PEN SA Calls for Cesario Alejandro Félix Padilla Figueroa’s Conviction to be Overturned

PEN SA Board member Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi has written to the Honduran National Human Rights Ombudsman, Dr. Roberto Herrera Cáceres, urging him to take up PEN Honduras Board Member Cesario Alejandro Félix Padilla Figueroa’s case and work with the Honduran authorities to overturn his conviction. Padilla Figueroa is one of the five writers whose cases are the focus of PEN’s 36th Day of the Imprisoned Writer. Find out how you can take action for Padilla Figueroa.

Dear Dr Cáceres,

As a member of the Executive Board of PEN South Africa, I wish to express concern about the conviction, for “usurpation” of Cesario Alejandro Félix Padilla Figueroa, a student leader, a journalist and a member of PEN Honduras. We urge you to take up this case and to work with the Honduran authorities to overturn the conviction.

As I am sure you are aware, in December 2014, Cesario Alejandro Félix Padilla Figueroa and five other UNAH students, were arbitrarily suspended from the university after taking part in previous protests. They were subsequently re-admitted to the university after a ruling by the Honduran Supreme Court of Justice in February 2015.

As protests continued at the institution, Padilla Figueroa and colleagues founded the Human Rights Defence Committee (Comité Pro Defensa de los Derechos Humanos), in 2015 in order to document human rights abuses occurring as a result of the protests. Later that same year, on 17 July 2015, Padilla Figueroa – along with fellow students Moisés David Cáceres, Sergio Luis Ulloa and Josué Armando Velásquez – was charged with ‘usurpation’ (‘usurpación’) of UNAH property, under Article 227 of the Honduran Penal Code, for his part in the occupation of a university building during a student protest.

Padilla Figueroa and his colleagues were found guilty of ‘usurpation’ on 7 June 2017. At a hearing held on 7 August 2017, the public prosecutor reportedly requested that a three-year sentence, among other penalties, be applied. According to PEN Honduras, Padilla Figueroa and his colleagues currently find themselves in a form of legal limbo while they await a written copy of the sentence – which they require to file an appeal. In the interim, he is unable to travel outside of the country or to approach the university grounds.

Shortly following Padilla Figueroa’s conviction, the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras reportedly stated: “the office expresses its grave concern regarding the ruling made in relation to the crime of ‘usurpation’, considering that on repeated occasions, the office has signalled – both publicly and in our discussions with judicial officials – that the use of this type of crime in the context of the criminalisation of social protest presents serious problems in light of international human rights standards.”

On 13 June 2015, PEN International and PEN Honduras requested the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to intervene in the case of Padilla Figueroa and the other students. The ‘precautionary measures’ requested would oblige the Honduran state to protect the students’ right to freedom of expression, association and education and to ensure a thorough investigation into alleged abuse of authority and human rights abuses within the UNAH. The case is pending decision by the IACHR.

In the interim, Padilla Figueroa has continued to face harassment and surveillance. On 15 August 2015, he reported that he had been tailed by two unknown armed men in his neighbourhood who had also been keeping watch over his home. The men had made it known to Padilla Figueroa that they intended to harm him. He and PEN Honduras believed that this surveillance was in retaliation for his activities as a student leader.

In June 2016, Padilla Figueroa and some of his co-defendants reported that they had been subject to unlawful surveillance by agents from the Technical Agency for Criminal Investigations (ATIC), who attempted to prevent the students from entering the university campus, among other irregularities. According to a complaint submitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office on 10 June 2016, filed by their defence lawyers, the actions of the ATIC agents constitutes an abuse of power as the students are not accused of a crime that merits such surveillance. The case is still pending.

PEN International believes that Padilla Figueroa and other university students are being persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, enshrined in the nation’s Constitution (Articles 72-75 and 79), as well as the American Convention on Human Rights (Articles 13 and 15), and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 19 and 21), to which Honduras is a state party.

We therefore urgently ask that your office brings its power to help:

1. Overturn the conviction of PEN Honduras member Cesario Alejandro Félix Padilla Figueroa, whom PEN International believes is being prosecuted for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and assembly by peacefully participating in and observing student protests;

2. Protect Padilla Figueroa; end any unlawful surveillance of him and investigate his reports of unlawful surveillance;

3. Take all necessary measures to ensure that UNAH students can exercise their right to peaceful protest. As the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has affirmed: ‘the right to publicly protest is an essential element of freedom of expression.’

4. Decriminalise student protests and allow students to participate in UNAH’s decision-making bodies, and ensure that conflicts within the institution are resolved through inclusive dialogue, in accordance with Article 19 of the ICCPR and Article 13 of the ACHR, to which Honduras is a state party.

Yours sincerely,

Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi
Member of the Board
PEN South Africa

Supported by:

Nadia Davids
President
PEN South Africa

Yewande Omotoso
Executive Vice-President
PEN South Africa

Raymond Louw
Vice-President
PEN South Africa

Adré Marshall
Board Member
PEN South Africa

Gabeba Baderoon
Board Member
PEN South Africa

Karina Szczurek
Board Member
PEN South Africa

Margie Orford
Board Member
PEN South Africa