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Download the Full PDF Here Table of Contents Introduction � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3 I. A Travesty of Due Process � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8 A. Due Process Violations � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9 B. Suppression of Exculpatory Evidence � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10 C. Denial of Presumption of Innocence � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17 D. Prosecution Based on Incomplete Investigation � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19 E. Falsification of Testimony � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 20 F. Irregular and Incomplete Access to Cell Phone, Other Devices, and Electronic Data � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 21 II. The False Mythology of the GAIPE Report � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25 A. Failure to Meet Lund-London Guidelines � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 27 B. Unsupported Claims � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 28 III. The True Face of COPINH � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29 A. Early History and Rebranding � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29 B. COPINH’s Radical Means and Rhetoric � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 32 C. Victims of COPINH � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 35 War on Development: Exposing the COPINH Disinformation Campaign Surrounding the Berta Cáceres Case 1 IV. NGOs: Incentivizing Conflict in Honduras � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 43 A. NGOs’ Anti-Development Stance � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 44 V. Honduras Needs Renewable Energy � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 48 A. Political Context � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 48 B. Economic Context � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 50 C. Pervasive Poverty and Inequality � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 50 D. Electricity Generation in Honduras � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 52 VI. History of the Agua Zarca Project � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 61 A. Location and Title to Land � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 61 B. Financing and Construction Firms � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 62 C. Regulatory Approvals � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 63 D. Initial Community Consultations and Benefits � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 64 E. COPINH’s Early Opposition and Violence � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 66 F. An Additional Concession: Project Relocation Across the Gualcarque River � � � � � 69 G. COPINH’s Continued Violent Opposition � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 71 H. COPINH Has Spread Disinformation about ILO 169 and Community Consultation Processes � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 74 Conclusion � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 78 2 War on Development: Exposing the COPINH Disinformation Campaign Surrounding the Berta Cáceres Case INTRODUCTION Further, testimony has been provided in the criminal proceedings to indicate that the first persons to arrive on the scene following the murder were not police officers or law enforcement authorities: they were members of COPINH. Indeed, investigators observed that the COPINH members had altered the crime scene before any photo- graphs or evidence could be taken. The presence of others at the murder scene after the murder but before any steps were taken to secure the scene raises serious issues about the integrity of the crime scene. Where there is reason to question the integrity of the crime scene, there is reason to doubt the reliability of evidence seized from that crime scene. – BRIAN GREENSPAN AND MICHELLE BIDDULPH1 n the late evening of March 2, 2016, the activist Berta Cáceres was murdered by Iunknown gunman in her home in La Esperanza, Honduras. Although the country suffers one of the highest murder rates in the world – 5,154 murders recorded in 2016 alone2 – Cáceres’ death was met with thunderous condemnation from a broad range of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), making this one of the most visibly and widely discussed cases in the region. 1 Brian H. Greenspan and Michelle M. Biddulph, DESA -- The Honduras Investigation and Prosecution, (July 2, 2018) [hereinafter Greenspan Report], page 6. 2 Parker Asmann, Security Concerns Remain Despite Drop in Homicides in Honduras, InSight Crime (April 20, 2017) https://www.insightcrime.org/news/brief/homicides-drop-while-security-concerns-remain-honduras/. War on Development: Exposing the COPINH Disinformation Campaign Surrounding the Berta Cáceres Case 3 As horrific and tragic as the underlying crime is, the present narrative regarding the Cáceres case and the presumed knowledge of the facts is not only deeply flawed, but also based largely on fabrications circulated by her former organization, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). Before any investigation had even begun into the crime, COPINH had misled these organizations to join them in squarely placing the blame on Desarrollos Energéticos Sociedad Anónima (DESA), the Honduran corporation formed for the purpose of building the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project which Cáceres had opposed. This original assumption – that Cáceres was killed because of her opposition to Agua Zarca – became a canonical feature of the international narrative. The formidable legacy of her memory, which grows larger each day, is inseparable from this unproven notion. Rarely questioned, unburdened by any need for evidence, and against any logic, this narrative against DESA became a doctrinal feature of COPINH’s public pressure campaign which swiftly destroyed the multi-million-dollar investment and placed nine individuals in pretrial detention (the latest of which was symbolically arrested exactly on the two-year anniversary of the murder). This White Paper will detail how COPINH has carried out a fraud by misinforming the public and twisting the facts to fit their story, relying on hundreds of pages of evidence and transcripts of text messages obtained by independent expert witnesses. Rather than support COPINH’s defamatory theory of the authorship of the crime, an entirely different picture emerges, showing an organization which manipulated foreign media and NGOs, a leader who had positive and collaborative relations with our client, and even signs of other potential third parties who have seemingly not been considered as subjects. This White Paper will further explain how the actions of COPINH and other anti-de- velopment activists have served to damage the poorest people of Honduras, destroying jobs and opportunities, and further fueling migration pressures. In the two years since the murder of Cáceres, investment in renewable energy and other infrastructure projects has ground to a halt, and with it, economic development has stalled in Intibucá and far beyond in Honduras. The Agua Zarca project would have brought much-needed oppor- tunities to the area, which is why it received overwhelming public support. The project included around 250-300 direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs, in addition to other crucial infrastructure. Now, with the project all but destroyed, there are at least five other hydro 4 War on Development: Exposing the COPINH Disinformation Campaign Surrounding the Berta Cáceres Case projects which have been halted by these activist groups, freezing some $260 million dollars in investments and more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.3 Long before March 2, 2016, COPINH had begun spreading additional false information about DESA, including vague claims about alleged violations of indige- nous rights in their consultation process, endangering “traditional ways of life,” and claims of unspecified harm to the environment. In many cases, the reasonable calls for accountability in the wake of the murder morphed into a broader anti-development message, one that has been passively accepted by the global NGO community with an astonishing lack of independent verification. In such a fragile environment for rule of law, this kind of politically charged case featuring unprecedented international pressure has placed a fatal strain on due process. When Amsterdam & Partners LLP was retained to represent DESA earlier this year, our first step was to appoint an independent expert to carefully verify facts, evaluate the State’s process, and examine the conclusions of a report by the Grupo Asesor Internacional de Personas Expertas (GAIPE), a group appointed by COPINH and the victim’s family. Brian Greenspan, one of Canada’s most highly respected criminal law experts, visited Honduras earlier this year to investigate, and his findings – presented in full later in this White Paper – present profound concerns regarding the failures
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