honduras crime and safety report 2022

Since MACCIH left, the Attorney Generals Office has harassed and intimidated the head of its own anti-corruption criminal enterprise office, Prosecutor Luis Javier Santos, and members of his team. Individuals and organizations may appeal adverse domestic decisions to the Inter-American Human Rights System. The government places specially trained police forces in areas tourists frequent (e.g. On June 17, a riot between alleged members of the 18th Street and MS-13 gangs in the maximum-security prison La Tolva in Moroceli, El Paraiso Department, resulted in five dead and 39 injured. Review OSACs reports, There are an estimated 7,000-10,000 gang members in a country with an approximate population of ten million people. The U.S. Embassy estimates at least 30,000 U.S. citizens reside in Honduras. If a victims physical injuries do not reach the severity required to categorize the violence as a criminal act, the legal penalty for a first offense is a sentence of one to three months of community service. Major urban centers and drug trafficking routes experienced the highest rates of violence. Medical care is limited. Ethnic minority rights leaders, international NGOs, and farmworker organizations claimed the government failed to redress actions taken by security forces, government agencies, 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. Survivors of domestic violence are entitled to certain protective measures, such as removing the abuser from the home and prohibiting the abuser from visiting the victims work or other frequently visited places. Air pollution can aggravate or lead to respiratory problems during the dry season due to widespread forest fires and agricultural burning. Honduras voted in favor of an OAS resolution rejecting Venezuelas December 2020 elections, which have been widely considered fraudulent. The government has also begun implementing a series of police reforms; it has formed groups such as the National Inter-Agency Security Task Force (FUSINA) and the National Anti-Gang Task Force (FNAMP) to combat crime. In 2019, seven others were convicted for carrying out the killing. The document was compiled from various The legal age of consent is 18. Girls and adolescents younger than 19 carry 15 percent of all pregnancies, the Monitoring Mechanism of the Belm do Par Convention reported in 2016. HMCs lab was reviewed by the Regional Medical Laboratory Scientist and found to be up to U.S. standards and quality assurance practices. The government prosecuted some officials who committed abuses, including government corruption, but a weak judicial system and corruption were major obstacles to obtaining convictions. Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights, Section 6. The U.S. Department of State has assessed Tegucigalpa as being a CRITICAL-threat location for crime directed at or affecting official U.S. government interests. The Public Ministry is responsible for prosecuting violations. 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 Please note that all OSAC products are for internal U.S. private sector security purposes only. Share this via LinkedIn After 37 detainees were killed in a 2019 wave of gang violence, President Juan Orlando Hernndez declared a state of emergencyextended to December 2021and put prisons under military control. As of August 5, 174 femicides have been committed in Honduras in 2021 according to the Women's Rights Center, a Honduran nongovernmental organization. Administration: The judicial system is legally responsible for monitoring prison conditions and providing for the rights of prisoners. The current U.S. Department of State Travel Advisory at the date of this reports publication assesses Honduras at Level 3, indicating travelers should reconsider travel due tocrime. Prison conditions were harsh and at times life threatening due to pervasive gang-related violence and the governments failure to control criminal activity within the prisons. 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 due to barriers in access to justice and lack of information regarding legal protections. The court ordered Honduras to train security forces to investigate anti-LGBT violence and to adopt a process allowing people to change the gender listed on their documents to match their identity. Officers filed a report for theft and criminal damage to property at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the 700 block of Denison Avenue in Manhattan. There have been repeated allegations of collusion between security forces and criminal organizations. The IACHR received information on frequent threats of lawsuits and prosecutions, including for slander and libel, hindering human rights work in Honduras. The government had a nascent system to provide legal protection to refugees. There is no information to suggest that criminals specifically target U.S. citizens or foreigners. On October 7, in a special session held during the Francisco Morazan national holiday, the National Congress passed a change to the penal code expanding the definition of encroachment (trespassing) by designating streets and parks as protected spaces and redefining groups of protesters to include as few as two persons. Embassy employees and others have experienced skimming at well-known restaurants, hotels, and retailers. The law requires that persons with disabilities have access to buildings, but few buildings were accessible, and the government did not effectively implement laws or programs to provide such access. Extortion threats commonly originate through social engineering. These efforts were insufficient due to limited political will, inadequate staffing, 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. According to the secretariat, the system was designed for approximately 10,600 inmates. The Linn County Sheriff's Office . Abusers caught in the act may be detained for up to 24 hours as a preventive measure. Nine significant tropical storms/hurricanes since 1995 have affected Honduras. Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes all forms of rape of women or men, including spousal rape. , which requires free prior notice and informed consent from indigenous communities before any development projects can begin; the congress has not approved a law regulating this process. Best Buddies Turkey Ekibi; Videolar; Bize Ulan; honduras crime and safety report 2021 27 ub. Impunity remains the norm. Local law allows the police to detain someone for up to 24 hours for administrative processing. There were different methodologies to measure the size of the informal economy, and a March 2020 UNDP report estimated that 82 percent of workers were part of the informal economy. The Public Ministry also has the Special Prosecutors Office for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Social Communicators, and Justice Officials. Indigenous groups included the Miskito, Tawahka, Pech, Tolupan, Lenca, Maya-Chorti, and Nahua. Violence against LGBT individuals displaces many internally and forces others to leave the country to seek asylum. . Children, including from indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, particularly Miskito boys, were at risk for forced labor in the agriculture, manufacturing, fishing, mining, construction, and hospitality industries. Most cruise line passengers experience no problems, but there have been reports of associated armed robbery and carjacking. La Ceiba, Trujillo) and major hotels; other tourist installations have increased private and police security. While there are no areas in major urban cities free of violent crime, notably dangerous locations in Tegucigalpa include the areas surrounding Suyapa Cathedral, downtown Comayagela, downtown Tegucigalpa, and neighborhoods in the outskirts of the city that are generally controlled by gangs. The ambulance does not have paramedics or emergency medical equipment; it functions solely as transport to hospitals. Vehicles often drive at night without adequate lighting. Dial 911 for emergency or call (504) 2232-4092. Authorities continued to investigate the incident. Honduras crime rate & statistics for 2020 was 36.33, a 13.52% decline from 2019. 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. OSAC encourages travelers to, to gain baseline knowledge of security conditions in Honduras. The armed forces, which report to the Secretariat of Defense, are responsible for external security but also exercise some domestic security responsibilities in support of the national police and other civilian authorities. The rainy season usually runs May-November. Civil society continued to criticize the law for classification of documents related to security and national defense, saying it limited transparency and allowed officials to use the classification of documents to obscure wrongdoing. From January to September 2021, 31,894 Hondurans requested asylum in Mexico, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid (COMAR) reportedfiling more than 35 percent of Mexicos total asylum petitions. In 2019, there was one murder case involving a resident U.S. citizen in Roatn. Review OSACs report, All That You Should Leave Behind. The location and timing of criminal activity are unpredictable. Some employers either refused to engage in collective bargaining or made it very difficult to do so. Honduras requires proof of Yellow Fever immunization if coming from another country endemic with Yellow Fever. gangs are the most active and powerful. Mental health professionals expressed concern regarding social stigma by families and communities against persons with mental disabilities and a lack of access to mental health care throughout the country. at the date of this reports publication assesses Honduras at Level 3, indicating travelers should reconsider travel due tocrime. There were no credible reports of political prisoners or detainees. Coca farms and cocaine production camps are proliferating in Honduras, showing that the illicit crop has taken root in the country after years of low-level experimentation. ; and read the State Departments webpage on, Passengers on public buses have been the victims of robbery at roadblocks and bus stops, during daytime and nighttime hours. Judges face interferenceincluding political pressure, threats, and harassmentfrom the executive branch, private actors with connections to government, and gangs. Most of these attacks involved gang members demanding extortion payments. No cases were reported during the year. The law places restrictions on these rights, such as requiring that a recognized trade union represent at least 30 workers, prohibiting foreign nationals from holding union offices, and requiring that union officials work in the same substantive area of the business as the workers they represent. Through August CONADEH received six reports of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. In 2022, 34 femicides have been registered as of 21 In 2022, 34 femicides were registered and 17. Violence was often rooted in a broader context of conflict over land and natural resources, extensive corruption, lack of transparency and community consultation, other criminal activity, and limited state ability to protect the rights of vulnerable communities. In January, Congress voted to increase the majority needed to amend Hondurass constitutional ban on same sex marriage from two-thirds to three-quarters, thereby further entrenching the prohibition. Cable signal theft and counterfeit products are the most prevalent violations of intellectual property rights in Honduras. Although the law prohibits such practices, government officials received complaints and investigated alleged abuses by members of the security forces on the streets and in detention centers. 