Conard reiterated that “the state of exception is a scene of human rights violations”

Tegucigalpa– The National Human Rights Commissioner (Conadeh) published a series of findings in which it cited serious shortcomings in the implementation of the state of exception, stressing that most detentions were for “minor offences” that did not meet the criteria set out in the executive order.

– The data on the implementation of the first state of exception are reliable: out of 1,348 detentions, 1,284 (95%) were for minor arrests, only 36 (3%) for extortion, and 28 (2%) for association crimes.

The 2023 Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Honduras reveals the lack of a gender perspective in the implementation of regulations and the state of exception, a situation that has led to systematic human rights violations, especially against girls, adolescents and women over 19 years of age.

The State entity warned that the denaturalization of the image of the state of exception implies the emergence of conditions conducive to the excessive use of force and all kinds of attacks on the physical, mental and moral integrity of the population under the jurisdiction of the Honduran State. .

The President of the Honduran National Commission stated that the Honduran State’s failure to adopt comprehensive measures that would help to take violence seriously undermines Honduras’ responsibility to protect, prevent, respect and guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms. Blanca Izaguirre.

Likewise, there are fundamental and worrying gaps in the registration of information, which undermines the State’s international responsibility in the face of possible enforced disappearances and arbitrary or unlawful detentions.

To date, Conadeh has not observed the development of other less restrictive measures or public policies, programs and mechanisms for attention, protection and prevention of violence and the fight against organized crime.

On the contrary, one of the main measures under the Second Phase of the National Security Plan Solution to Combat Crime is the continued suspension of the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, due to the so-called “very good results in the fight against crime. Peace and security in the country’s main cities are seriously disturbed.”

95% were arrested for misdemeanors and 3% for extortion

To monitor the state of exception, Conadeh uses different tools, such as receiving and registering complaints, inspecting detention centers or police posts, and preparing special reports, in which “alarming” situations are identified, the report said, on the effectiveness of the measure.

He recalled that the data on the implementation of the first state of emergency were solid, with 1,284 of the 1,348 detentions (95%) corresponding to arrests for minor offences.

Similarly, of the 1,348 arrests, only 36 (3%) were for extortion and 28 (2%) for illegal association.

Conard argued that the crimes could not be classified as a result of the state of emergency because they did not meet the criteria set out in the executive order.

In his analysis, Conadeh pointed out that most crimes occur for reasons far removed from the purpose of the state of exception, citing as an example that of the 1,284 arrests for criminal acts, 907 (71%) corresponded to “provoking a fight.”

Girls, adolescents and women
Victims of human rights violations

In her latest report, The Invisible Challenge: Gender-Based Violence During States of Emergency, Conadeh analysed 110 complaint reports, identifying the particular experiences of girls, adolescents and women during interventions by public security officers.

The main findings of the report concern the lack of a gender perspective in the normative configuration of executive decrees and the implementation of the state of emergency, which has generated human rights violations.

The analysis showed that 72 of the 110 complaints (65%) stated that girls, women and adolescents had been subjected to verbal, physical or sexual violence, for which Conadeh recalled that the intervention of public security personnel constituted an attack on human dignity.

According to the state entity, such attacks are even more worrisome when the victims are people in a highly vulnerable situation, such as girls, adolescents and women.

On December 3, 2022, the Government of the Republic of Honduras adopted Executive Decree PCM-29-2022, which placed certain geographical areas or sectors of the country in a state of exception where there are higher rates of organized crime.

The measure has been expanded in more than a dozen executive decrees, extending its jurisdiction to more than 150 of the country’s 298 municipalities. JS