Dina MEZA
Image Credir: Daniel Cima for CIDH/Wikkicommons
Journalist, human rights defender, and founding member of PEN Honduras Dina Meza faced continuing harassment during the year. Meza’s security situation remained a serious concern (see Case Lists 2017-2025.)
Dina Meza told PEN International that she received stigmatising messages and was subjected to harassment in the context of the November 2025 elections, including the denial of accreditation before the National Electoral Council. She also faced restrictions on her reporting at the National Congress, where she was placed under surveillance and instructed not to give statements to the press.
In December 2025, Meza was further subjected to online gender-based harassment and stigmatising attacks on social media, particularly on Facebook. The fresh round of harassment reportedly began shortly after Meza — together with human rights defender Jorge Jiménez — filed a formal complaint on 17 December 2025, accusing the Chief of the Armed Forces, Roosevelt Hernández, of intimidation, indirect threats, stigmatisation, and violations of freedom of expression against journalist Renato Álvarez.
Following the filing of the complaint, Meza reportedly received numerous hostile and stigmatising messages, including gender-based insults and accusations, aimed at discrediting her work and professional credibility as a journalist and human rights defender.
Meza (1963) runs and writes for the website pasosdeanimalgrande.com. She is the author of the Honduras chapter in Vamos a portarnos mal: protesta social y libertad de expression en América Latina (Let’s misbehave: social protest and freedom of expression in Latin America) (2011) and Kidnapped: Censorship in Honduras (2015). She is the recipient of the 2007 Amnesty International UK’s Special Award for Human Rights Journalism Under Threat; the 2014 Oxfam Novib/PEN International Freedom of Expression Award; the 2016 Premio Letras in Periodismo y Derechos Humanos at Festival de Cine y Derechos Humanos de Barcelona; and the 2020 Sir Henry Brooke Award for Human Rights Defenders. In April 2025, Dina Meza received the San Oscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez Award from the Central American Parliament. She is an Honorary Member of PEN Català.