Check this thread; I remembered seeing this when I had my Civic.
https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads...m-sounds.1053/
Could be a wire shorting in the harness, or just some sand stuck near the release that's not allowing the release button to 'pop up' freely.
Edit: Do you have anything in the trunk interfering with the emergency release cable inside the trunk? Or check that it's installed properly and there isn't a weird tension on it?