Pretrial Detention: Judicial inefficiency, corruption, and insufficient resources delayed proceedings in the criminal justice system, and lengthy pretrial detention was a serious problem. The long-term history of gangs in Honduras can be traced all the way back to the fall of the Spanish Empire in the mid 1800s. Exclusive: How South Dakota spent $14 billion of pandemic relief The Autonomous University of Honduras Violence Observatory reported 13 arbitrary or unlawful killings by security forces during the year. Administrative penalties were insufficient to deter violations and were rarely enforced. There is also a Human Rights Committee in the National Congress. Josue Alvarado allegedly shot Marvin Alvarado after a heated discussion over Marvin Alvarados failure to wear a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no reports of this law being used to limit womens employment. By law the STSS may fine companies that violate the right to freedom of association. The law prohibits all forms of forced labor, but the government did not effectively implement or enforce the law. For years, street gangs have charged protection . Following months of negotiation, the government and the OAS did not reach an agreement to maintain the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH), and its mandate expired in January. The national curfew and shutdown of government offices in response to COVID-19 severely hampered government efforts to address abuses during most of the year. Under the national emergency and corresponding curfew, the government suspended the constitutional right to peaceful assembly. is a specialized agency of the United Nations that promotes the development of international air navigation safety and security . These deaths included several in San Pedro Sula and La Ceiba involving U.S. citizens murdered shortly after arriving in the country. Below this are an appeals court, first instance trial courts for criminal and civil cases, and municipal and district-level justices of the peace. The bloodiest municipalities are located in Francisco Morazan, San Pedro Sula, Choloma, El Progreso, and La Ceiba. Coercion in Population Control: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities. While there were cases where a worker was reinstated, such as the reinstatement of a union leader in Tegucigalpa following his unlawful dismissal, the reinstatement process in the courts was unduly long, lasting from six months to more than five years. In Honduras, the types of danger include, but are not limited to, violent gang activity, trafficking, rape, street crime and armed robbery. It was unclear how many of these threats were related to the victims professions or activism. Honduras 2020 OSAC Crime & Safety Report - DocsLib The accused has the right to an initial hearing before a judge, to ask for bail, consult with legal counsel in a timely manner, have a lawyer provided by the state if necessary, and request an appeal. Honduras's peak of violent crime was in 2012, where the country experienced about 20 homicides per day, typically carried out by gun-toting gangs such as Barrio 18 or Mara Salvatrucha. Latest News Profile Criminal Actors Investigations News The law does not permit active members of the military or civilian security forces to vote. The government had a nascent system to provide protection to refugees. In the 2013 census, approximately 8.5 percent of the population identified themselves as members of indigenous communities, but other estimates were higher. Credible allegations of corruption in the Secretariat of Labor continued. The law does not protect domestic workers effectively. Participation of Women and Members of Minority Groups: No laws limit the participation of women or members of minority groups in the political process, and they did participate. During 2021, a total of 342 femicides were recorded in Honduras. Honduras was the fourth source country in the world of new asylum applications from January to June 2021 with 33,900 applications (30,100 in the same period in 2020), according to UNHCR s Mid . Civil society continued to raise problems with minimum wage violations, highlighting agricultural companies in the south as frequent violators. The STSS has the power to declare a work stoppage illegal, and employers may discipline employees consistent with their internal regulations, including by firing strikers, if the STSS rules that a work stoppage is illegal. Prison conditions were harsh and sometimes life-threatening due to pervasive gang-related violence and the governments failure to control criminal activity within the prisons. The council presented 11 reports in a series called, Corruption in the Times of COVID-19. International Child Abductions: The country is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Mental health professionals expressed concern about social stigma by families and communities against persons with mental disabilities and a lack of access to mental health care throughout the country. Discrimination: Although the law accords women and men the same legal rights and status, including property rights in divorce cases, many women did not fully enjoy such rights. Women and girls may face criminal penalties after having miscarriages or abortions, and NGOs reported some women delayed or avoided seeking necessary medical care for fear of being