Human rights defender, Mr Alex Matamoros, was arrested and held for a number of hours before being released without charge at 03:00 am in the morning on 12 August 2009. Alex Matamoros is a member of the Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos – CIPRODEH (Centre for the Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights), an organisation founded in 1989 with the specific focus of promoting human rights in Honduras.

Further Information

On 11 August 2009, at approximately 17:00 pm, Alex Matamoros was arrested by police agents who were operating under the orders of Deputy Superintendent Paz Bueso.

At the time of his arrest Alex Matamoros was observing a peaceful demonstation when police officers arrived and began to throw tear gas. The participants of the demonstration began to run to escape the tear gas, with many entering the grounds of the National Pedagogical University of Francisco Morazán.

The police began to arrest people indiscriminately, leading Alex Matamoros to approach some members of the police force and identify himself as a human rights defender and member of CIPRODEH. He urged the police to cease throwing tear gas and detaining participants, and he insisted that it was a peaceful gathering.

At this point the police officers arrested Alex Matamoros and aggressively forced him into an MI 111 patrol vehicle. He was brought to the Police Headquarters in Manchén where he was detained with 9 others who had also been arrested at the demonstration.

At 20:00 pm Alex Matamoros was transferred to the Public Prosecutor's office where it was recorded that he had been arrested for causing material damage to property belonging to the Intur group, and for being a threat to public security.

Alex Matamoros was released from custody at 03:00 am following the intervention of the Director of CIPRODEH, their team of lawyers, members of the Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras – Cofadeh (the Committe for relatives of disappeared detainees in Honduras) and members of other human rights organisations.

Front Line believes that the detention of Alex Matamoros was a direct result of his human rights activities, specifically his monitoring of the police response to public gatherings.

Furthermore Front Line is deeply concerned that this latest detention comes as part of an increasingly hostile environment that human rights defenders in Honduras are facing which has included the repression of peaceful demonstrations, the arbitrary arrest of hundreds of nonviolent protesters, the closure of radio and TV outlets and the intimidation of journalists who have criticised the military coup that occurred on 28 June 2009.