There is no statutory rape law, but the penalty for rape of a minor younger than 12 is 15 to 20 years in prison, or nine to 13 years in prison if the victim is 13 or older. In addition, women experienced delays in accessing justice due to police who failed to process complaints in a timely manner or judicial system officials who deferred scheduling hearings. Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining, b. In response to the pervasive violence in the prison system, the government declared an emergency in the National Penitentiary System in December 2019. Some local and international civil society organizations, including students, agricultural workers groups, political parties, and indigenous rights groups, alleged that members of the security forces used excessive force to break up demonstrations. The law allows persons charged with some felonies to avail themselves of bail and gives prisoners the right of prompt access to family members. Penalties for forced labor under antitrafficking law range from 10 to 15 years imprisonment, commensurate with penalties for other analogous serious crimes, such as kidnapping, but authorities often did not enforce them. By comparison, the United States has a global safety ranking of 128. With high rates of impunity, including 90 percent for killings of women in the last 15 years according to the Violence Observatory, civil society groups reported that women often did not report domestic violence, or withdrew the charges, because they feared or were economically dependent on the aggressor. Impunity, however, remained a serious problem, with significant delays in some prosecutions and sources alleging corruption in judicial proceedings. Preliminary data published by the countries in the region comprising Central America and the Dominican Republic shows that there were fewer homicides in 2020 than in 2019. (72 percent of these resulted in a conviction). Of course, while it's not ever good to generalize an. NGOs reported irregularities, including problems with voter rolls, buying and selling of electoral workers credentials, and lack of transparency in campaign financing. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her bid for a second term Tuesday, failing to make a top-two runoff in the latest demonstration of growing concerns about crime in one of the nation's largest . Both suspects were alleged members of a criminal organization involved in drug trafficking. The Supreme Court of Justice cited the presence of MACCIH personnel during Public Ministry investigations, including in the execution of search warrants in violation of the law. It stipulates that a prosecutor has 24 additional hours to decide if there is probable cause for indictment, whereupon a judge has 24 more hours to decide whether to issue a temporary detention order. The government allocated a budget of nearly 12.6 million lempiras ($526,000) for the continued operation of a protection mechanism that included provision of protection to journalists. Pretrial Detention: Judicial inefficiency, corruption, and insufficient resources delayed proceedings in the criminal justice system, and lengthy pretrial detention was a serious problem. The government tasks CONAPREV with visiting prisons and making recommendations for protecting the rights of prisoners. The regional [] Penalties for facilitating child sex trafficking are 10 to 15 years in prison, with substantial fines. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Office of International Religious Freedom, Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of the Science and Technology Adviser, Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, Bureau of Information Resource Management, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Sample Page; ; Sexual Exploitation of Children: The commercial sexual exploitation of children, especially in sex trafficking, remained a problem. During April, the first full month of the curfew, COFADEH reported 11,471 complaints of arbitrary actions by security forces, mainly abusive detentions for curfew violators. Institutions such as the judiciary, Public Ministry, National Police, and Secretariat of Health attempted to enhance their responses to domestic violence, but obstacles included insufficient political will, inadequate budgets, limited or no services in rural areas, absence of or inadequate training and awareness of domestic violence among police and other authorities, and a pattern of male-dominant culture and norms. Many inspectors asked workers to provide them with transportation so that they could conduct inspections, since the STSS could not pay for travel to worksites. The tribunal published its reports on its website and cited the names of public officials who did not comply with the disclosure law. Arbitrary Arrest: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government instituted a national curfew, suspending constitutional provisions and limiting the free movement of individuals. The police will make their situation more difficult. The law establishes prison sentences of up to three years for child abuse. The government investigated and prosecuted many of these crimes, particularly through the national polices Violent Crimes Task Force. Add data for Roatan Consider looking into aggregate data we have for Crime in Honduras Crime 0 120 51.16 Crime rates in Roatan, Honduras Safety in Roatan, Honduras Contributors: 7 Last update: October 2022 These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 3 years. The country was a destination for child sex tourism. This helps keep everyone in poverty. The law mandates that authorities release detainees whose cases have not yet come to trial and whose time in pretrial detention already exceeds the maximum prison sentence for their alleged crime. In many industries, including agriculture, cleaning, and security, employers did not respect maternity rights or pay minimum wage, overtime, or vacation. Honduras 2020 Crime & Security Report this is an annual report produced in collaboration with the Regional Security Office at the U.S. Embassy. The law prohibits all forms of forced labor, but the government did not effectively implement or enforce the law. Deportation, Circular Migration and Organized Crime Honduras Case Study; Download the Publication; Honduras: Information Gathering Mission Report; Violence in Honduras: an Analysis of the Failure in Public Security and the State'S Response to Criminality; Opendocpdf.Pdf; Honduras Elites and Organized Crime; Honduras 2019 Crime & Safety Report Honduras has the highest femicide rate in the Latin American region, with 6.