In an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the organizations demanded a proper investigation into a crime that has captured international attention and put a spotlight on impunity in the Central American country. The called for the U.S. government to not allow the killing of Caceres to go unsolved and unpunished and to avoid a response of "business as usual." Instead, they urged, the U.S. should use the tragedy to make "a profound change of direction toward improving the abysmal situation of human rights in Honduras."

"We ask that the State Department make clear to the Honduran government that future partnership and funding depends on demonstrating the political will to investigate and prosecute this crime and all crimes against human rights defenders," the groups said in the letter, dated March 7.

"The Honduran government ... must guarantee freedom of expression, including by ending harsh, constant repression of social protests, ensuring an immediate end to intimidating public statements by government officials and members of the military and police that place human rights defenders and journalists in danger, and ending specious prosecution of human rights defenders."

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Caceres, who was head of the Civic Council of Indigenous and People's Organizations, was gunned down in her hometown of La Esperanza on Thursday.

Mourners shouted "Justice, justice!" "Berta lives!" and "The struggle continues!" during the funeral on Saturday.

Caceres rose to prominence for leading the indigenous Lenca people in a struggle against a hydroelectric dam project that would have flooded large areas of native lands.

In 2015, she won the Goldman Environmental Prize, considered the world's top award for grassroots environmental activism.

The Italian newspaper La Stampa hailed Caceres as a "martyr of Laudato Si."

"She was a woman committed to fighting for the protection of the environment and indigenous people's territories and the common struggle," said Fr Ismael Moreno, director of Radio Progreso and the Jesuit-run Team for Reflection, Research and Communication.

"We're heartbroken," said Fr Moreno, who considered Caceres a close friend. "She was constantly under threat."

Police initially attributed Caceres' death to robbery, but later said she was shot four times, according to media reports.

Sources

CNS/NCR Online
Catholic Herald
Raw Story
Image: Catholic Herald