COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE BEGINS REVIEW OF REPORT OF HONDURAS

Committee against Torture MORNING
6 May 2009



The Committee against Torture this morning began its consideration of the initial report of Honduras on the efforts of that country to give effect to the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Introducing the report, Hugo Adalberto Suazo Ortiz, Vice Minister for Security and Investigation in the Ministry of Security of Honduras, noted that on 23 May 2006 Honduras had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which provided for periodic visits by the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture to all places of deprivation of liberty in the country. In accordance with the Protocol, in 2008, the Government had adopted a Law on the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, which established an independent organ – the first of its kind in the region – mandated to prevent torture at the national level and to coordinate with existing institutions in designing and implementing torture prevention policies.

A new Code of Criminal Procedure (2002) had introduced enforcement judges, responsible for monitoring and control of sentencing and security measures, as well as ensuring that proper norms with regard to prisons were strictly and correctly applied. In addition, these judges were tasked with reviewing prison legislation to ensure its conformity with established norms. Another advancement had been the new Police Act, which had strengthened the Office of Internal Affairs, the internal police monitoring body, raising its status to a Department and giving it technical and functional independence. In the judicial sphere, Mr. Suazo Ortiz highlighted that important sentences had been handed down with regard to police who had been found guilty of the offence of torture, and details of those cases and the sentences handed down had been annexed to the report.

Serving as Rapporteur for the report of Honduras, Committee Chairperson Claudio Grossman asked about the frequency of visits by the Public Prosecutor's Office to prisons as well as if there had been any recommendations made. He was also concerned at the very high rate of pre-trial detentions, which accounted for two thirds of those detained. Other concerns included monitoring of incommunicado detentions; a low percentage of convictions in cases of complaints against the police and measures to deal with impunity; a lack of compensation and reparations for victims of forced disappearance; reports of "social cleansing operations" in which young persons had been allegedly executed as a way of dealing with youth gang violence; and reports of vaginal inspections carried out by unauthorized persons for women entering the prison system. Nora Sveaass, the Co-Rapporteur, asked about threats and killings of human rights defenders, and reports of extremely high levels of violence against detainees (7 out of 10 detainees alleging that they had been subjected to violence).

Other Committee Experts asked a number of questions and raised concerns, including about armed drug groups that terrorised civilians; excessively long periods for which persons could be held in pre-trial detention, which could stretch to one and two years; the use of firearms in prisons and places of detention, in particular in juvenile centres; and the prevalence of violence against women, including rape, domestic violence and femicide, and the fact that only 2.5 per cent of the complaints of violence against women filed in 2006 had been resolved.

Also representing the delegation of Honduras were representatives from the High Court of Justice; the National Commission for Human Rights; the Attorney General's Office; the Prison Service; the Honduran Institute for Children and the Family; the National Institute for Women; the President's Office; the Ministry of Defence; and the Ministry for Foreign Relations.

The delegation will return to the Committee at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 7 May to provide its responses to the questions raised today.

Honduras is among the 146 States parties to the Convention and as such it must present periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the Convention.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it will hear the answers of Israel to the questions posed by Experts on Tuesday, 5 May.

Report of Honduras

The initial report of Honduras (CAT/C/HND/1) notes that major changes have occurred in the area of human rights protection with the establishment of institutions such as the Public Prosecution Service and the National Commissioner for Human Rights, the separation of the National Police Force from the armed forces and its incorporation in the Office of the Minister of Security, and the implementation of the Code of Criminal Procedure as an instrument designed to safeguard the rights of both victims and accused persons. In addition, the new Code of Criminal Procedure, which entered into force in 2002, introduced a new system of legal proceedings based on oral and public hearings and principles of speed, adversarial argument and equality before the court. Judicial bodies dealing with criminal matters now have new functions and new courts have been established for oral and public hearings and for the enforcement of sentences.

Pre-trial detention may last, as a rule, for up to one year. When the penalty applicable to the offence is greater than six years’ imprisonment, pre-trial detention may last for up to two years. In exceptional cases, depending on the complexity, dispersion or scale of the evidence that must be presented, the Supreme Court of Justice can extend the periods referred to in this article by six months in response to a substantiated request from the Public Prosecution Service. Pre-trial detention may not under any circumstances exceed one half of the minimum duration of the penalty applicable to the offence. If the proceedings have not been concluded within the prescribed time limit, any officials and employees who have caused the delay by malice, fault or negligence shall be punishable pursuant to the Judicial Career Act, without prejudice to any criminal responsibility they may have incurred. The Supreme Court of Justice and the Public Prosecution Service shall ensure strict compliance with these provisions.

