Human rights group Amnesty International says investigators in Honduras have made some major errors in the probe into the murder of an internationally-known environmental activist.  Cops are trying to claim that Berta Carceres was killed in a robbery, which has been rejected by Caceres's friends and family.

Amnesty International's director for the Americas Erika Guevara-Rosas says investigators have not tried to get statements from people identified by 45-year-old Berta Caceres as those who threatened her life because of her opposition to a dam project that would harm indigenous communities.  Ms. Guevara-Rosas also notes that authorities had not agreed to the Caceres' family's request to use independent forensic experts.  The government says the investigation is going ahead with the assistance of the United States (how has the US "helped" Honduras recently?).

Last Thursday, gunmen burst into the home of Caceres in the middle of the night and opened fire, days after her life was threatened for her work to stop a dam project that would hurt indigenous communities.  The activist was killed - but, unknown to the murderers, they left a witness.  Gustavo Castro Soto, coordinator of Friends of the Earth Mexico and director of the NGO Otros Mundos, was shot twice and only survived by playing dead.

Mr. Castro says police altered the scene in the Caceres home.  And when they asked him to identify potential suspects, they showed him surveillance photos taken of marches held by the environmentalist group founded by Caceres - not the the land owners and their cronies who threatened her.

After giving his statement to police, Mr. Castro tried to fly home to Mexico but was stopped at the airport because the Honduran attorney general's office has issued a 30-day immigration alert against him, preventing him from leaving the country.  Otros Mundos and Friends of the Earth Mexico released a statement saying the order was "unjust and unnecessary", because  Castro has "provided sufficient information to prosecutors to clarify the facts of the case (and) has not been informed what procedures remain outstanding".