IJCentral: International Justice Central

A few weeks ago, Mariana Rodriguez Pareja and I addressed in a post for this blog the impunity situation in Honduras. The reign of impunity has led to a point where the ICC should exercise its jurisdiction without further delay; more delays in the process of justice works against the deterrent effect that the ICC should have and against its mandate, particularly given that there is no official effort to redress current impunity in Honduras.
Why is this? The institutional crisis in Honduras has rarely been so apparent as it was during and after the coup d’état on June 28, 2009. The role of tolerance and complicity played by State authorities such as the Attorney General, the Ombudsman and the Supreme Court in particular left the people defenseless, especially those who protested and continue to protest against the interruption of the democratic order.
People had nowhere to go to complain about abuses of authority or to seek protection from political persecution. This seriously affected people´s trust in the institutions, but most of all it increased the climate of violence and impunity. The Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) has defined impunity as follows: “the total lack of investigation, prosecution, capture, trial and conviction of those responsible for human rights violations.” 

Limited assistance, unlimited difficulties

The scarcity of economic resources in Honduras aggravates these institutional shortcomings. One of the main obstacles in the Honduran Justice System is the limited financial aid in order to fight against crime. The budgetary limitations do not allow appropriate training for personnel, acquisition of technology and logistics that are required to investigate the circumstances of the crime and to identify those responsible. The lack of an effective program to protect victims and witnesses collides with the reality in which citizens prefer to remain silent because of the risk of threats to their personal integrity, their lives or the lives of their families.
Impunity is further entrenched by the absence of political will to fight back. For instance, Honduran institutions allowed with inactivity and tolerance the crimes committed during the coup. As an effect of impunity, violations of human rights persist. Thus, the State enables persecution and violations of human rights by private persons, groups, as well as by State agents.

In two examples, the decision of the Supreme Court to dismiss the charges against the military chiefs allegedly involved in the actions in which the president Zelaya was arrested and violently expatriated to Costa Rica, and the amnesty decree approved by the National Congress, exhibit the tolerance and participation of the judicial and legislative branches.
Through this legacy of impunity, police authorities and military forces become empowered to act independently and unchecked.

More Impunity and Lack of Accountability

The International Community, in particular the Organization of American States (OAS), also have a degree of responsibility for the increase of impunity in Honduras because of their recognition of a government in which civilian and military chiefs that carried out the coup are occupying executive positions.
Early in 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights made this warning about the Honduran case, stating that, “the widespread impunity that attends human rights violations is due in part to the Supreme Court’s decisions, which undermine the rule of law.  Apart from the questionable role that the Supreme Court played during the coup d’état, since then it has acquitted the military accused of participating in the coup but has dismissed judges and magistrates that endeavored to avert the coup by democratic means.”

The Honduran authorities systematically denied and still deny the existence of human rights violations, which has resulted in inaction and tolerance of criminal activity. This context requires actions from the international community to stop impunity and legally ensure the right to justice and reparation of the victims and the right to the truth in order to prevent future violations and coups d’état in Latin America.

Who suffers? 

The violations of the right to life, personal integrity, personal liberty, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to strike and to work, systematically affect particularly the teachers, peasants, journalists and the LGBT community. It is important to consider the extremely high amount of people who are killed in Honduras. In 2008, according to the Observatory on Violence in Honduras, 4.473 homicides were committed .  After the coup in 2009, manslaughter increased to 5,265. In 2010 the amount of homicides elevated to 6,236 . Currently 20 persons are killed every day .  Honduras’ Casa Alianza reported 805 violent deaths and/or executions of children and youths in the country during 2010. In 86% of the cases the responsible party is unknown, which indicates the degree of impunity.  According to Centro de Derechos de Mujeres (CDM), 332 femicides were committed in 2010. From January to June 2011 about 190 women have been killed.  The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) affirms that from January 2010 to August 2011, 46 people, mostly peasants, have been killed in the conflict between businessmen and peasants in the region known as “Bajo Aguán”.  The Committee of Relatives of The Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) informs us that since June 2009, 15 journalists have been killed, 25 have been threatened, 4 were victims of kidnapping and torture and 37 have suffered attacks of different kinds. Since 2004 more than 50 people from the LGBT community have been killed, 34 persons of them were murdered after the coup. Of these, only 2 cases have been treated in the tribunals. This, once again, indicates the high level of impunity.

Need for Justice

The Honduran context demands of the State the implementation of policies that redistribute resources efficiently, promote solidarity, tolerance, social inclusion and the political participation of citizens.
The level of impunity is such that the state can be held responsible. When a State tolerates the impunity of serious human rights violations and interruptions to the democratic order urgent intervention by the international community is required to protect the victims and their relatives, investigate, prosecute and convict those responsible. Violence and impunity are winning in Honduras.

Put an End to Impunity

Some, though not all of the crimes listed here fall under the ICC jurisdiction, the Court must act on those crimes which do fall under its mandate.
Although primary means of justice for states are their own national justice systems, the ICC contributes to strengthening the current international justice system and the rule of law, and particularly recognizes, through the fundamental principle of complementarity, the role of states in ensuring global rule of law by investigating and trying crimes.
In a country where the judicial system seems to be unable and unwilling to investigate and prosecute the gravest crimes, the ICC- to which Honduras is a State Party- could play a vital role.
In this case, delayed international justice is no justice at all.

—-

Verenice Bengtsson holds a BA in Law (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras), Postgraduate diploma in Human Rights (Lund University), and is an MA Candidate (University of Malmö).