Caribbean & Central America - August 2024

In June Honduras’ leftist Partido Libertad y Refundación (Libre) government led by President Xiomara Castro announced 14 emergency measures to further tackle insecurity, following on from its declaration of a state of emergency back in November 2022 to crack down on extortion and gangs, which had already drawn concern [SSR-24-01]. One of these measures is proving particularly controversial – the proposal to move on the construction of a maximum-security penal facility on Islas del Cisne (Swan Islands), a chain of three islands located in the north-western Caribbean Sea, which would house 2,000 inmates. The initiative has sparked criticism over human rights and environmental concerns.

Having first announced the proposed prison in April 2023 following a series of deadly clashes in the country’s maximum security prisons [SSR-23-06], on 15 June, the government unveiled a series of new security measures which included the stipulation that the bidding process for its construction must begin in no later than two weeks. On 4 July Honduras’ natural resources & environment minister, Lucky Medina, then confirmed that the government had authorised the environmental licence to construct the prison on the islands, which in 1991 were declared a national marine park, and which are some 250km from the mainland and form part of the national system of protected areas (SINAPH).

Ahead of Medina’s announcement, Honduras’ human rights ombudsman’s office (Conadeh) issued an alert in June, warning of the potential risk of serious human rights violations facing future inmates of the proposed penal colony. It highlights the lack of accessibility to the facility, warning that this could prevent families from visiting their incarcerated relatives, as well as hindering access by judges and other judicial officials. This issue was also raised in an April meeting by the United Nations (UN) Committee Against Torture (CAT), which warned that “it would be impossible for public and private defenders to visit such a facility” and questions whether “the consequences of this plan [had] been assessed.”

The move has also provoked outcry from environmental groups which highlight the unique biodiversity of the islands which, due to their distance from the mainland, have yet to be extensively studied. A 12 July statement by Honduras’ national public university, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), for example, highlights that constructing a maximum-security prison is “a major intervention” with environmental impacts not just limited to construction, but issues of supplies and waste management, among other things. It notes that the islands are home to fragile ecosystems and unique biodiversity, underlining in particular, 29 species of coral, 65 species of bird, six species of reptile and 54 species of fish found on the islands.

Homicides

The Castro administration’s continued pursuit of repressive security measures comes as it has nonetheless claimed progress on reducing violence. At the start of the year, the government claimed that homicides in 2023 totalled 3,030, which it said was 631 less than in 2022. This translates into a rate of 31.09 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, down from 38.14 per 100,000 in 2022. Nonetheless, the country has among the highest homicide rates in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the highest rate in the sub-region.

Other measures

The 14 emergency measures announced on 15 June include plans to construct a 20,000-capacity ‘mega prison’ between Olancho and Gracias a Dios departments, and calls for the ministries of security and defence, the armed forces (FFAA), and military police (PMOP) to plan and execute interventions in municipalities with the highest incidence of gang-related crimes. Other measures include calls for the legislature to amend the criminal code to classify gang members as terrorists, and reform the criminal procedural code to allow pretrial detention for those who commit such crimes. As with the state of emergency first declared in November 2022, the government’s pursuit of a more repressive security policy has met with alarm from the foreign community, most recently drawing criticism in July from Alice Shackelford, the UN representative in Honduras, and Isabel Albaladejo, the local representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).