According to the statistics provided by the judiciary for the period running from 2003 until July 2007, seven judgements were handed down for the crime of torture, of which three resulted in a stay of proceedings and one in a dismissal of the case. Two of the three remaining cases resulted in convictions and a final decision is still pending in the third case. Honduras found on reviewing the final judgements that led to a stay of proceedings and to dismissal that the rulings were based on the failure to demonstrate that the crime had occurred. For example, in the investigation conducted in the case of the police officer Elvin Humberto Montoya Valladares in Unión Municipality, Olancho Department, in 2005, it was found that the light injuries sustained by the alleged victim were due to struggles and that there was no proof of the commission of the crime of torture. As a result, the court, acting strictly in accordance with the law and respecting the principles of legality and due process, decided to stay the proceedings.

Presentation of Report

HUGO ADALBERTO SUAZO ORTIZ, Vice Minister for Security and Investigation in the Ministry of Security of Honduras, introducing the report, noted that on 23 May 2006 Honduras had ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which provided for periodic visits by the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture to all places of deprivation of liberty in the country. In accordance with the Protocol, in 2008, the Government had adopted a Law on the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, which established an independent organ – the first of its kind in the region – mandated to prevent torture at the national level and to coordinate with existing institutions in designing and implementing torture prevention policies.

A new Code of Criminal Procedure had been adopted (2002), which had introduced enforcement judges responsible for monitoring and control of sentencing and security measures, as well as ensuring proper norms with regard to prisons were strictly and correctly applied. In addition, these judges were tasked with reviewing prison legislation to ensure its conformity with established norms, Mr. Suazo Ortiz said.

Another advancement had been the new Police Act, which had strengthened the Office of Internal Affairs, the internal police monitoring body, raising its status to a Department and giving it technical and functional independence.

With regard to training, Mr. Suazo Ortiz noted that they were gradually integrating training for the National Police and the Armed Forces on the human rights of persons in deprivation of liberty situations. Moreover, with United Nations assistance, the Office of the Ombudsman and the Public Prosecutor's Office had designed posters and booklets on the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. In 2008, the justice authorities, including the police and the Ministry of Justice, had also launched a public awareness campaign on the rights of all detainees.

Mr. Suazo Ortiz drew attention to the agreement between the Centre for the Treatment and Prevention of Victims of Torture and the Public Prosecutor's Office, under which, since 1999, it had been carrying out periodic, unannounced inspections of places of detention of liberty to ensure that no torture was being carried out there.

Mr. Suazo Ortiz further noted that the Government had sponsored NGO-run workshops and seminars for police and public defenders on the rights of the detainees. Under the auspices of the Congressional Commission on Human Rights and at the instigation of the Centre for the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and Their Families, days had been organized to promote the Optional Protocol and the Law on the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture.

In the judicial sphere, Mr. Suazo Ortiz noted that important sentences had been handed down with regard to police who had been found guilty of the offence of torture, and details of those cases and the sentences handed down had been annexed to the report.

Questions Raised by Committee Experts

CLAUDIO GROSSMAN, the Committee Chairperson serving as Rapporteur for the report of Honduras, welcomed the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention and the adoption of the Law on a National Mechanism to Prevent Torture. In that regard, had a budget already been set up for that mechanism, with proper resources allocated?

Regarding the introduction of the enforcement judges, which was an important step in the move away from accusatorial and towards an adversarial method, he asked if those judges would be trained in the Convention and its Optional Protocol.

There had been an Inter-American Court decision that had called for training for Honduran justice officials, Mr. Grossman noted, and he asked for more details of those programmes, including the curriculum, the involvement of civil society in preparing training courses, their regularity and other details.

Mr. Grossman asked with what frequency the Public Prosecutor's Office made visits to prisons, what recommendations had been made, and whether they had been implemented?

With regard to the crime of torture in Honduran law, Mr. Grossman was concerned that the scope of the definition was not as wide as that in the Convention, for example, not including the element of discrimination.

Mr. Grossman was concerned about the high rate of pre-trial detentions in the country, which accounted for two thirds of those detained by the criminal justice system. Regarding incommunicado detentions, which were permitted by Honduran legislation, he wanted to know what monitoring procedure existed to ensure that the safeguards and norms regulating such detention were actually carried out. Another kind of detention set out in the report was "judicial detention pending inquiries", according to which detainees were allowed to have visits from lawyers. Was this another form of incommunicado detention? Also, were detainees who could not afford lawyers able to have legal aid?