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. There were no reports of such cases during the year, although authorities charged some protesters with sedition. Authorities launched an investigation and made one arrest in connection with the kidnappings in July and five more arrests in September. Occupational safety and health standards were current but not effectively enforced. The law prohibits night work and overtime for minors younger than 18, but the STSS may grant special permission for minors between the ages of 16 to 18 to work in the evening if such employment does not adversely affect their education. Low salaries and a lack of internal controls rendered judicial officials susceptible to bribery, although the Supreme Court significantly raised salaries during the year and made improvements in transparency. The legal process against Roberto David Castillo Mejia, one of the alleged intellectual authors of the killing, continued slowly due to motions and appeals by the defense, and Castillo remained incarcerated. Also see the Department of States Trafficking in Persons Report at https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/. Unions also raised concerns about the use of temporary contracts and part-time employment, suggesting that employers used these mechanisms to prevent unionization and avoid providing full benefits. Section 1. The Autonomous University of Honduras Violence Observatory reported 13 arbitrary or unlawful killings by security forces during the year. Many prisons lacked sufficient security personnel. The law prohibits all of the worst forms of child labor. Corruption and Lack of Transparency in Government, Section 5. Due to pandemic restrictions imposed in March, the STSS was very limited in its ability to conduct inspections. Members of the security forces committed some abuses. 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. osac crime and safety report hondurasmary catherine o'shea daughter of virginia mayo. The law permits strikes by workers in export-processing zones and free zones for companies that provide services to industrial parks, but it requires that strikes not impede the operations of other factories in such parks. Some larger cities have police forces that operate independently of the national police and report to municipal authorities. 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 ight . CONAPREV conducted more than 84 visits to adult prisons as of the end of August. In January 2020, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Honduran government failed to reach an agreement to renew the mandate of the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in . An independent press and a functioning democratic political system combined to promote freedom of expression, including for the press. There was only limited support for persons with mental illnesses or disabilities. Five other cases were under investigation. The country last held national and local elections in November 2017. Specialties: Executive management, negotiations, project approval and feasibility, business development, strategy, project management, quality, audit and risk management, business resilience, corporate governance. Government Human Rights Bodies: A semiautonomous commissioner for human rights, Roberto Herrera Caceres, served as an ombudsman and investigated complaints of human rights abuses. Freedom of Expression, Including for the Press, b. Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association, e. Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons, Section 3. Ethnic minority rights leaders, international NGOs, and farmworker organizations continued to claim the government failed to redress actions taken by security forces, government agencies, and private individuals and businesses to dislodge farmers and indigenous persons from lands over which they claimed ownership based on land reform law or ancestral land titles. ANDERSON An Indiana man suspected of setting fire to an Anderson residence in 2020 is charged with attempted murder and first-degree arson, according to court records. That is 2,607 fewer homicides. Credible observers noted problems in trial procedures, such as a lack of admissible evidence, judicial corruption, widespread public distrust of the legal system, witness intimidation, and an ineffective witness protection program. The law regulates child labor, sets the minimum age for employment at age 14, and regulates the hours and types of work that minors younger than 18 may perform. The law prohibits discrimination based on gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, political opinion or affiliation, marital status, race or national origin, language, nationality, religion, family affiliation, family or economic situation, disability, health, physical appearance, or any other characteristic that would offend the victims human dignity. Although 74 percent of births were attended by skilled health care personnel, NGOs reported that there were significant gaps in obstetric care, especially in rural areas. The law provides that police may make arrests only with a warrant unless: they make the arrest during the commission of a crime, there is strong suspicion that a person has committed a crime and might otherwise evade criminal prosecution, they catch a person in possession of evidence related to a crime, or a prosecutor has ordered the arrest after obtaining a warrant. Corruption: On March 13, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered a new trial for former first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla de Lobo, spouse of former president Porfirio Lobo, who was convicted in August 2019 of fraud and misappropriation of public funds and sentenced to 58 years in prison. On July 18, heavily armed men kidnapped five men from their homes in the town of Triunfo de la Cruz. Nearly two years after passage of a comprehensive labor inspection law in 2017, the STSS released implementing regulations based on extensive consultations with the private sector and unions. Honduras is a constitutional, multiparty republic. Download Historical Data Journalists, environmental activists, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, and people with disabilities are among the groups targeted for violence. Unrelated to the curfew, there were areas where authorities could not assure freedom of movement because of criminal activity and a lack of significant government presence. 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. Regulations for implementing the law remained under development as of September. There were credible complaints that police occasionally failed to obtain the required authorization before entering private homes. As of September the Secretariat of Human Rights reported the countrys three pretrial detention centers held 79 individuals. Honduras recorded 3,496 murders in 2020.
