he had felt the need to change his address as a result of the threat.

Walter Orlando Trochez was well known for his human rights work with the LGBTI community in Honduras. Since June 2009, Walter Orlando Trochez had been documenting human rights violations during protests against the coup d'état, and had publicly denounced the increasing hostility towards members of the LGBTI community in Honduras: at least ten LGBTI persons have already been killed since the coup on 28 June 2009.

Front Line believes that the killing of Walter Orlando Trochez is directly related to his work in the defence of human rights, particularly those of the LGBTI community, as well to as his role in the Honduran pro-democracy movement. Front Line sees this as part of a pattern of ongoing harassment against human rights defenders in Honduras, and is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity and security of Honduran human rights defenders.

Front Line urges the Honduran authorities to:

1. Carry out an immediate, impartial and thorough investigation into the killing of Walter Orlando Trochez, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

2. Guarantee the security and physical and psychological integrity of other LGBTI and pro-democracy human rights defenders in Honduras;

3. Ensure in all circumstances that human rights defenders in Honduras, carrying out their legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights, are able to operate free of restrictions and reprisals.