UN report tells Honduras to demilitarize security (March 24, 2017)

A new report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Honduras urges the government to take steps to demilitarize internal security, and to strengthen "transparency and civilian oversight in relation to defense and security."

The report, released this week, also calls on the government to improve the protection of rights of victims of crimes and human rights violations. EFE's coverage focuses on criticism of the expansion of the role of the Armed Forces in internal security and a recent law that broadly identifies terrorism.

The report calls for rapid demilitarization, but also notes that violence is widespread throughout Honduran society, reports El Heraldo.

Among other recommendations, the report also urges Congress to reform the country's criminal code and calls on the government to "develop and implement comprehensive penitentiary system reform that promotes the rehabilitative purpose of imprisonment and puts the system fully under civilian management."

The High Commissioner's representative in Honduras, María Soledad Pazo, emphasized the need to bring police, accused of criminal acts, to justice, reports Criterio. A restructuring of the national force began last year, in relation to accusations of illicit activities on the part of officers. But while 1,651 officers have been purged, none have been formally charged, notes the report.

Mere administrative restructuring is not enough in this case, said another UNHCHR official quoted in El Heraldo.

Pazo avoided answering questions about JOH's reelection bid, according to Criterio separately.

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