VERDICT: David Castillo Is Found GUILTY of Berta Cáceres's Murder
/Last update: July 5 at 7:00 pm
VERDICT
Roberto David Castillo Mejía is found GUILTY of Berta Cáceres’s murder by the three judges of Courtroom One of the National Jurisdiction Sentencing Court. The court ruled that Castillo acted as co-author of the murder (as originally argued by the Cáceres family lawyers), coordinating with the team of hitman and intermediaries, primarily through retired military Lieutenant Douglas Bustillo who coordinated with active military major Mariano Diaz Chavez and hitman Henrry Hernandez, as well as other DESA executives - to take Berta’s life and stop her and COPINH’s resistance to the Agua Zarca dam.
The Full Ruling
[NOTE: Below is a paraphrased and rough translation which is far from perfect but that lays out the details, arguments, and final verdict. To watch the full verdict in Spanish, see here
The written verdict usually takes Honduran courts several weeks to prepare and provide a copy to the legal teams. In this case, the Honduran justice system and all it’s employees, are on vacation until July 21, 2021 which may mean that the written verdict will take longer to finalize].
Court’s Observations And Comments Before Reading The Verdict
We wanted to make some observations: the people that have observed this trial know that in this courtroom throughout all the trial proceedings, only one of the victim’s daughters and the mother of the accused were permitted inside the court. We are in a pandemic and we made this decision, just like we do about security, given the complexity of this case. Today, because the verdict will be read, we thought it was important to give the opportunity for people to be present inside the courtroom and listen directly to the verdict.
To be fair, we gave each party in this trial, the opportunity to list ten people to observe for their side. There are 20 people total from each side, as well as members of the international community.
In relation to journalists and media outlets, the trial is public and will be live streamed. We say this because media outlets were permitted into the court if they were on the respective lists of the parties. We make this clarification to clear up that the court did not intend to leave anyone out. Each person that was included on the lists were required to present ID at the door before entering the court.
We also want to highlight that today, the judiciary is on vacation. We have opened the court to give this verdict. We want to highlight the hard work of all parties in this case. We are a court of law that will not be influenced by extrajudicial agenda albeit in favor of or against either side. It’s really unfortunate that there are people in the judiciary that allow themselves to be influenced and that do not contribute to the strengthening of the judicial system.
Our decision is based on evidence presented in this case, which was complex, but we take responsibility for the resolution that has been fairly determined as a conviction or an absolution. For those that are listening and that are not familiar with this process, we say that this case will follow what was promised in this phase of justice.
The Justification of the Verdict
We will now read the unanimous verdict.
After analyzing all the evidence and critically examining it:
In 2013, DESA tried to begin the construction of the Agua Zarca (PHAZ) project on the Gualcarque river in communities in the region of Rio Blanco, Intibuca, with national and international funding. The construction of the project was in favor of some of the people close to it, but it was opposed by others, including some communities and COPINH which was coordinated by Berta Cáceres. The construction of the hydroelectric project was a danger to the environment and natural resources, specifically in reference to the Gualcarque river and the communities that were located near it.
The project was carried out in violation of the right of the communities to be consulted. As a result, there were protests at the site and controversies between DESA and the communities. In this context of opposition, DESA’s executives decided to move the project to San Francisco de Ojüera in the department of Santa Barbara, which was resisted by COPINH.
Individuals that were in favor of the construction of the project including General Manager, David Castillo, began to carry out actions to monitor Berta Cáceres and members of COPINH. The executives participated in two Whatsapp groups - Coordination PHAZ and Project PHAZ - the last being changed to Security PHAZ on October 7, 2015. As part of these groups, David Castillo indicated to the rest of the executives that strategic and intelligence information must be managed only with the people in the chat groups. DESA’s executives paid for informants for information - days, places, and times - about the actions planned by Berta and her organization against DESA’s Agua Zarca project.
