Latin America

Judi Lynn

(160,414 posts) Wed Mar 16, 2022, 11:05 PM Mar 2022

Honduras: One year after her death, we call for justice for the femicide and torture of Keyla Martn

Statement

Tegucigalpa - Geneva, February 7, 2022

One year ago today, on February 7, 2021, Keyla Patricia Martinez Rodriguez, a nursing student at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH) woke up like any other day planning to meet with her friends to go to dinner and spend a pleasant evening. Keyla was arrested around 11:45 pm for violating the curfew imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the country.

On Sunday morning, the 26 years-old woman was found dead inside her cell, in the Police Department Unit number 10 of La Esperanza, Intibucá. The immediate police version was that the young woman had committed suicide, using her sweater. The Security Secretariat endorsed the officers' version without any investigation and issued two communiqués announcing the suicide.

However, the autopsy performed at the judicial morgue of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Tegucigalpa revealed that Keyla had been the victim of mechanical asphyxia, confirming that she had not committed suicide, but had been murdered.

In April 2021, the police officer who allegedly murdered Keyla was arrested. After an appeal in August 2021, the Court of Appeals decided to reclassify the crime of aggravated femicide he had been accused of (penalty of 25 to 30 years of imprisonment) to a simple homicide.

More:
https://www.omct.org/en/resources/news-releases/a-un-a%C3%B1o-de-su-muerte-pedimos-justicia-por-el-femicidio-y-tortura-de-keyla-mart%C3%ADnez

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Student, 26, dies in cell after being detained for breaking coronavirus curfew

Protests are erupting in Honduras following the death of Keyla Patricia Martinez Rodriguez, 26, as her family reject police claims she committed suicide in her cell

By Talia Shadwell Reporter & Peter Barker
16:03, 11 Feb 2021

A student has allegedly died in police custody after being detained for breaching a coronavirus curfew in Honduras.

The death of Keyla Patricia Martinez Rodriguez, 26, has sparked outrage as her grieving family reject police claims the young woman committed suicide.

Honduran authorities are facing mounting pressure to investigate the possibility of foul play, in a country where human rights advocates say police brutality and corruption is rife.

Keyla had been arrested in the city of La Esperanza in the country's north-east over the weekend. She was reportedly detained for breaching a coronavirus curfew limiting the hours people are allowed out at night, which had been in place since last year.