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Honduras Submission to the United Nations Human Rights Committee HONDURAS SUBMISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE 120TH SESSION, 3-27 JULY 2017 Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. © Amnesty International 2017 Except where otherwise noted, content in this document is licensed under a Creative Commons (attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives, international 4.0) licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode For more information please visit the permissions page on our website: www.amnesty.org Where material is attributed to a copyright owner other than Amnesty International this material is not subject to the Creative Commons licence. First published in 2017 by Amnesty International Ltd Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW, UK Index: AMR 37/6417/2017 Original language: English a mnesty.org CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 4 2. RIGHT TO LIFE AND SECURITY OF PERSON AND PROHOBITION OF TORTURE AND CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (ARTS. 2, 6, 7, 9 AND 24, LOI PARAS. 8 AND 9) 5 2.1 RIGHT TO LIFE AND SECURITY OF PERSON 5 2.2 GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (ARTS. 3, 6 AND 7, LOI, PARA 7) 7 2.3 SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS (ARTS. 6, 7- LOI PARA. 9) 8 3. RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY (ARTS. 9, 19, 21, 22 AND 25, LOI PARA. 20) 9 1. INTRODUCTION Amnesty International submits this document to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (the Committee) ahead of its review of Honduras’ second periodic report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Covenant). The submission highlights Amnesty International’s concerns in relation to a number of questions on the Committee’s List of Issues with specific focus on violence against women, right to life, the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (other ill-treatment), sexual and reproductive rights, the right to privacy, freedom of expression and opinion and freedom of assembly and association. HONDURAS SUBMISSION TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE Amnesty International 4 2. RIGHT TO LIFE AND SECURITY OF PERSON AND PROHOBITION OF TORTURE AND CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (ARTS. 2, 6, 7, 9 AND 24, LOI PARAS. 8 AND 9) 2.1 RIGHT TO LIFE AND SECURITY OF PERSON Although homicide rates have declined over the last few years,1 insecurity and violence continue to be major concerns in Honduras. In addition, the level of impunity is alarming and represents one of the determinant factors in the upward spiral of continued violence. Widespread impunity also undermines public trust in local authorities and the justice system.2 Young people are particularly affected by violence. From January to September 2016, 1905 persons aged between 15 and 29 were killed.3 The vast majority of victims is male.4 Young men 1 Police Statistic System (SEPOL). Available at https://www.sepol.hn/artisistem/images/sepol- images/files/Estadistica%20cantidad%20Abril%202017.xlsx.pdf ; see also Annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of his office in Honduras A/HRC/34/3/Add.2, February 2017, para 10. Available at http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/34/3/Add.2 2 Annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of his office in Honduras A/HRC/34/3/Add.2, February 2017, para 15-16. Available at http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/34/3/Add.2 See also Preliminary Observations on the official visit to Honduras by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, 23 to 27 May 2016, available at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20030&LangID=E#sthash.4U3hOqjA.dpuf para. 3; and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report on the situation of Human Rights in Honduras, 2015, para 263. Available at www.oas.org/en/iachr/reports/pdfs/Honduras-en-2015.pdf 3 UNAH – IUDPAS. Observatory on violence p.3, 4, Graphic 4. Available at http://www.iudpas.org/pdf/Boletines/Nacional/NEd43EneSep2016.pdf ; See also Amnesty International, Home Sweet Home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s role in deepening refugee crisis (AMR 01/4865/2016) page 17. 