LatinNews Daily Report - 26 November 2012

SECURITY | Congress to roll over police purge law. The national defence and security council is preparing a degree to extend a special  framework law to clean up the discredited police force (Ley  Especial  de Depuración Policial), first approved for six months on 25 May.  The law gives ‘super powers’ to the chief of police, Juan Carlos ‘El Tigre’ Bonilla, to purge the force, which has ruffled feathers in the institution; some senior officers claim the decree legislation is unconstitutional. President Porfirio Lobo has given Bonilla his full support.  Government sources told Honduran media over the weekend that the new decree could include several observations by the supreme court of justice aimed at rebutting the complaints against the instrument. To date, just over 1,200 officers have been subjected to “confidence tests” under the new law, including polygraph, toxicology and psychometric tests, with 230 officers sacked on the basis of these tests. Critics say the entire process is slow and toothless. Bonilla has also shaken up the police leadership, provoking disgruntlement within the hierarchy. The national police force numbers some 14,000 officers.

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