Honduras introduces state of emergency to fight criminal groups

Actions were quick to follow the announcement. Many police officers were visible in the main cities of Honduras, Friday, November 25, the day after the establishment of the state of emergency by President Xiomara Castro.

The decision in this country plagued by violence from gangs and drug trafficking was taken in order to strengthen the government’s strategy “immediate recovery of lawless territories”according to M.me Castro.

Police Director Gustavo Sanchez said at least 20,000 officers would be mobilized as part of the measure. Special forces and police were numerous on Friday in the streets of Tegucigalpa, noted a photographer from Agence France-Presse (AFP). Some 120 neighborhoods or districts in the country’s capital and second city, San Pedro Sula, have already been identified for the implementation “states of exception”he added.

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50 drivers killed in 2022

The declaration of the state of emergency comes days after hundreds of bus drivers demonstrated in the capital to demand measures to prevent extortion by criminal gangs.

Jorge Lanza, the head of bus operators in Honduras, backed the state of emergency measure, saying drivers had been calling for repressive measures for years. “We can no longer bear workers being killed or being made to paydid he declare. We hope that these measures work and last over time. »

Mr Lanza announced that 50 drivers have been murdered so far in 2022 and a total of 2,500 have been murdered in the past fifteen years. He estimated that companies and drivers paid the gangs an average of almost $10 million (about 9.6 million euros) a month to keep them working.
By declaring a state of emergency, Mr.me Castro, the country’s first woman elected president in January, said on Thursday, declaring “War on extortion, just as we have declared war on corruption, impunity and drug trafficking”.

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Authorities have not specified exactly what the state of emergency would entail, but such measures usually temporarily suspend normal rules governing arrests and searches; sometimes limits on freedom of expression and assembly are also implemented.

The example of neighboring El Salvador

With a population of 10 million, Honduras recorded a first-half murder rate of 18.47 and expects a full-year 2022 murder rate of 37/100,000 (though down from to 2021 with a rate of 42 murders/100,000 inhabitants).

Honduras is at the heart of “triangle of death” in Central America, a region plagued by violence, poverty and corruption. The criminal gangs, called “maras”, in particular reign terror in the small country, as well as in El Salvador and Guatemala.

In neighboring El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele asked Congress to grant him extraordinary powers after gangs were accused of 62 murders on March 26. This emergency decree has been renewed every month since then. It suspends certain constitutional rights and gives police more powers to arrest and detain suspects.

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The measure proved popular with the Salvadoran public and resulted in the arrest of more than 56,000 people for alleged gang ties. But non-governmental organizations have recorded several thousand human rights violations and at least 80 deaths in custody of people arrested during the state of emergency. Rights activists say young men are frequently arrested simply because of their age, their appearance or the fact that they live in a gang-dominated slum.

Le Monde with AP and AFP

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