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Honduras, An official website of the United States Government, https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/International-Parental-Child-Abduction/for-providers/legal-reports-and-data/reported-cases.html, https://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report/, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/findings. The government did not effectively enforce the law. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor, c. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment, d. Discrimination with Respect to Employment and Occupation. Share this via Twitter The country does not appear to be a terrorist safe haven. Litigants may sue a criminal defendant for damages if authorized by a criminal court. Always carry a mobile phone in case of emergency. Despite incremental progress, government capacities remained relatively nascent and limited. Defendants may not be compelled to testify or confess guilt. World Bank statistics from 2020 put net enrollment for primary school above 90 percent, but the National Center for Social Sector Information stated that 43 percent of persons with disabilities received no formal education. The U.S. Department of State strongly recommends purchasing international health insurance before traveling internationally. TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) Honduras became the second country in Central America to declare a state of emergency to fight gang crimes like extortion. Violators face penalties of one to three years in prison and possible suspension of their professional licenses, but the government did not effectively enforce the law. In August, a former director of the Honduran hydroelectric company DESA was convicted of organizing the 2016 assassination of environmental and Indigenous rights defender Berta Cceres, who opposed construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque river. Employers rarely paid the minimum wage in the agricultural sector and paid it inconsistently in other sectors. Overcrowding, inadequate nutrition, poor sanitation, beatings, intra-gang violence, and killings are endemic in prisons. Responding police fired tear gas in and around the main terminal to regain control after protesters entered the building and airport grounds. Activists say the governments Mechanism for the Protection of Journalists, Human Rights Defenders, and Justice Activists, created in 2015, is ineffective. Birth Registration: Children derive citizenship by birth in the country, from the citizenship of their parents, or by naturalization. A bill was introduced in 2019 to prevent, assist, and protect people internally displaced by violence. Impunity for such crimes remained high, as was the impunity rate for all types of crime. Even when traffic signals are working, drivers often ignore them. Bureau of Diplomatic Security The law provides citizens the right to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on nearly universal and equal suffrage. The Honduran government is modernizing some of the main transportation road networks to four-lane highways, which can lead to increased travel times because of ongoing construction. From January to June, the OV-UNAH documented eight violent deaths in prisons. There are no known international terrorist groups operating in Honduras. The Ministry of Securitys Directorate of Disciplinary Police Affairs investigated members of the Honduran National Police accused of human rights abuses. This resulted in multiple protests by environmentalist groups claiming the project is illegal due to the damage to the bioreserve and exacerbating the citys already dire water shortage. The police generally treat detained foreigners well. Independent Monitoring: The government generally permitted prison visits by independent local and international human rights observers, including the International Committee of the Red Cross. 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. Some NGOs reported irregularities, including late delivery of technology needed to transmit results, late opening of the polls, poll workers with varying degrees of preparation and knowledge of the electoral law and processes, and lack of transparency in campaign financing. Review OSACs report, The limited capacity of the government to enforce international standards related to natural resource exploitation has resulted in higher levels of conflict in the extractive and electrical generation industries. There have also been cases of police harassment of patrons in LGBTI+ nightclubs. osac crime and safety report honduras Posted on July 8, 2021by Published by at June 7, 2022. Observers noted several significant improvements in transparency procedures, including electoral reforms, an updated voter registry and new national identification cards, and new technology that included a biometric verification system and a preliminary results transmission system. The law provides for freedom of peaceful assembly, and the government generally respected this right. The governments National Policy to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination seeks to promote equality and combat discrimination related to the countrys seven indigenous and two Afro-descendent groups, with