Amnesty International Report 1997 - Honduras

Further steps were taken to bring to justice those responsible for some past human rights violations, although there was little progress in other cases. Human rights activists continued to be subjected to intimidation, including death threats and bomb attacks. There were reports of torture and ill-treatment. At least five people were killed in circumstances suggesting extrajudicial execution. A series of bomb attacks throughout the year against the judiciary, government buildings and President Carlos Roberto Reina, was linked by the National Human Rights Commissioner to human rights violations under investigation in the courts. In December, Congress approved the transfer of the Public Security Force (FSP) to civilian control (see Amnesty International Report 1994). In July, Honduras ratified the Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons and in December it acceded to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In June, 13 army and police officers were charged in connection with the "disappearance" and killing of Adán Avilés Fúnez and Amado Espinoza Paz in Choluteca in 1982. One of the accused gave himself up to the authorities but was later provisionally released pending trial. The other 12 went into hiding. At the end of the year judicial proceedings were continuing. The remains of Adán Avilés Fúnez and Amado Espinoza Paz had been exhumed and identified in Choluteca in November 1995. At least three of the 13 officers had been charged in 1995 in connection with the temporary "disappearance" of six students in 1982 (see Amnesty International Report 1996). Two military officers sentenced for the rape and killing of Riccy Mabel Martínez (see Amnesty International Report 1992) had their sentences revoked by the Appeals Court. Following a lengthy judicial process, the Court found that the guilt of the convicted military officers could not be proved. The case was pending judicial review by the Second Criminal Court at the end of the year. On 5 January, the First Appeals Court ruled that military and police officers charged with past human rights violations should benefit from an amnesty law passed in 1991 (see Amnesty International Report 1992). However, on 19 January, the Supreme Court of Justice overturned that decision, leaving the way open for the case against the 13 officers to proceed. In July, the Supreme Court ruled that military officers charged with human rights violations could remain in preventive detention in military barracks instead of civilian detention establishments. There was little progress in other cases against military officers involved in human rights violations. Investigations continued into the "disappearance" in 1982 of lawyer Nelson Mackay Chavarría, whose remains were exhumed in December 1994 (see Amnesty International Report 1995). In January, arrest warrants were issued against high-ranking military officials in connection with his "disappearance" and death. At least one of those involved was also charged in connection with the "disappearance" and killing of two people in Choluteca and the temporary "disappearance" of six students in 1982. None of those charged had been detained by the end of the year. In November, the remains of two people were exhumed in southern Honduras. The exhumations were initiated by the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights and the Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH), Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras, a non-governmental human rights organization. Definitive identifications were pending at the end of the year. The remains of at least three other victims exhumed during 1995 were awaiting definitive identification at the end of the year. Relatives of the "disappeared" and other human rights activists were subjected to intimidation. Members of the non-governmental Comité para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos en Honduras (CODEH), Committee for the Defence of Human Rights in Honduras, and of COFADEH, as well as staff in the office of the National Human Rights Commissioner, received death threats throughout the year. In March, two Public Ministry prosecutors were threatened with death by a member of the FSP under investigation for murder. During July, Leo Valladares Lanza, National Human Rights Commissioner, received a series of death threats. In October, following allegations by Dr Ramón Custodio, President of CODEH, that people responsible for a bombing campaign were connected to the military, bombs exploded in two clinical laboratories owned by him. In February and October, the government threatened to cancel the legal status of the Casa Alianza Honduras, Covenant House of Honduras, a non-governmental organization working with street children in the capital, Tegucigalpa, and campaigning for children to be held separately from adults in Honduran prisons. There were reports of torture and ill-treatment. At least 26 prisoners were tortured or ill-treated by prison guards. In January, four members of the FSP raided a house in San Pedro Sula and reportedly beat and raped a 14-year-old girl in front of her relatives, who were threatened with death if they reported the abuses. No investigation was known to have been carried out by the end of the year. During June and July, at least five former members of the disbanded Dirección Nacional de Investigaciones (DNI), the investigative branch of the FSP, were killed in circumstances suggesting extrajudicial execution. One of the victims, René Orellana, had been due to give evidence before a court in Choluteca about a murder reportedly carried out by members of the DNI in 1994. He was shot dead in June. Information came to light about the "disappearance" in October 1995 of Dixie Miguel Urbina Rosales in Tegucigalpa, following his detention by members of the FSP. Despite repeated appeals to the authorities by human rights organizations and his relatives to investigate his whereabouts, at the end of the year Dixie Urbina remained "disappeared". Amnesty International issued a report in March, Honduras: Continued struggle against impunity, describing developments which took place during the second half of 1995, including the exhumations initiated by human rights organizations and the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights, and judicial proceedings against military personnel. Amnesty International called on the government to support judicial proceedings against those charged in cases of past human rights violations. Amnesty International appealed to the authorities to take measures to guarantee the safety of human rights defenders and of members of the judiciary and governmental agencies involved in clarifying cases of human rights violations; to investigate all cases of harassment and death threats against them, and to bring those responsible to justice. In February and October, the organization called on the government to ensure the necessary conditions for the Casa Alianza Honduras to continue their activities without impediment.