Erick Martínez Ávila

[1] Days after his announcement to run as a Resistencia Party congressional candidate in the November elections, Martínez went missing and was found strangled to death about 3 kilometers from the capital.

Two days later, on 7 May 2012, his body was found in a ditch on the road between Olancho Department and Tegucigalpa and 3 km from the capital outside Aldea Guasculile.

[11] The murder rate in Honduras has risen dramatically in the last few years as a result of political instability, drug trafficking and organized crime.

Initially, the United States criticized the Honduran military's role in deposing the nation's democratically elected leader.

[13] In December 2011, the United States announced that it would take violations of gay rights into account in foreign policy decisions, and at the time Honduras had witnessed significant levels of murders and attacks on the LGBT population.

[17] Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO, said, "I am deeply concerned about this second journalist killed in Honduras in a month and call on the authorities to bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime against the basic human right of freedom of expression.

Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of democracy and rule of law and it is essential that journalists be allowed to contribute freely to political and social debate.