a focus on social and political participation; access to education, health care, justice, and employment opportunities; and rights to ancestral lands and natural resources. Gangs are not reluctant to use violence, and specialize in murder-for-hire, carjacking, extortion, and other violent street crime. Fire Department Ambulance is fully equipped with emergency medical supplies and medical staff. Persons from indigenous and Afro-descendant communities continued to experience discrimination in employment, education, housing, and health services. Abuse of Migrants and Refugees: Transiting migrants and asylum seekers with pending cases were vulnerable to abuse and sexual exploitation by criminal organizations. The law also requires that public-sector workers involved in the refining, transportation, and distribution of petroleum products submit their grievances to the Secretariat of Labor and Social Security (STSS) before striking. As of August it continued to provide protection to 12 journalists, among other types of activists and human rights defenders. Fire Department operations: +504-2231-1667. The government has a police investigative unit dedicated to investigating violent crimes against the LGBTI+ and other vulnerable communities, composed of Public Ministry prosecutors, members of ATIC (prosecutors investigative agency), and the Honduran National Police; however, it has limited resources and functions primarily in the major urban areas. In June 2021, the Inter-American Commision on Human Rights (IACHR) estimated a 90 percent rate of impunity for crimes committed against human rights defenders in Honduras. honduras crime and safety report 2021 Hakkmzda. Satellite Phones: Critical or Contraband? Victims were primarily impoverished individuals in both rural and urban areas (see section 7.c.). The law applies equally to citizens and foreigners, regardless of gender, and prescribes a maximum eight-hour shift per day for most workers, a 44-hour workweek, and at least one 24-hour rest period for every six days of work. Members of the LGBTI+ community have reported violent assaults because of gender identity and sexual orientation. The groups most likely to be internally displaced are children subjected to forced gang recruitment, professionals and business owners who face extortion, domestic violence survivors, and LGBT people and members of ethnic minorities who face violence and discrimination, the IACHR has reported. They forcibly recruit children and sexually abuse women, girls, and LGBT people. Avoid using. Armed robberies, burglaries, vandalization, home invasions, and extortions occur; closely guarded officials, businesspersons, and diplomats are not immune. The Human Rights Secretariat (SEDH) informed that 314 women were murdered in Honduras in 2021. Although Honduras has reduced its homicide rate by half since 2011, it remains one of the worlds highest, with 44.8 murders per 100,000 population in 2019. Vote View Results . Honduras is a signatory to the International Labor Organizations. 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. HOUSTON Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston, with assistance from ERO Tegucigalpa and the Security Alliance for Fugitive Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, removed Rufino Garza Monroy, a twice-deported foreign fugitive from the United States on Feb. 24. Since 2010, there have been approximately 60 murders of U.S. citizens reported in Honduras. Anticorruption efforts remained an area of concern, as did the governments ability to protect justice-sector officials, such as prosecutors and judges. Many of these U.S. citizens are church and humanitarian aid volunteers working throughout the country, including in gang-controlled neighborhoods. The change increases the penalty from two to four years to four to six years. On October 7, the National Congress increased penalties for forced labor under the trafficking-in-persons article of the penal code from five to eight years imprisonment to 10 to 15 years, bringing the penalties in line with the penalties for other analogous serious crimes, such as kidnapping. Review OSACs reports, Hotels: The Inns and Outs and Considerations for Hotel Security. Human Rights Watch documented mass expulsion of migrants and asylum seekers, including Hondurans, from Mexico to a remote jungle in Guatemala. Backsliding occurred in cases brought during the four-year mandate of the OAS Mission to Support the Fight Against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras; several of its cases were dismissed or postponed as courts heard appeals based on the new code. Nonetheless, many prisoners remained in custody after completing their full sentences, and sometimes even after an acquittal, because officials failed to process their releases expeditiously. Advanced Scuba Diver; Ultimate Rescue Diver; Specialties. The law prohibits the sale, distribution, and use of emergency contraception for any reason, including for survivors of sexual violence. Asylum seekers and refugees continued to face acute protection risks in border zones. The law allows persons charged with some felonies to avail themselves of bail and gives prisoners the right of prompt access to family members. The government failed to control pervasive gang-related violence and criminal activity within the prisons. As of October 17, 42,357 Hondurans were deported in 2021 to Hondurasmore than the total throughout 2020the government reported. The government continued to prosecute individuals allegedly involved in the 2016 killing of environmental and indigenous activist Berta Caceres. 