MIAMI, Florida, USA (November 19, 2025). – The Inter American Press Society (SIP), together with various international, regional and national organizations defending the freedom of expression and the human rightsexpresses his deep alarm before him climate of harassment, stigmatization and threats that they face journalists and media in Honduras In the weeks before general elections on November 30.
Recent attacks coming from senior military commandersadded to a trend of judicial harassment, digital surveillance and administrative pressures, create a hostile environment incompatible with the international press freedom standards. In this context, the authorities have the obligation to guarantee the security, independence and free exercise of journalism, cornerstone of any democratic process.
🗣️Recent attacks from senior military commanders, added to a trend of judicial harassment, digital surveillance and administrative pressures, create a hostile environment that is incompatible with international standards of press freedom.
— SIP • IAPA (@sip_oficial) November 19, 2025
In recent weeks, the high command of the Honduran Armed Forces has issued extremely serious public statements, in which it accuses the media and journalists of leading alleged “media campaigns disguised as journalistic coverage” against the military institution. These statements, accompanied by insinuations about an alleged “network where public and private actors are confused with organized crime structures” in the electoral context, constitute acts of stigmatization that seek to discredit the professional exercise of the press.
These expressions add up to a series of events that occurred throughout the year. In February, senior officials announced the intention to undertake judicial actions against at least 12 Honduran media in order to force them to reveal their information sources. In May, the official media outlet of the Armed Forces described journalists as “hitmen of the truth”a message that reinforces a systematic pattern of institutional intimidationcontrary to the international obligations of the State regarding freedom of expression.
đź”´đź“Ł JOINT STATEMENT | Serious international concern about the climate of harassment against the press in #Hondurashttps://t.co/vROdlmom8h
— SIP • IAPA (@sip_oficial) November 19, 2025
In this same sense, the digital medium Criterio.hn has reported a escalation of attacks which includes the intervention of your social media accountsthe public disqualification of his investigative work and a judicial harassment promoted by the Public Ministrywhich has requested the disclosure of sources used in reports on alleged links of public figures with drug trafficking and corruption networks.
📌🫆#LOULTIMO~ The president of the National Electoral Council (@CneHonduras), Ana Paola Hall, clarified that the information disseminated on an official social network of the Armed Forces is imprecise and does not come from the liaison officer to the electoral body.
📌🫆Likewise, he emphasized… pic.twitter.com/oQm28BTa7K
— Criterio.hn (@criteriohn) November 18, 2025
These events are not isolated episodes, but worrying signs of an increasingly hostile, stigmatizing and risky environment for the practice of independent journalism in Honduras, just at a crucial moment for the democratic life of the country. They are produced in a climate of growing electoral tensionin which journalists covering corruption, organized crime or political processes face a high riskboth physical attacks and institutional retaliation.
The International Freedom of Expression Mission in Hondurasmade up of organizations such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Article 19, Free Press Unlimited, IFEX-LAC, the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) and PEN International, among others, recently documented “a pattern of surveillance, intimidation and harassment from state and military sectors,” as well as the “lack of guarantees for the free exercise of journalism in the framework of the elections.”
The IAPA and the signatory organizations categorically reject the statements of the General Roosevelt Hernandez and any attempt to criminalize, intimidate or discredit the independent press. The Armed Forces must act within the constitutional framework that establishes their subordination to civil power, and refrain from issuing political or disqualifying statements against journalists or media.
Likewise, the National Electoral Council (CNE) had already instructed General Hernández not to speak out on political or electoral matters, remembering that his institution acts under the coordination of the electoral body precisely to avoid interference or improper political interpretations.
We reiterate that freedom of the press It is not a privilege, but a fundamental rightand that the use of official speech to delegitimize or single out journalists constitutes a direct violation of the international obligations assumed by the State under the American Convention on Human Rights and the jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Recommendations
Based on the observations of the International Mission, the signatory organizations formulate the following specific recommendations to the State of Honduras and the competent authorities:
- Guarantee freedom of the press and access to information
- Ensure that all media, without distinction, can cover elections, campaign events and issues of public interest without restrictions, censorship or retaliation.
- Comply with and enforce national and international standards that protect professional secrecy and the confidentiality of sources.
- Urge the Armed Forces to refrain from all acts of stigmatization
- Senior military commanders must refrain from issuing statements or publications that discredit or put journalists at risk.
- Remember your obligation of political neutrality and respect for freedom of expression, in line with democratic principles and the Constitution.
- Investigate and punish attacks and threats
- Launch independent and transparent investigations into verbal and digital attacks against journalists, smear campaigns and judicial harassment.
- Administratively and criminally sanction officials or agents who engage in threats, espionage or harassment towards media or communicators.
- Strengthen protection mechanisms
- Provide the National System for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators and Justice Operators with adequate resources, autonomy and immediate response capacity.
- Adopt early warning and urgent response protocols in cases of threats during the electoral process.
- Promote dialogue and transparency
- Establish a formal channel of dialogue between the Government, the CNE, the Public Ministry and press organizations to address specific risks and coordinate prevention measures.
- Guarantee that public institutions provide equitable access to information, avoiding blocking, discrimination or arbitrary exclusions of critical media.
- Call to the international community
- We urge the electoral observation missions, the Organization of American States, the United Nations System, the European Union and the diplomatic community to include in their reports specific monitoring of the situation of press freedom and the safety of journalists during and after the electoral process.
On the eve of the general elections that will test the country’s institutional strength, freedom of the press constitutes the most essential guarantee of Honduran democracy. The disqualification, intimidation or surveillance of journalists not only threatens the media, but also the right of all citizens to be informed.
The signatory organizations will remain under permanent observation and monitoring, willing to continue providing support and accompaniment to Honduran journalists and media outlets who, bravely, defend the right to the truth and freedom of expression.
Signing organizations:
MX Media Alliance
ARTICLE 19 Mexico and Central America
Colombian Association of Information Media (AMI)
Association of Argentine Journalistic Entities (ADEPA)
Honduran Media Association (AMC)
World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)
National Press Association (ANP) Bolivia
National Press Association (ANP) Chile
National Association of Newspapers (ANJ)
Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES)
Association for Democracy and Human Rights (ASOPODEHU)
C-Libre Committee for Free Expression
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Peruvian Press Council (CPP)
Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA)
Free Press Unlimited (FPU)
Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP)
Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Democracy (FLED)
Fundamedios
Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press (ICLEP)
Press and Freedom of Expression Institute (IPLEX)
Press and Society Institute (IPYS)
Press and Society Institute Venezuela (IPYS Venezuela)
International Press Institute (IPI)
PEN International
Press Freedom Center en el National Press Club
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Inter-American Press Society (IAPA)
Southern Voices
The SIP is a non-profit organization dedicated to the defense and promotion of freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It is made up of more than 1,300 media outlets in the Western Hemisphere and is headquartered in Miami, Florida, United States.
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