Over the course of January 2012 human rights defender and independent journalist and editor of daily programme "En La Plaza" Ms Gilda Carolina Silvestrucchi has been subjected to surveillance and death threats.

Gilda Silvestrucchi is an independent journalist and director of the daily radio programme “En La Plaza” which broadcasts Monday to Friday on Radio Globo. She is also a member of the group Periodistas por la Vida y la Libertad de Expresión (Journalists for Life and Freedom of Expression).

On 23 January 2012, at approximately 9:30 am, Gilda Silvestrucchi received five phone calls to her mobile telephone. After confirming that she was the owner of the mobile, the male caller then threatened her saying ”Ya sabemos que tenés tres hijos, que la mayor tiene 15 años, que ahorita andás en la calle con tu hijo de siete años, y que la mayor está en tu casa, cuidando a la de un año, y te vamos a matar" (We know that you have three children, that the eldest is 15, that you are now in the streets with your seven year old son and that the eldest is at home minding the one-year old and we are going to kill you).

She reported hearing the sound of a car engine running in the background and that the caller sounded as if the threat was being read from a text.

An unidentified caller also phoned her youngest daughter asking for Gilda Silvestrucchi under the pretence that he had documents to give to her. The caller phoned the child back on two further occasions.

That morning Monseñor Luis Alfonso Santos, President of the Alianza Cívica por la Democracia (Civic Alliance for Democracy), and Pedro Landa, an expert on public policy relating to metallurgic mining in Latin America, appeared as guests on “En La Plaza”, which broadcasts between 8:00 and 9:00 am, to speak about problems with the mining industry in the Valley of Siria and the role of the deputies in approving the new Mining Law.

Previously, on 20 January 2012, an unidentified male caller rang Gilda Silvestrucchi's mother and asked her about her daughter's daily routine, such as what time she arrived home, where she went during the day and where she could be found. The caller's questions were reportedly centred on finding out what time the human rights defender would be at home.

On 3 January 2012, the car Gilda Silvestrucchi was travelling in was followed by a red Honda Civic as she was on her way to work in the radio studio. The driver of the car she was in managed to lose the other vehicle.

The death threats and intimidation against Gilda Silvestrucchi come in the context of an escalation of violence against journalists and those exercising their right to freedom of expression in Honduras. It has been reported that since 2009 18 journalists have been killed, four kidnapped and subjected torture, and 37 have been violently attacked. On 14 December 2011, a group of journalists, mobilised by the group Periodistas por la Vida y la Libertad de Expresión, were reprimanded by members of the army assigned to the Presidential House where they had gathered to demand an investigation into the killing of the journalists in the country.

Front Line Defenders believes that the death threats and intimidation against Gilda Silvestrucchi are directly related to her human rights work and in particular her work as a journalist . Front Line Defenders is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Gilda Silvestrucchi and her family.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in Honduras to:

Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the death threats and intimidation against Gilda Silvestrucchi and her family, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Gilda Silvestrucchi and her family;

Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders and journalists in Honduras are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities and to exercise their right to freedom of expression, without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.