2018 toyota rav4 pros and cons. Honduras received support from the Millennium Challenge Corporation in the development of an e-procurement platform and public procurement auditing. 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. Local, Regional, and International Terrorism Threats/Concerns. Fire Department operations: +504-2231-1667. Home. Office of the Special Envoy for Critical and Emerging Technology, Office of the U.S. Many employers discriminated against women. Official data on forced internal displacement, especially displacement due to violence, was limited in part because gangs controlled many of the neighborhoods that were sources of internal displacement (see section 6, Displaced Children). Prosecutors and whistleblowers have received death threats. The law allows only local unions to call strikes, prohibits labor federations and confederations from calling strikes, and requires that a two-thirds majority of both union and nonunion employees at an enterprise approve a strike. Reports of kidnappings of U.S. citizens are not common, with zero reports for 2019. CONADEH received complaints involving human rights abuses and referred them to the Public Ministry for investigation. The law prohibits discrimination against persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and mental disabilities. Fines for child labor were not sufficient to deter violations and not commensurate with penalties for other analogous serious crimes, such as kidnapping. Unions also raised concerns regarding the use of temporary contracts and part-time employment, suggesting that employers used these mechanisms to prevent unionization and avoid providing full benefits. The government provided victims of sexual violence access to other health-care services. Several UN special rapporteurs and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances warned, in April, of growing numbers of migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador who have disappeared in Mexico, including 741 Hondurans from March through August 2019. Cruise ship industry contacts report that approximately one million U.S. citizens enter the country by ship every year, primarily in Roatn, but also in La Ceiba on the northern coast. Nevertheless, social discrimination against LGBTQI+ persons persisted, as did physical violence. The government investigated and prosecuted some of these crimes, but impunity was widespread. As of September CONADEH had received 33 complaints. From 2015 through 2019, authorities arrested 4,196 gang members, the National Police reported. The National Interinstitutional Security Force coordinates the overlapping responsibilities of the national police, military police of public order, National Intelligence Directorate, and Public Ministry during interagency operations. A revision to the penal code that entered into force in June 2020 broadly reduces criminal penalties for corruption by officials. In most prisons only inmates who purchased bottled water or had water filters in their cells had access to potable water. Child recruitment by gangs has caused many children to flee and abandon school. Officials flew Garza, a 48-year-old . Cruise lines and port agencies offer approved tour companies offering packages. If the STSS grants permission, children between 14 and 16 may work a maximum of four hours a day, and those between 16 and 18 may work up to six hours a day. Roads have poor lighting and markings. Overseas Security Advisory Council Counterfeit U.S. currency is also common. Violent organized crime continues to disrupt Honduran society and push many people to leave the country. There is street crime even in gated communities commonly referred to locally as. Counterfeit products are predominately but not solely in the pharmaceutical and apparel industries. CONADEH reported 69 cases of alleged torture or cruel and inhuman treatment by security forces through August, while the Public Ministry received 18 such reports. January 26, 2022 At a glance Population: 10.1 million 2.8 million people in need of humanitarian aid Additionally, illegal drugs are for sale in many of the popular tourist areas during the evening hours. See the Department of States International Religious Freedom Report at https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/. In January 2021, the IACHR and the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons urged the government to adopt a law protecting internally displaced people. The U.S. Embassy has restricted U.S. government personnel travel to the Gracias a Dios Department in eastern Honduras because of credible threat information against U.S citizens. Honduras has the highest rate of femicidedefined as the killing of a woman by a man because of her genderin Latin America, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reports. In March 2019, the Honduran Government created the National Urban Transportation Security Force to combat extortion and other crimes perpetrated by gangs. Reach the local police anywhere in Honduras by dialing 911. 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. Journalists; environmental activists; human rights defenders; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals; and people with disabilities are among the groups targeted for violence. Cruise ship industry contacts report that approximately one million U.S. citizens enter the country by ship every year, primarily in Roatn, but also in La Ceiba on the northern coast. Riverdale, MD 20737. Land title procedures have been an issue leading to investment disputes involving U.S. nationals who are landowners. Meanwhile, 59% reported having been assaulted at least once while a passenger in a taxi (. )

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