Despite ending DESA’s working relationship with Bustillo, there were a series of communications between Douglas Bustillo and DESA’s executives and Castillo with the objective of ending the opposition led by Berta Cáceres and COPINH. As a consequence of these discussions, it was determined to end Berta’s life - an action that would be coordinated and carried out by Bustillo with the supervision, logistics and budget, through requests made to Castillo. In this context, Bustillo, who had been military, communicated with Mariano Diaz, from the Armed Forces, who, since 2014, had had his phone calls wiretapped in light of another judicial investigation. From there, Bustillo looked for another person to carry out the actions to kill Berta Cáceres and they determined the means, including the weapon, that would be used. It was in this manner that cell phone data and wiretaps would determine that the three individuals - Henrry Hernandez, Douglas Bustillo, and Mariano Diaz Chavez - would follow and monitor Berta Cáceres and her home. On February 5, 2016, they were going to carry out the murder. That evening, Castillo sent a message to Bustillo that read: “Remember accidents at the [crime] scene”. The murder wasn’t carried out that evening, and Bustillo informed Castillo at 9:17 the following day on February 6 that: “Mission aborted. It wasn’t possible yesterday … I’ll wait for you .. because I don’t have any logistics, I’m at zero." Castillo responded at 21:46: “Copied. Mission aborted.” On February 20, 2016, Castillo and Bustillo agreed to meet. On March 2, 2016 and with the same plan coordinated by Bustillo who informed Castillo and other DESA executives, four people travelled from northern Honduras and arrived at 11:30 pm to El Líbano in La Esperanza where Berta lived. Berta was in the company of protected witness ABC, a foreigner who was participating in a forum in Intibuca. The four entered into her home, shot at the protected witness inside his room, injuring him. And then shot at Berta Cáceres who died from bullet injuries. This occurred while someone waited outside El Líbano in a car. In the early hours and throughout the day on March 3, Bustillo communicated with DESA executives and Castillo.
The court establishes the following:
The responsibility of David Castillo in Berta Cáceres’s murder, according to the Attorney General’s office, was as an intellectual author, and according to the private accusers, co-author of the murder. The fact that Berta Cáceres was murdered, was not a point of controversy in this trial, neither was the manner in which she died. Article 123, of the current Criminal Code outlines how the crime of murder is legally defined [the court reads parts of that article]
In the present case, the circumstances that involved planning the murder, were carried out in the following manner: The murder of Berta Cáceres occurred on March 2 and was committed by various individuals who went into her home with a weapon and took advantage of the circumstances that prevented her from being able to defend herself. According to the current Criminal Code, the crime of murder has a penalty of 20 to 25 years in prison.
[This part is somewhat unclear]. The elements expressed in trial, some controversial, others not, include: 1. The cause of the murder on March 2 by various individuals including some that are not part of this trial [and previously convicted], 2. It was not controversial that DESA’s construction of the dam in Rio Blanco was a point of conflict, 3. The various actions carried out by Berta Cáceres and others in response to the construction of the dam were not objected to or were elements of controversy, 4. In 2018 and 2016, arrests were made resulting from controversial communications between David Castillo and Berta Cáceres, 5. In the development of the opposition to the dam, there were various protests at the project site, including confrontations with public security, 6. The project was suspended because of Berta Cáceres’s opposition.
The following points were discussed in evidence presented during the trial:
3. David Castillo’s participation was a point of controversy between the different legal teams in this trial. In criminal acts, it is possible for planning to occur with third parties, directly or indirectly, and in this case, in the execution of the crime. The law says that these acts can be accredited or determined by facts and circumstances, externally known, that individually, do not demonstrate anything, but that when examined together or in a chain of events, allow for conclusions to be drawn. These can be considered as signs or proof of a crime.
Although circumstantial evidence is not a crime in itself, it can help determine - through direct or indirect action - or infer the participation of an accused individual in a crime. This is based in a logical and critical view of such circumstantial evidence. The Supreme Court of Honduras on December 13, 2004, established that evidence can be acts committed before, during, or after a crime, and can be used to reconstruct and understand a crime. This type of evidence provides an idea of the involvement of an accused.
