AP Photo: Fernando Antonio CRIMEA NEW AND TEMPLATE INSECURITY FOR FUTURE IN HONDURAS WOLA EvaluatingREPORTS State Capacity to Reduce Violence andSubtitle Combat Organized Crime JUNEBy Kaleena 2020 Porter | SERIES and Loren 1 Riesenfeld MONTH 201x | SERIES X TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 4 KEY FINDINGS 6 CRIME AND INSECURITY IN HONDURAS: EVALUATING STATE CAPACITY TO 8 REDUCE VIOLENCE AND COMBAT ORGANIZED CRIME Policies addressing violence and organized crime 11 Laws and regulations on gender violence 16 TOOLS ADOPTED TO COMBAT ORGANIZED CRIME 18 STATE CAPACITY 25 Public Prosecutor’s Office 25 Judicial Branch 29 National Police 31 EFFECTIVENESS IN COMBATTING VIOLENCE AND ORGANIZED CRIME 33 Public Prosecutor’s Office 33 Judicial Branch 37 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS 45 NOTES 47 CRIME AND INSECURITY IN HONDURAS JUNE 2020 | 3 INTRODUCTION In the last decade, the problem of insecurity THE CENTRAL AMERICA MONITOR and impunity has deeply affected the people of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, The Central America Monitor is based on the making this region (known as the Northern premise that accurate, objective, and complete Triangle of Central America) one of the most data and information are necessary to reduce violent in the world. High levels of violence, the high levels of violence and insecurity, and corruption, and impunity have eroded the establish rule of law and governance in a capacity of the states to develop accessible democratic state. This will allow efforts to move and efficient institutions, and address the beyond abstract discussions of reform to specific needs of their populations. measures of change. The absence of effective responses has The Monitor is based on a series of more than weakened citizens’ confidence in state 100 quantitative and qualitative indicators that institutions, leading to an alarming number allow a more profound level of analysis of the of people who have been internally displaced successes or setbacks made in eight key areas or forced to migrate to other countries to in each of the three countries.1 More than escape the violence and lack of economic a comprehensive list, the indicators seek to opportunities. identify a way to examine and assess the level of progress of the three countries in strengthening Against this backdrop, the Washington the rule of law and democratic institutions. The Office on Latin America (WOLA), the indicators seek to identify the main challenges University Institute for Public Opinion in each of the selected areas and examine how (Iudop) of the José Simeón Cañas Central institutions are (or are not) being strengthened American University (UCA) of El Salvador, over time. The Monitor uses information from the University Institute on Democracy, different sources, including official documents Peace and Security (IUDPAS) of Honduras, and statistics, surveys, interviews, information and the Myrna Mack Foundation (FMM) from emblematic cases, and analysis of existing of Guatemala have developed a tool for laws and regulations. monitoring and evaluating the policies and strategies currently being implemented in The indicators were developed over several Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador to months in a process that included an reduce insecurity and violence, strengthen extensive review of international standards the rule of law, improve transparency and and consultation with experts. The eight areas accountability, protect human rights, and analyzed by the Monitor include: fight corruption. This initiative has been 1. Strengthening the capacity of the justice made possible thanks to the support of the system; Latin America Division of the Swiss Agency 2. Cooperation with anti-impunity commissions; for Development and Cooperation, the 3. Combatting corruption; Tinker Foundation, the Seattle International 4. Tackling violence and organized crime; Foundation (SIF), and the Moriah Fund. 5. Strengthening civilian police forces; CRIME AND INSECURITY IN HONDURAS JUNE 2020 | 4 6. Limiting the role of the armed forces in ABOUT THE RESEARCH FOR THIS public security activities; REPORT 7. Protecting human rights; 8. Improving transparency. Researchers gathered research through formal requests for information submitted to public The Monitor reports are published by area information units in government agencies and by country. The first series of reports analyzed in this report. Research was also will serve as the baseline for subsequent collected by consulting reports published by analysis, which will be updated annually. Each domestic and international organizations that annual series of reports will be analyzed in assess issues related to policies and strategies comparison with reports from the previous designed to combat organized crime. Researchers