Freedom in the World 2004 - Honduras

Political Rights: 3
Civil Liberties: 3
Status: Partly Free
Population: 6,900,000
GNI/Capita: $900
Life Expectancy: 71
Religious Groups: Roman Catholic (97 percent), other [including Protestant] (3 percent)
Ethnic Groups: Mestizo (90 percent), Amerindian (7 percent), black (2 percent), white (1 percent)
Capital: Tegucigalpa

Overview

The generalized violence product of gang activity and warfare led to the introduction in 2003 of a draconian law that outlawed gang membership and imposed stiff prison sentences. Crime rates have not been significantly reduced, and human rights organizations continue to be concerned over the constitutionality of the measures. Nevertheless, public support for the crackdown continues.

The Republic of Honduras was established in 1839, 18 years after independence from Spain. It has endured decades of military rule and intermittent elected government, with the last military regime giving way to elected civilian rule in 1982. The 1969 armed conflict between Honduras and El Salvador over land, sometimes known as the "Soccer War," ended with a peace treaty in 1980. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in 1992 that 69 percent of the territory in dispute should go to Honduras; the ICJ ruled in late 2003 against El Salvador's latest appeal.

President Maduro Joest of the center-left National Party of Honduras (PNH) took office on January 27, 2002, after winning the November 2001 elections. He was elected on a "zero tolerance" pledge aimed at ending crime, defeating conservative Liberal Party (PL) candidate Rafael Pineda Ponce by 8 percent of the vote. The elections, which were the sixth held since military rule came to an end, were characterized by international observers as mostly free, fair, and peaceful. On the eve of the election, however, congressional candidate Angel Pacheco, of the PNH, was gunned down outside of his house. Police arrested three employees of the PL, indicating that the crime appeared to be politically motivated.

In November 2002, after being shamed by international publicity over the murder of nearly 1,300 children in four years, the government announced the formation of a special security force, in addition to the 6,000 new police officers already put on the streets. Killers have been identified in less than 40 percent of these cases. Impunity and corruption, much of it official, still characterize the country.

In August 2003, congress unanimously approved a law banning gangs (maras) and stiffening the penalties for membership. Membership in a gang is now punishable by up to 12 years in prison. The law also provides for fines of up to $12,000 for gang leaders. The national commissioner of human rights is questioning the constitutionality of the law. The Ministry of Security has reported that there are 35,000 gang members and 65,000 hangers-on in the country, with 129 gangs active in the capital alone. By September, in "Operation Freedom," 300 people had been arrested under the new law. Although gang violence has escalated and includes apparently random attacks against both civilians and the police, the general public continues to support the crackdown on gangs.

Also in August, former president Carlos Roberto Reina, who defied the military and abolished compulsory military service, committed suicide.

Presidential and congressional elections are scheduled for November 2005, and electioneering has begun, with 14 names proposed for the PL, but none by the PNH.

The after effects of Hurricane Mitch, which devastated the country's economy and infrastructure in 1998, continued to be felt in 2003. About two-thirds of households live in poverty, and 40 percent of the population lives on less than one dollar a day.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Citizens are able to change their government through regularly scheduled elections. The 2001 contest was considered generally free and fair. The constitution provides for a president and a 130-member, unicameral congress elected for four years. Official corruption and the lingering power of the military have dominated the political scene since the return to democracy. Transparency International's 2003 Corruption Perceptions Index identified Honduras as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, with a ranking of 106 out of 133 countries.

Authorities generally respect constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and of the press. There are, however, important exceptions, including credible reports of repression against journalists. Journalists have admitted to self-censorship when they uncover reports that threaten the political or economic interests of media owners. In 2002, Reporters Sans Frontiers reported that repressive laws restricting the media were still enforced. It cited the case of Sandra Maribel Sanchez, who was arrested and barred from leaving the country after being accused by a former government official, who Sanchez said was corrupt, of spying and also of illegally working as a journalist because she is not registered with the national journalists' institute as the law requires. Sanchez faces 14 years in prison. Newspapers circulate freely, and numerous radio and television stations broadcast freely. There is free access to the Internet.

Freedom of religion is respected. Academic freedom is generally honored.

Constitutional guarantees regarding the right to form political parties and civic organizations are generally respected. Although citizens have the right to freely assemble in groups, repressive measures in the face of peaceful protests and mounting crime have limited political rights and civil liberties. Labor unions are well organized and can strike, although labor actions often result in clashes with security forces. Labor leaders and members of religious groups and indigenous-based peasant unions pressing for land rights remain vulnerable to repression and have been killed.

The judicial system is weak and open to corruption, and due process is generally not available. Death threats and violent attacks continue against judges who take on human rights cases. Prison conditions are deplorable, and prisoners awaiting trial are housed with convicted inmates. A generalized lawlessness has allowed private and vigilante security forces to commit a number of arbitrary and summary executions, including the murder of hundreds of street children. Drug trafficking through Honduras has been on the rise, and drug-related corruption is pervasive.

The police are underfunded, ill-trained, understaffed, and highly corrupt. The military had controlled the police since 1963, but civilian control was reestablished beginning in 1997. In the past, the military has been used for internal security tasks – suppressing labor unrest, quelling street protests, and combating street crime. Extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and torture by the police still take place. Several hundred youth gangs engage in murder, kidnapping, and robbery, as well as drug trafficking. The need to strengthen and professionalize the poorly equipped civilian police is hampered by a lack of public confidence. At the invitation of the government, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary, and Summary Executions visited Honduras in 2001 and noted evidence of 66 minors killed by police and private security forces from January to June of 2001 and the government's negligence in investigating or preventing extrajudicial and summary executions.

The military exerts considerable, if waning, influence over the government. A constitutional amendment established a civilian minister of defense in direct control over the armed forces and replaced the armed forces commander in chief with the chief of the joint staff. Congress also passed the Organic Law of the armed forces to solidify civilian control over the military. The armed forces made public its budget for the first time in 2001. Most criminal cases against the military remained in military court jurisdiction, and charges were usually dismissed. Since 1999, military personnel have no longer been immune from prosecution in civilian courts. Military officers have been found guilty of drug trafficking, including taking sides in cartel turf wars and protecting drug shipments in transit through Honduras.

The government of President Carlos Flores Facusse (1997-2001) had made efforts to give the concerns of indigenous and black peoples in Honduras a more prominent place in the public agenda. The current wave of violent crime has pushed such efforts into the background.

Some 85,000 workers, mostly women, are employed in the low-wage maquiladora (assembly plant) export sector. Child labor is a problem in rural areas and in the informal economy.

Trend Arrow

Honduras received a downward trend arrow due to increased social violence, especially from gangs (maras), and corruption.