Donald Hernandez Palma
Donald Hernández Palma is a Honduran lawyer and human rights defender. He specialises in criminal and environmental law, with a particular focus on mining in Latin America. He is a member of the Latin American Lawyers’ Network, a network that works against the negative impacts of transnational extractive companies in Latin America.
Since 2010, Donald has worked for the Honduran Centre for the Promotion of Community Development (Centro Hondureño de Promoción Para el Desarrollo Comunitario -CEHPRODEC) as coordinator of the legal department and is also currently the coordinator of the Human Rights and Environmental Department. In representation of CEHPRODEC, Donald is the facilitator of the National Coalition of Environmental Organizations and Networks (Coalición Nacional de Organizaciones y Redes Ambientales – CONROA), an organisation that represents more than 40 environmental organizations from all over Honduras.
Since the 2009 military coup, the number of killings, threats and acts of intimidation against campesinos and environmental rights defenders has increased. The perpetrators of violations against many defenders of environmental, land and indigenous rights, are often influential landowners or logging companies.
