On 12 September 2008, around 100 young people stopped the traffic in the centre of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, to protest against the high level of violence inflicted on young people in the country.
The Youth Justice in Action campaign kicked off its first Solidarity Day in striking fashion.
Parading large symbolic coffins and sporting black T-Shirts with the campaign slogan, the young people chanted their frustrations. ‘Las victimas tienen nombre, los asesinos también’ The victims have names, so do the murderers. They covered the ‘Four Cardinal Points’ bridge with banners and slogans leaving passing motorists with a very clear message. ‘No a la violencia, sí a la juventud’ (No to violence, yes to youth’).
The bridge on which they stood bears a memorial to four young people tortured and killed by the police in 1995. Their bodies were found in different parts of the city and so the case became known as the ‘Four Cardinal Points’. The process to get justice on behalf of the families has taken years. Since then, many more young people have suffered from the climate of violence that pervades their daily lives.
The demonstration was covered by all the main television channels in Honduras. Read more about it in the national newspaper ‘La Tribuna’ (in Spanish).
Future Solidarity Days will be held for Ireland, Togo, Sierra Leone, South Africa and the UK. More info coming soon.
