Calixto Vásquez
Calixto Vásquez is an active member of La Coordinadora Indígena del Poder Popular de Honduras - CINPH (Civic Council of Popular Indigenous Organisations) and a member of the Consejo Indígena de Monte Copado (Indigenous Council of Monte Copado). CINPH is an organisation that works for the defence of the land and the environment, and for improving the living conditions of communities and indigenous peoples in Honduras. He is also involved in the Movimiento Indígena Lenca de La Paz – MILPA (Lenca de La Paz Indigenous Movement), which has confronted a number of municipalities over their violation of the rights of indigenous communities.
Human rights defenders suffer extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment as well as judicial harassment, threats and stigmatisation. Journalists, lawyers, prosecutors, those defending the rights of women, children, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community, indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities, and those working on environmental and land rights issues are particularly at risk.
