The Association of Pastors of Tegucigalpa and Comayagüela (APT) demanded that the Honduran Public Prosecutor’s Office clarify the murders of several evangelical leaders in the country.

In a statement, the organisation reminded the public of the deaths of pastors Yonis Zepeda (murdered in El Corpus, Choluteca), Jeremías Euceda and his son (in Iriona, Colón), Selvín Sabillón (in Petoa, Santa Bárbara), and most recently, Elías Guardado Mejía (from Erandique, Lempira).

According to local media, the association of pastors pointed out that these crimes, like those of more than 30 pastors since 2013, remain unpunished.

“Faced with institutional apathy and negligence, we are today publicly calling for action”, they stressed. “This is not just a statistic, but pastors and leaders who promoted peace, reconciliation and family restoration in areas often hit by violence and addiction”.

Demanding general disarmament of the population

The Association also called for the disarmament of the entire population. They stated that access to firearms, even through legal channels, is one of the causes of the high level of murders in the Central American country.

“We reject the culture of violence fuelled by criminal structures, generational machismo and a state that allows a person to have several registered weapons”, they said.

They also asserted that “pastoral work is not always visible, but it transforms lives. Their death is a loss for the whole country”.

According to media reports, Honduras has an average of five homicides per day, and so far in 2025 alone, more than 100 violent deaths of women and 18 multiple homicides have been reported.