Tegucigalpa, November 18 (teleSUR-RHC)-- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed the case of a Honduran man, murdered in 2001 as a congressional candidate, to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for investigation on Tuesday.  

Angel Pacheco Leon was murdered on November 23, 2001 when he was a candidate for the Honduran National Congress, but the case has never been resolved.

IACHR said that Honduras has not fulfilled its obligation to do due diligence in the case with a proper investigation, citing “serious” irregularities in the investigation and various barriers in the process.        
      
The commission also said that the evidence points to the possibility of Honduran state agent involvement in the case.

“The state cannot defend its breach of the task to investigate and, in this case, the mentioned evidence enables establishing liability of the Honduran government for what happened to the victim,” said IACHR.

IACHR dubbed the case a violation of Pacheco Leon’s political rights and rights to life and personal integrity.
 
Honduras has seen a major spike in violence and murder rates, including political violence, in the wake of the 2009 coup d’etat against former President Manuel Zelaya. Due to the systemic impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of rights violations, victims and their families often do not see justice served.