Mr. Grossman welcomed the candid information regarding the challenge of impunity facing Honduras. What concrete measures had the Government been considering in the short term with respect to eliminating impunity? In that regard, he noted that the percentage of convictions in cases of complaints against the police was extremely low.

Regarding states of siege and states of emergency, Mr. Grossman wondered if habeas corpus and amparo remedies were still in force, and asked for clarification.

On forced disappearances, there had been a lack of compensation and reparations for victims of forced disappearance in the past, Mr. Grossman said. He asked what was being done on this issue.

On youth gangs, there had been reports of "social cleansing operations" in which young persons had been allegedly executed, Mr. Grossman said. He asked for any information and statistics on such operations and investigations into allegations of extrajudicial executions.

Turning to issues relating to gender, Mr. Grossman said there had been reports of vaginal inspections carried out by unauthorized persons for women entering the prison system, which constituted cruel and inhuman and degrading treatment.

NORA SVEAASS, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report of Honduras, asked about threats and killings of human rights defenders. She had received information about a search carried out in July 2008 on the Office of the COFACE (Committee of Families of the Disappeared), which had been done in an unacceptable fashion, and she had also had reports of those who had been forced to leave the country following threats.

A concern was the gap between the political will to eliminate torture, the existing regulations, and the practice on the ground. Training could make up that gap, Ms. Sveaass stressed, and should therefore be a high priority. Had any evaluations been carried out on the trainings described today to ensure their effectiveness, she asked, and was professional ethics included in those trainings?

On conditions in prisons, Ms. Sveaass said there had been reports of overcrowding and concomitant incidents of inter-prisoner violence, including rapes and killings, and asked what measures were being taken to reduce overcrowding, as well as to reduce inter-prisoner violence.

Other concerns raised by Ms. Sveaass included detention of the mentally ill; reports of extremely high levels of violence against detainees (7 out of 10 detainees alleging that they had been subjected to violence); and whether the Istanbul Protocol was used in making medical evaluations of prisoners.

Ms. Sveaass pointed to the information in the report regarding complaints received by the National Commissioner for Human Rights between 2003 and 2006, saying that 7.31 per cent concerned acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and identifying the perpetrators as coming from the Office of the Minister of Security, the Office of the Minister of Health and the Office of the Minister of Labour and Social Security and individuals. However, what was missing was any information on what had happened to those cases, whether any convictions had been brought and reparations made to victims.

Ms. Sveaass asked about cases of disappearances. While the report said there had been 125 unsolved cases, NGOs had provided information on a number of other cases, in particular of human rights defenders that had disappeared.

Regarding detailed information provided to the Committee on excessive use of force in handling public demonstrations, Ms. Sveaass asked what police training and guidelines would be put in place to address that problem.

Ms. Sveaass said the report noted that measures ordered by the High Court of Justice in 2006 to halt the human rights violations committed against inmates in Marco Aurelio Soto and San Pedro Sula national penitentiaries and the Criminal Detention Centre of Puerto Cortés had not been fully implemented owing to a lack of resources. What was the current status of the implementation process?

Other Committee Experts asked a number of questions and raised concerns, including the selection process for staff of the national preventive mechanism; whether there were any plans to strengthen the Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office, as well as to crack down on illicit arms trafficking, to prevent the armed drug groups from terrorising civilians; concern that complaints against State agents who merely acquiesced in torture or did not report it were not followed up or prosecuted; the excessively long periods for which persons could be held in pre-trial detention, which could stretch to one and two years, thereby vitiating the whole notion of such detentions; the use of firearms in prisons and places of detention, in particular in juvenile centres; the fact that minors could be arrested on suspicion (of being gang members) simply because of their appearance; the prevalence of violence against women, including rape, domestic violence and femicide, and the fact that only 2.5 per cent of the complaints of violence against women filed in 2006 had been resolved; the percentage of women in the police and in the judiciary; and a lack of prohibition against corporal punishment of children either in the home or in institutions.

An Expert, echoing concerns already voiced, focused specifically on the issue of femicides. She understood that 27 prosecutors had been dedicated to that issue in 2008. Was that figure still accurate? How many of those prosecutors were women? Did they have experience in forensic investigations? And what had been the result of investigations undertaken by the prosecutors to date? On statistics, she wondered if there were any figures showing the makeup of victims, including the areas of the country they came from or their ethnic backgrounds.

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