The United Nations and rights groups are calling on Honduras to recover the case files in the murder of environmental activist Berta Caceres, whose shooting death earlier this year caused outrage around the world.

The United Nations office in Honduras is calling on the government "to recover the stolen information and carry out a rapid and efficient independent investigation".  Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General Luis Almagro called the theft a "deplorable act" that could 'obstruct justice".  And the OAS' special Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) is urging Honduran authorities to expedite their investigation of the incident and bring those responsible to justice.

Last week, two unidentified men attacked Honduran Supreme Court of Justice Magistrate Maria Luisa Ramos as she was traveling with the case files.  The gunmen reportedly carjacked Ms. Ramos' vehicle, with the case file inside.  Officials say it was common practice for justices to take work home; that practice has been halted since the theft of the Caceres files.  Supreme Court president Rolando Argueta claims the investigation into Berta's murder will go ahead because his court maintains copies of the stolen documents.

Authorities have arrested six suspects in the murder of Caceres; that includes former soldiers and employees of Desarrollos Energeticos (DESA), the company pushing the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam.  Caceres and the Civil Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) fought teh project because of the destruction it would cause to indigenous community in the valley of the Gualcarque River in western Honduras.  For this, Berta Caceres was awarded the 2015 Goldman Prize for Environmental Activism.

But on 3 March, gunmen burst into her home in La Esperanza and opened fire.  Caceres, aged 45, died; however, the assassins were sloppy and left a witness alive.  Mexican environmentalist was wounded, but conscious.  Gustavo Castro Soto, coordinator of Friends of the Earth Mexico and director of the NGO Otros Mundos, later said that he did not hear any vehicles arrive at the scene in between the shooting and the entrance of police investigators, whom he alleged altered the crime scene. 

That's not the only troubling sign leading some to fear that the Honduran authorities may be deliberately bungling the case.  Caceres' supporters also criticized the slow pace of the investigation.  The sixth suspect wasn't arrested until a month ago. 

And when the case files were stolen last week, Berta's family didn't find out until they happened to turn on the news.  "The family has found out about occurrences of this kind through the press," said human rights attorney Marcia Aguiluz who represented Berta and is continuing to work with her family.  Aguiluz says the theft of the case file "is further evidence of the necessity for an independent, international observer of the process, because this is yet another event that increases distrust in the justice system".