{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/reaction-of-senator-patrick-leahy-to-the-report-of-the-independent-team-of-experts-investigating-the-assassination-of-berta-caceres-in-honduras", "Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To The Report Of The Independent Team Of Experts Investigating The Assassination Of Berta Caceres In Honduras", "2017-10-31", "2017", "2017-10", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "10.31.17\n\t\t\t Reaction Of Senator Patrick Leahy To The Report Of The Independent Team Of Experts Investigating The Assassination Of Berta Caceres In Honduras \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\u201cThis damning report corroborates what many have suspected -- that the investigation of Berta Caceres\u2019 murder has been plagued by incompetence, attempts to stonewall and deflect blame to protect those who conceived of and paid for this plot, and a glaring lack of political will.\u00a0 The Public Ministry needs to fully disclose, without further delay, all testimony and electronic and ballistics evidence to the Caceres family\u2019s legal representatives and defendants\u2019 lawyers, as required by law.\u00a0 The Ministry also needs to ensure that every piece of evidence is properly safeguarded, and to follow the evidence wherever it leads to arrest those responsible.\r\n\u201cIt is shameful that despite intense domestic and international pressure, this horrific case has languished, while those responsible have sought to derail it.\u00a0 And there are hundreds of other Honduran social activists and journalists who have been similarly threatened and killed, whose cases have not even prompted investigations.\r\n\u201cAny hope that the Honduran Government may have of continued U.S. assistance under the Alliance for Prosperity Plan will hinge, in part, on the outcome of the Caceres case, acceptance of the legitimate role of civil society and the independent press, and top-to-bottom reform of the judicial system.\u201d\r\n# # # # #\r\n   [Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of its Subcommittee on The State Department and Foreign Operations, has consistently called for justice in the case of indigenous Honduran environmental activist Berta Caceres, who was assassinated in March 2016.]\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tDavid Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/reaction-of-senator-patrick-leahy-to-the-report-of-the-independent-team-of-experts-investigating-the-assassination-of-berta-caceres-in-honduras"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9364930447191, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}