year. This allows researchers, civil society also conducted some expert interviews for more organizations, and other actors to assess the in-depth and specific information on advances level of progress in strengthening the rule of and challenges on these issues. law and reducing insecurity. After compiling and reviewing information for The first round of Monitor reports will each indicator, we developed a comprehensive primarily focus on data sets from an baseline analysis on reducing violence and approximate 4-year time period, 2014 combatting organized crime for the 2014- to 2017, in order to provide a snapshot of 2017 time period. Each year, we will collect Central America’s institutions. information on these same indicators to allow for comparative analysis over time. The main The Monitor will serve as a tool for points of our research and synthesized in key searchable, easy-to-comprehend data, findings in the following pages. delineating trends, progress, patterns, and gaps within and between the three countries It is important to note that government of the Northern Triangle. The data, graphics, institutions did not fully comply with requests charts, and reports will be available on the for public information. Some institutions did not Monitor’s website. release the information we requested, while we were unable to collect complete information This report of the Central America for some indicators, factors which affect our Monitor aims to define a baseline for the analysis and indicators. indicators related to reducing violence and combatting organized crime in Honduras. CRIME AND INSECURITY IN HONDURAS JUNE 2020 | 5 KEY FINDINGS • Violence and the proliferation of organized crime are two of the main problems in Honduras. Together, these issues have destabilized the social fabric of the country, undermining socioeconomic development and eroding the rule of law. They have also tested the government’s capacity to address these problems. • Violence against women is an area that is highly illustrative of the breadth of violence and the scope of organized crime in Honduras. In 2013, Honduras had the highest rate of violent deaths of women in the world. Although the trend has decreased as of 2014, 1,860 women were murdered between 2014 and 2017, an average of 10.4 deaths for every 100,000 female inhabitants, with one woman murdered every 18 hours. • In recent decades, there have been various legal advances to promote the prevention, detection, and punishment of violence and organized crime. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2017, more security laws were passed than in the first 23 years since the return to constitutional order in 1982. Among these were measures enacted to combat organized crime such as wiretapping, monitoring of shipments, and the use of undercover agents. However, the refusal to adopt the Effective Collaborator Act Ley( de Colaboración Eficaz), a law that facilitates organized crime and corruption probes, and the lack of political will towards strengthening the witness protection system, are contradictory to those measures. • The organized crime-related laws approved since 2010 are notable for their reactive and militaristic character, emphasizing a concentration of power in the executive branch over the legislative and judicial branches. In addition, these laws are accompanied by restrictions on access to public information—altogether, this reflects a general prioritization of Honduras’s security and defense sectors over the justice system. To cite one example, of the 10.56 billion lempiras (US$422 million) collected between 2014 and 2017 through a national security tax, 45 percent went to the Ministry of Security, 41 percent to the Ministry of Defense, 6 percent to the Public Prosecutor's Office, 5 percent in prevention projects, and 3 percent to the Judiciary. • Although it is outside the period of study for this report, it is worth noting that the reduction of penalties for violent crimes against women included in the new Criminal Code (adopted in 2018) sends a contradictory message from the government in its fight against violence and gender inequality. • According to a public opinion survey conducted by IUDPAS in 2014, 72 percent of Hondurans interviewed do not have confidence in the National Police, 77 percent distrust the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and 77 percent distrust the Judiciary. • In 2017, a new organizational structure for the National Police came into effect.The changes, which were approved in 2016, kept the Secretary of Security at the head of the institution and created six special units to deal with violence and crime. • Although between 2014 and 2017, the total number of investigative personnel within CRIME AND INSECURITY IN HONDURAS JUNE 2020 | 6 the National Police grew by 37 percent,