La Paz, Honduras. Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Photo. “Lesbia Yaneth lives, the fight continues! Berta lives, the fight continues!” With those words, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras, or COPINH) concluded their statement on their blog about the murder of community leader Lesbia Yaneth Urquía in Honduras on July 7. Her body was found in a garbage dump; she reportedly had suffered injuries to the head. Her death was nationally and internationally condemned as yet another blow to the environmentalist fight in the region. The news came at a time when the country is still trying to recover from the loss of Berta Cáceres, the co-founder of COPINH who was murdered four months ago. Authorities are investigating, and there was little mention at first of possible political motives behind Urquía's murder. Soon after her death, however, it was revealed that an employee of one of the businesses behind a hydroelectric project, which Urquía had opposed, was suspected of involvement. The controversies are numerous and the indignation is widespread. However, beyond the debates, Urquía's killing has once again shed light on the grave danger that environmental and human rights activists face in Honduras. The conflicts between indigenous organizations, the government and multinational companies are rooted in the use of land and rivers. Local populations complain these resources are often exploited without their consent. The Lenca Indigenous Movement of La Paz (Movimiento Indígena Lenca de la Paz, or MILPAH) is one of many groups that have reported that multinational organizations have illegally obtained environmental licenses without a prior, free consultation. That measure is stipulated in the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (known as ILO-convention 169), a binding international agreement signed by the government of Honduras. The communities affected monitor development projects to make sure they don’t negatively impact their way of life and demand that they be involved in the decision-making so that residents derive some benefit. They've organized protests and blockades that hinder construction such as the hydroelectric project in La Paz to make their voices heard. After Urquía's murder, COPINH accused the Honduran government of having her blood on its hands and the military and police forces of being complicit. Likewise, COPINH said all governmental institutions are guilty of keeping activists under permanent threat in the interest of pushing through projects that affect the well-being of local communities. The Honduran government is facing enormous pressure to do something about the impunity that has created a breeding ground for the country's high number of murders. As the video shared by news channel Hondured 13 demonstrates, the attendance at Urquía’s funeral was high: Environmental organizations like CENSAT Agua Viva (Living Water) called upon the government to stop the persecution of environmental activists like Cáceres and Urquía: Hacemos eco de las exigencias del COPINH en búsqueda de justicia para que los feminicidios de Lesbia y de Berta Cáceres no queden en la impunidad. Hacemos un llamado urgente al Estado hondureño para que adelante las investigaciones pertinentes para castigar a los responsables de estos hechos y a su vez, permita la reacción de una Comisión Independiente de Expertos liderada por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos que investigue el asesinato de Berta Cáceres. Exigimos al Estado hondureño que cese la persecución y la violación de derechos humanos de las defensoras y defensores de la naturaleza, que expulse e investigue con celeridad a los miembros de fuerzas policiales y militares involucrados en crímenes en su contra, e implemente todas las medidas necesarias para que sus instituciones cumplan con las obligación de protegerles e impulsar su legítima labor de defensa. We repeat the demands of COPINH in search of justice so that the feminicides of Lesbia and Berta Cáceres don’t remain in impunity. We make an urgent call to the Honduran state asking that the pertinent investigations move forward in order to punish those responsible for these acts and in turn, that they allow an Independent Panel of Experts led by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights to investigate the murder of Berta Cáceres.