Phone interventions extracted from cell phones and wiretaps were used as indicators of a crime. It was clear that in existing phone conversations that were used as evidence by experts in this trial, that some were messages that don’t necessary directly discuss the crime, but together are congruent with the murder. Before establishing what these are, it’s important to establish that the defense argued that the Attorney General’s office did not investigate important lines of investigation. This includes, for example, the threat of another project called Blue Energy, a mining company, manipulation of evidence, drug trafficking, and Berta Cáceres’s personal circumstances. According to this court, these did not confirm the hypothesis of the crime and were not ruled out. There was phone evidence used to determine this:
Investigators identified the phone numbers that were in the El Líbano neighbourhood in La Esperanza on the night of the murder. The numbers belonging to El Líbano residents were ruled out, and this established that phone number 9775-5627 used by Henrry Hernandez [convicted hitman that coordinated the group of material authors] had been communicating with other phone numbers on the night of the murder, including with Mariano Diaz, Douglas Bustillo, Oscar Torres, Elvin Rapalo, and Edilson Duarte. It was established by the phone number used by military official, Mariano Diaz Chavez, who sustained communication with Douglas Bustillo, that despite the fact that Bustillo did not work with DESA, he maintained communication with DESA executives including Castillo.
There were conversations between Bustillo, a former military official, with another individual, Henrry Hernandez including incoming and outgoing calls while the phones were located in El Líbano. Conversations were also found in data extraction from Bustillo, Rodriguez and Castillo’s cell phones. It’s possible to infer the intermediary communication between Bustillo and his former military collegue, Mariano Diaz, and other individuals with Bustillo and DESA executives, including Castillo. This is also shown by evidence about the company’s executives, like Castillo, through the creation of the Whatsapp chat group ‘Security PHAZ’ on October 7, 2015. In this chat it was established that information shared in the chat about security and intelligence was to stay between members of the group.
On October 29, 2015, a DESA executive wrote to the ‘Security PHAZ’ chat group that “When Tomas and Berta don’t show up, the movement is weak. We need to focus our actions on them.” This message doesn’t imply an illegal action but because of the damage against DESA caused by Cáceres, it can infer actions that led to her murder. In other conversations, Castillo, kept track of Cáceres’s movements including through his conversations with Berta. It’s worth mentioning that Castillo was part of DESA and had knowledge of her movements and actions carried out by COPNH. They had informants and there are conversations that show that Castillo told Berta Cáceres about the activities that she was involved in. The court understands that there was some sort of relationship between Castillo and Berta Cáceres, but it existed for the purpose of Castillo obtaining information about Berta including the actions she was carrying out in order [for Castillo] to take actions that favor the company.
With regards to actions carried out against Berta Cáceres, Castillo chatted with Bustillo on February 6, 2016 with respect to an event denominated “mission”. This mission couldn’t be carried out on February 5, 2016. In regard to this point, its important to mention that since July 2015, Bustillo had ended his job with DESA. Nevertheless, he maintained communication with Castillo. This communication was found in the extractions of Bustillo’s phone and also in chats extracted by the defense’s expert witness, Shaun Vodde. The important aspects of both extractions, show the same sequence of conversations. On February 5, 2016, Castillo, using phone number 9990-0946 wrote to Bustillo: "remember accidents at the scene” and then Bustillo wrote back the next day: “mission aborted. It was not possible. I will wait for what you say because I need logistics. I’m at zero” and another message: “I don’t need information, I need to know what you’re going to budget for the work.” And Castillo answered the same day, on February 6, “copied. Mission aborted.” These conversations between Castillo and Bustillo on February 5, 2016, show a consistency with the events leading to the murder for the following reasons:
The conversations on February 2, 2016 that were extracted from Bustillo’s phone by Shaun Vodde, Bustillo asks Mariano, his former military colleague, if he can bring ‘the gato’ [I’m not sure if thats the correct word] - a word used as code. According to conversations heard during the trial, on February 2, Mariano spoke with Henrry Hernandez about a loan to carry out the work on the weekend, being February 5 and 6th. According to information from the calls and the location from phone antenna, on February 5, coincidentally, Henrry Hernandez and Douglas Bustillo were located in La Esperanza at 18:39. On this same day, Bustillo looks for images of Berta Cáceres on the internet, according to his phone, and then at 21:46, according to Shaun Vodde and in chronological order, Castillo wrote Bustillo: “remember accidents at the scene.” Bustillo later responded that the mission had been aborted, that it couldn’t be carried out and that they needed logistics.
