Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Public Officials Charged for Violating Environmental Law

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

TEGUCIGALPA, Apr 16 2012 (IPS) - Over the past year, the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office of Honduras has issued 19 injunctions against an equal number of individuals, including a number of public officials, for violations of the General Law on the Environment. Reina Pineda, the special prosecutor for environmental crimes, told Tierramérica that the majority of public officials charged are local government authorities who have issued logging permits or committed other acts that infringe on forest conservation and the preservation of biodiversity.

Also facing charges are private citizens implicated in illegal trade in timber and trafficking in endangered species, among other crimes specified in the environmental law.

The worst violations have been reported in the departments of Cortés in northwestern Honduras, Olancho in the northeast, Francisco Morazán in the center of the country, and Copán in the west, as well as areas in southern Honduras, according to the office of National Human Rights Commissioner Ramón Custodio.