The revision of constitutional article 274 won sweeping approval in congress, whose president Juan Orlando Hernández batted away claims by the supreme court that it alone could interpret the constitution. Its detractors were vociferous though: Deputy Sergio Castellanos, of the left-wing Unificación Democrática (UD), reminded congress that the armed forces had committed widespread human rights abuses in the 1980s, including 200 extrajudicial executions and 182 people ‘disappeared’. “The tiger is on the prowl,” he claimed. Hernández insisted that the ghosts of the 1980s (or presumably those more recently stirred in 2009) should not be allowed to hold up a historic decree to combat the scourge of organised crime, especially Mexican-backed drug-trafficking.
The decree enables the armed forces to “carry out police functions for a limited period … if the executive branch issues the corresponding decree of emergency, establishing in it the duration of the decree”. It does not specifically define which police functions, however, so it could be construed as meaning all of them. The executive promptly issued the decree of emergency for 90 days, but this could be extended – indefinitely. Lobo said it would remain in place for as long as it took to purge the police of corrupt elements linked to organised crime: the security minister, Pompeyo Bonilla, estimated that this could take 10 years - and there is no indication how the government intends to proceed with reforming the police.
The minister of justice and human rights, Ana Pineda, criticised the declaration of an emergency in public security when the council of ministers debated the measure. She argued that the armed forces lacked “sufficient training to understand constitutional law and the penal process,” and that the decree would be interpreted internationally as a disturbing lurch backwards to authoritarian government: congress voted in 1986 to separate the police and the armed forces. Bonilla, showing the kind of cavalier disregard for the international community that characterised the de facto administration of Roberto Micheletti, said “on the international stage they talk about human rights in luxury hotels; they don’t live in the reality of poor and humble neighbourhoods in Honduras.” Lobo conceded the military lacked the requisite training for their new duties but insouciantly maintained he had requested that the UN provide expedited training.
The scale of the task ahead in reforming the police was underlined when two fierce critics of police corruption, journalist Luz Marina Paz and security expert Alfredo Landaverde, were gunned down this week by suspected renegade police officers. Having awarded the military police powers on the grounds that the police is corrupt, congress is now debating, however, whether to grant the police legal permission to carry out wiretapping. Congress president Juan Orlando Hernández argues that it would allow the police to clamp down on extortion and kidnapping. It could also be used by corrupt police agents for extortion, however, as well as political blackmail. The issue was debated in May but deputies could not reach an agreement. The supreme court opposes the measure. It argues that there are already constitutional provisions for a judge, at the request of the attorney general’s office, to carry out wiretapping to investigate organised crime.
End of preview - This article contains approximately 632 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