Then later, on February 6 in a chronological manner, phone antennas locate Mariano Diaz and Bustillo in Comayagua [a city 1.5 hours north of Tegucigalpa], after they left La Esperanza. The fact that Bustillo told Castillo that he would wait for what Castillo says and that he doesn’t have the logistics, shows that there wasn’t a working relationship between them. There is a relationship between Henrry Hernandez, Mariano Diaz and Bustillo with Castillo. Through phone taps and phone towers, it was shown that Henrry Hernandez was close to Berta Cáceres’s home the night of the murder and participated in it. Through phone taps of conversations between Henrry Hernandez and Mariano Diaz and Bustillo and Castillo, as well as the locations of Henrry Hernandez and Bustillo, in an isolated manner, are not proof that a crime was committed, but looking at them together and linking one with previous events, show the plan to murder Berta Cáceres.
Castillo’s involvement and coordination is shown through his messages to Bustillo: “take care of accidents at the scene.” and then Bustillo, who was the leader of the operation, in other conversations, discussed budget, logistical means, which coincide with discussion of money on February 5 in conversations between Henrry Hernandez and Mariano Diaz Chavez. In these conversations, they discuss “Douglas told me that it was 50 more and 50 for him.” We should be clear that this is proof - it’s a conversation between two co-participants, nevertheless, the court could not find support that the offered money, came from David Castillo.
Regarding Berta Cáceres’s murder on March 2, 2016, the communication between Bustillo, Hernandez, and other actors, are the same actors that Castillo coordinated with in February 2016. The intention was to carry out the crime on February 5 until it was achieved. After the murder in the early hours of March 3, Bustillo was in touch again with Castillo. This eliminates the possibility that Bustillo was working alone and shows that he was working with DESA and Castillo.
On February 20, there were opposition actions against the project.
Following those events on February 20, there was communication between Bustillo and Castillo.
Another aspect that isn’t essential, but it shows a typical pattern of participation - Berta Cáceres led opposition against DESA and Castillo was part of DESA’s management. As we said and as indicated during the trial, Berta Cáceres is an environmentalist and as a result, received threats. The arguments of the defense were not supported especially because people linked to DESA were located in El Líbano on the day of the murder. And conversations showed how the murder was coordinated and how people went into Cáceres’s home to commit the crime. Castillo is linked to the murder through his conversations with Bustillo. The defense’s arguments were not supported.
The Verdict
The murder of Berta Cáceres was committed by people linked to DESA as a consequence of the actions Berta carried out with COPINH and against the construction of the Agua Zarca dam in defense of natural resources and the Gualcarque river. This national jurisdiction court is convinced that the presented evidence is sufficient, and not contradictory, and shows that Castillo was a co-author of the crime of murder. He contributed actions to carrying it out. According to Article 25, Castillo acted as co-author and his participation met the different actions [outlining the role of a co-author according to Honduran law] including his behaviour, working with others, and sharing responsibility for the crime.
The court unanimously rules: 1. To convict David Castilllo of the crime of murder causing Berta Cáceres’s death, 2. Declare without merit the motions (nulidades) presented by the defense, 3. That the discussion and elaboration of the contested evidence be referred to in the final sentence, 4. As a result of his conviction, Castillo will continue in pre-trial detention.
The date of the individualization or discussion of the penalty is scheduled for August 3, 2021 at 1:30 pm.