Sarah Kinosian
The Obama Administration announced in January 2015 a $1 billion package of assistance to Central America. Will this assistance help address the “perfect storm” of violence, impunity, corruption, drug violence, and militarization that we saw in Honduras?
The Honduran government has been quietly barring public access to official security documents and budgets, while closing spaces for protest, dissent, and the press.
For the fourth year running San Pedro Sula, Honduras’ second-largest city, has earned the title of most dangerous place on Earth outside of a war zone, with a 2014 murder rate of 171 per 100,000 people.
Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe arrived in Washington D.C. yesterday and is staying through today to encourage opposition to the Colombian government’s peace talks with the FARC guerrillas. Never mind that they could help end a conflict that has left over 220,000 dead, millions disappeared, tortured and raped, and some 5.3 million displaced.
In December 2014 the Latin America Working Group Education Fund (LAWGEF) and Center for International Policy (CIP) traveled to Honduras to investigate how the country is responding to the needs of its citizens. What we found was a security apparatus and criminal justice system in desperate need of reform and a population with little faith in its government. Issues of violence, impunity, and corruption that have plagued the country for years are intensifying. Over the next seven days, we will be publishing a series of posts that provide a picture of the current state of Honduras' security and human rights situation.
The Honduran National Police are currently in a standoff with the Ministry of Security after Police Chief Ramón Antonio Sabillón was dismissed last week, allegedly for opposing government-backed militarization of public security and a purge of the police force. His removal signals militarized policing is here to stay in Honduras.
Honduras' former police chief, who was dismissed amidst allegations of involvement in death squads, has been working as the country's police attaché in Colombia, raising questions about his potential role in U.S.-funded trainings for security forces in Honduras.