4 UNAH – IUDPAS. Observatory on violence p.3, 4, Graphic 4. Available at http://www.iudpas.org/pdf/Boletines/Nacional/NEd43EneSep2016.pdf ; See also Amnesty International, Home Sweet Home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s role in deepening refugee crisis, page 17. HONDURAS SUBMISSION TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE Amnesty International 5 and boys are being forcibly recruited by gangs; and those who refuse are at risk of violent retaliation.5 As mentioned below, women and LGBTI people are also particularly subjected to different forms of violence.6 Amnesty International’s research shows that violence is a key push factor of migration from Honduras, where levels of violence and an increase in the amount of territory controlled by gangs affect the enjoyment by people of their rights to life, physical integrity, education and free movement.7 As a consequence of the lack of protection and access to justice, many Hondurans have no choice but to flee the country to save their lives. The number of asylum applications from Hondurans worldwide has increased over the last years.8 Between 2013 and 2015, asylum applications received in Mexico rose by 187 %.9 The surge in asylum applications by Hondurans and of unaccompanied Honduran minors arriving at the United States southern border until the beginning of fiscal year 201710 also reflects the increasing number of people fleeing the country and seeking protection. Of the nearly 69,000 unaccompanied children apprehended at the US border in 2014, 34,495 were from Honduras.11 In a statement of April 2016, UNHCR considered the situation in the Northern Triangle of Central America (comprised by Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) to be a protection crisis: “We are particularly concerned about the rising numbers of unaccompanied children and women on the run who face forced recruitment into criminal gangs, sexual and gender-based violence and murder”.12 The magnitude of people deported back to Honduras13 and information received by Amnesty suggest that people fleeing violence do not always receive adequate international protection in Mexico and the United States, and are even exposed to violations of the principle of non- refoulement. Despite some efforts to improve the immediate reception and welcome process for deportees, Amnesty International has seen that this support ends the moment the deportees leave the reception centres, and most of them are sent back to the same conditions they had initially fled, leaving many of them exposed to serious risks to their life and personal integrity.14 Anecdotal information gathered by the organization and news coverage suggest that new episodes of violence, including murder of deported migrants, are not uncommon. 5 Amnesty International, Home Sweet Home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s role in deepening refugee crisis, page 17. 6 Annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of his office in Honduras A/HRC/34/3/Add.2, February 2017, para 4 y 10. Available at https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G17/029/29/PDF/G1702929.pdf / http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/dpage_e.aspx?si=A/HRC/34/3/Add.2 7 Amnesty International, Home Sweet Home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s role in deepening refugee crisis (AMR 01/4865/2016), October 14, 2016. Available at https://www.amnesty.org/es/documents/amr01/4865/2016/en/ ; see also Doctors without Borders, Forced to Flee Central America’s Northern Triangle A neglected humanitarian crisis, 2017, pages 10-11. Available at http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/report-forced-flee-central-americas-northern-triangle-neglected- humanitarian-crisis 8 According to UNHCR available statistic data, asylum applications from Hondurans worldwide increased by 106% between 2014 and 2015, to reach a total of 16,473. UNHCR, Population Statistics, Asylum-Seekers, available at popstats.unhcr.org/en/asylum seekers . See also Amnesty International, Home Sweet Home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s role in deepening refugee crisis, page 25. 9 Own calculation from data published by the Mexican Commission for Refugees (COMAR) Available at: http://www.comar.gob.mx/work/models/COMAR/Resource/267/6/images/ESTADISTICAS_2013_A_04-2016_act.pdf 10 Although the figures from February 2017 onwards show an overall drop of apprehensions at the US border, Amnesty International considers it is too early to point to definitive reasons for these changes in flows. In addition, experts have noted that each time the government adopts new immigration enforcement measures the numbers fall, only to rebound, in some cases higher than before. See quote from Faye Hipsman, a policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, D.C http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-border-apprehensions-20170309-story.html 11 US Customs and Border Protection, Southwest Border Unaccompanied Alien Children FY 2014, available at www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-border-unaccompanied-children/fy-2014 12 Northern Triangle refers to the Central American governments of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR calls for urgent action as Central America asylum claims soar, 5 April 2016, available at www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2016/4/5703ab396/unhcr-calls-urgent-action-central-america-asylum-claims-soar.html See also Doctors without Borders, Forced to Flee Central America’s Northern Triangle A neglected humanitarian crisis, 2017.
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