arrested. Honduras Honduras, long one of the poorest countries in Latin America, is now also among the most violent and crime-ridden. The Organization of American States (OAS) and EU observer teams agreed the margin of victory separating incumbent president Hernandez from challenger Salvador Nasralla was extremely narrow. On average, children living in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador are 10 times more likely to be killed than a child who lives in the United States. Home. Respect for Civil Liberties, Including: a. 4 Defenders of the land, territory and environment continued to face unfounded criminal charges. The law allows the release of other suspects pending formal charges, on the condition that they periodically report to authorities, although management of this reporting mechanism was often weak. "They came up on me with a loaded 9mm gun with an extended clip, at least 40 bullets or so," a Houston homeowner, who wished to remain anonymous, told FOX 26 . Political Parties and Political Participation: Civil society and opposition parties accused officials of using government resources to attract voters. Daniel Jackson - Chief Operating Officer - LinkedIn Honduras: number of femicides by month 2021 | Statista More than half of the population lives in poverty and per capita income is one of the lowest in the region. The . PDF Inter-american Commission on Human Rights - Oas The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content, and there were no credible reports that the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority. The STSS may levy a fine against companies that fail to pay social security obligations, but the amount was not sufficient to deter violations. Transgender women were particularly vulnerable to employment and education discrimination; many could find employment only as sex workers, increasing their vulnerability to violence and extortion. The PBI reported an incident on April 23 near Tela, Atlantida Department, involving the alleged use of live rounds by police in response to a protest, injuring two individuals. Child, Early, and Forced Marriage: The minimum legal age of marriage for both boys and girls is 18. As of December 2020, internally displaced people in Honduras represented almost 80 percent of the internally displaced population in Central America and Mexico. Campbell was an LGBTI activist and member of the Rainbow Dolls, an organization that fought violence and discrimination against members of the LGBTI community. The law establishes an independent and impartial judiciary in civil matters, including access to a court to seek damages for human rights violations. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will lose reelection bid, CNN projects, as Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) - United States Department of The combined homicide rate per 100 thousand population remains low, with steep declines in some countries and remaining stable in others. This force is composed of active members of the army and national police. Police arrested Ramon David Zelaya Hernandez on July 4 and Edward David Zalavarria Galeas on July 6 as the two main suspects in the killings. The government took steps to address corruption at high levels in government agencies, including arresting and charging members of congress, judges, prosecutors, sitting and former senior officials, mayors and other local authorities, and police officers. The appeals court would have to rule on the motion before the trial could move forward. Forced labor occurred in street vending, domestic service, the transport of drugs and other illicit goods, other criminal activity, and the informal sector. Public-sector unions expressed concern about some officials refusing to honor bargaining agreements and firing union leaders. Under the Regional Integral Framework for Protection and Solutions, with significant support from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the government continued to build capacity to provide services to key population groups, including IDPs, those at risk of forced displacement, refugees, and returned migrants, through 14 commitments and 28 specific actions between 2018 and 2020. Impunity, however, remained a serious problem, with significant delays in some prosecutions and sources alleging corruption in judicial proceedings. Bernardez was a leader in the Punta Piedra community. The law requires that persons with disabilities have access to buildings, but few buildings were accessible, and the national government did not effectively implement laws or programs to provide such access. The National Interinstitutional Security Force is an interagency command that coordinates the overlapping responsibilities of the national police, military police of public order, National Intelligence Directorate, and Public Ministry during interagency operations. 2020 election interference: Trump seeks to block Pence's grand jury Authorities did not generally segregate those with tuberculosis or other infectious diseases from the general prison population; as of September the INP reported 153 prisoners were being treated for tuberculosis. The law prohibits workers from legally striking until after they have attempted and failed to come to agreement with their employer, and it requires workers and employers to participate in a mediation and conciliation process.