Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounces the brutal murder of journalist Javier Antonio Hércules Salinas, from the local outlet A Todo Noticias. Despite being under state protection since 2023, the journalist was shot by two men on a motorbike in Santa Rosa de Copán, on 1 June. RSF calls on the Honduran authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to clarify the crime, identify those responsible and bring them to justice. The organisation also urges the government to strengthen the National Protection Mechanism and ensure the safety of media professionals.
On 1 June, Javier Antonio Hércules Salinas, a 51-year-old journalist from the local news Facebook page A Todo Noticias, was brutally murdered by armed individuals on a motorbike while driving a taxi — a job he alternated with his work as a local reporter. The journalist, originally from El Salvador, had been living in Honduras for over ten years and covered issues of local public interest. He had been under the protection of the National Protection System for Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Operators (SNP) since October 2023, when he was the target of a series of threats and a kidnapping attempt, from which he managed to escape unharmed.
“RSF demands that the Honduran state carry out a thorough investigation to clarify the crime, explain how someone under state protection ends up dead and hold those responsible for Javier Antonio Hércules Salinas’s murder to account. This crime highlights the ineffectiveness of the National Protection System, the state's inertia in the face of violence against the press, and the ongoing structural conditions of impunity. We further urge the government to strengthen prevention measures, including tackling and preventing stigmatising discourse and harassment of journalists.
Deficiencies in the protection system
The RSF report Protection paradigm – that analyses the functioning, effectiveness, and impact of protection measures adopted to support threatened journalists seeking state assistance – highlighted that Honduras’s protection system lacks specific methodologies and protocols to adequately assist beneficiary journalists and faces criticism for its lack of independence and political will. Its low reliability, combined with structural and budgetary limitations, hinders the implementation of effective measures and the establishment of a trained team capable of responding swiftly to requests and assessing risks.
In the report, RSF recommends, among other things, strengthening the protection system by ensuring it has its own budget, and sufficient personnel trained in human rights issues. The organization also urges strict monitoring of security forces' implementation of protection measures and recommends comprehensive support for forcibly displaced individuals.
