The United States will collaborate with the Honduran government to defend human rights in the face of rising attacks on journalists and press freedom violations, reported Fox News Latino.
During a visit to the Central American country, U.S. Undersecretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, Maria Otero, and Honduran President Porfirio Lobo announced the creation of the U.S.-Honduras High-Level Bilateral Human Rights Working Group dedicated to reforming the Honduran justice system and fortifying human rights institutions in the country, reported the newspaper El Heraldo. The Working Group will have offices in Washington, D.C. and the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa.
The United States will offer support to break the cycle of impunity that persists in crimes against journalists in Honduras, according to statements by Otero published in the newspaper La Prensa.
After Mexico, Honduras has the second highest number of attacks on the press in the Americas. Authorities often attribute the attacks to the overall high level of insecurity, including the highest homicide rate in the world.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
