The teacher Rommel Baldemar
has been deprived of his liberty arbitrarily
for 480 days
Rommel Baldemar Herrera Portillo is a young teacher, just 24 years of age. On May 31, 2019, he was detained and unjustly accused of “aggravated arson” and causing “damages” to the United States embassy in Honduras, after a peaceful demonstration in defense of public education and health.
The teacher Rommel Baldemar has been arbitrarily deprived of his liberty for 480 days. Rommel Baldemar Herrera Portillo is a young teacher, just 24 years of age. On May 31, 2019, he was detained and unjustly accused of “aggravated arson” and causing “damages” to the United States embassy in Honduras, following a peaceful demonstration in defense of public education and health.
Inexplicably and based on exaggerated charges, Rommel was locked up in a maximum security prison (La Tolva) for five months, where his psychological condition deteriorated rapidly.
Following a Forensic Medicine report that found “psychiatric harm conditioned by the onset of a mixed anxiety and depression disorder,” the judge ruled that Rommel be hospitalized and had him transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where he was admitted as a court-ordered patient.
His defense team has requested multiple times that the precautionary measures ordered against him be reviewed so that Rommel can proceed with his defense in liberty, in a familiar setting that will contribute to his mental health. His lawyers also filed for an expedited procedure to have the court revise the charges brought against him.
All efforts have thus far failed. Both the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the prosecuting attorney representing the U.S. Embassy filed a new request to return the young teacher to jail.
Sending Rommel back to prison would entail an enormous health risk, as his condition is to a great extent brought on by the inhumane treatment and insecurity that prevails in the country’s penitentiaries.
Moreover, we believe Rommel has complied reasonably enough with the precautionary measure of confinement, and it is time that he be allowed to go home with his family.
In this sense, we think that the new revision procedure currently underway is a major opportunity to ensure his mental wellbeing and health. It is also key for guaranteeing his right to the presumption of innocence.
We view the judge’s decision to appoint an expert to assess Rommel’s mental state and the possibility of continuing his treatment at home as a first step toward guaranteeing his rights as a human being.
In this way and while we await the oral and public trial that has been repeatedly postponed due to the Covid-19 health crisis, he can go on receiving psychological treatment and care but as an outpatient of the psychiatric hospital.
This would also send an important message to Honduran society and the international community about the need to end the stigmatization campaign waged against this young man.
We, the undersigned organizations, urge the authorities to stop using imprisonment and the exaggeration of charges to sow fear and criminalize peaceful struggles and protests.
Bertha Oliva
Coordinator of the Commission of Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH)
Jair Krischke
President of the Movement for Justice and Human Rights (MJDH)
Gerardo Iglesias
IUF Regional Secretary
