Julissa Villanueva Barahona

Cases
Location of case in SG report
2020-055-001
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2020
Country Geolocation

Latitude: 15.199999

Longitude: -86.241905

Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
Honduras
From Region
Type of record
Named individual
Gender
Female
Was the victim a foreign national?
No
Was the victim a minor?
No
Individual's/organization's activity

from the Directorate-General of Forensic Medicine; investigation of an alleged murder in the department of Copán in June 2018

Type of rights defended
  • Accountability & impunity
Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
No
Reported trigger of reprisal

Ms. Villanueva has regularly cooperated with the UN in Honduras, including during the 2018 visit of the Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Practice and Law; On 19 August 2019, she engaged with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the interviews of which were publicized in the media

Engagement with UN body
  • UN Special Procedures: thematic
Dates of engagement
2018; 19 August 2019
Type of attempted engagement
  • Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials
Dates of mentioned reprisals
20 November 2019
Reprisal information

On 20 November 2019, following disciplinary action by the Prosecutor’s Office, including written accusations based on her interaction with the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Villanueva was dismissed from the Directorate-General of Forensic Medicine after almost 20 years of service.

Types of reprisals suffered
  • Profession-related reprisal
Alleged/likely perpetrators
State actors
Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
No
Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
No
Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
No
Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
No
Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
No
How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
0