IJCentral: International Justice Central

In July 2002, the Republic of Honduras ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), thus becoming the 76th state party to the treaty. By joining the ICC system, the Honduras government committed itself to prosecuting those responsible for crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes, if ever committed on its soil or by its nationals.
Honduras’ ratification signified and illustrated a decisive step to fight impunity and respect human rights in the Central American country. Human rights organizations worldwide, and the international community in general, welcomed this advance and viewed it as an opportunity for Honduras to heal from its past and progress toward a future based on the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Like many Latin American countries, Honduras has had a history of human rights violations and the issue of dealing with the past is a conflictive topic, particularly the very recent past, which tends to be a controversial issue in Honduras.

The Coup and alleged crimes

Seven years after the ratification of the Rome Statute, the democratic order was interrupted: in June 2009, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was forcefully removed from his office by the military and exiled to Costa Rica. The Head of Congress, Mr. Roberto Micheletti was appointed as provisional President, and served until Porfirio Lobo was elected President of Honduras in November 2009 in a much-disputed election. 
The forceful removal of Zelaya and the ensuing disintegration of democracy set Honduras on a violent path and crimes against humanity are alleged to have been committed. NGOs communicated their concerns on the alleged crimes to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court starting in September 2009. It is alleged that some Honduran nationals representing the economic elite – in partnership with high-level officials from the military and government – are responsible for the perpetration of crimes against humanity as defined under article 7(h) of the Rome Statute. Given that the Honduran domestic judicial system never investigated and prosecuted those allegedly responsible for the crimes, civil society continued to press the ICC to investigate the matter.
These efforts culminated in the Argentine ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announcing publicly his decision to conduct a preliminary analysis of the situation in November 2010. Even though his decision was welcomed, there has not been any update on the actions carried out by the Prosecutor’s office to date.

Reign of Impunity, Lack of Accountability

In the last year and a half, NGOs have called on several occasions for the protection of human rights defenders, journalists, and social activists. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also shed light on police brutality, lack of accountability for human rights abuses committed in the context of the coup, and lack of judicial independence. Then, on 26 January 2010, the Supreme Court of Justice acquitted the military regime that carried out the coup against Zelaya. The same day, the National Congress passed the Amnesty Act for political crimes committed in the context of the coup.

To date, the Supreme Court of Justice has not yet resolved the applications submitted for the enforced deportation of former President Zelaya and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Patricia Rodas. No one has been held accountable, not even for common crimes. In addition, all the high-level officials involved in the coup remain in office. The highest-ranked military officer Romeo Vásquez Velásquez- who personally led the coup- is an official of the current government and has announced his intention to run for the presidency in 2013.
Moreover, in 2010, the Comité de Familiares de Detenidos y Desaparecidos en Honduras (COFADEH), denounced the fact that more than a hundred corpses were dumped in mass graves, which was never investigated by the local authorities. These facts point to a resounding lack of interest from the judiciary, as well as the lack of capacity to carry out the identification of victims and prosecute those responsible for these crimes. The situation – this level of inaction – represents the policy followed by the Honduran state, oriented to avoid justice and redress for victims and their relatives. It is plainly evident that Honduras has not complied with the duties emerging from the Rome Statute and other important human rights instruments. 
In its 2009 report, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights stated that the highest judicial organ in Honduras systematically denies justice to victims of human rights violations, even as those crimes are still being committed. The increase in violence and subsequent loss of human lives qualifies Honduras as one of the most violent and dangerous countries in the Americas.

If the commission of crimes still continues after the coup it is because those responsible remain at large. In this context of systematic and widespread violence it is worrisome that killings, enforced disappearances and repressive actions continue and increase, particularly against leaders of the opposition and their relatives, human rights activists, journalists, peasants and social leaders.

Nunca más?

Military regimes, enforced disappearances, crimes against humanity, genocide and Nunca más are words often associated with Latin America in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Nevertheless, in the case of Honduras some of these words currently characterize the country.
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 are no ongoing cases into those that the ICC could potentially try.

Victims have the right to justice.

In a country where the judicial system seems to be unable and unwilling to investigate and prosecute the gravest crimes, the ICC represents a hope for them and for future generations.

It is time to act.

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Mariana Rodríguez-Pareja is a Communications Expert and Human Rights Advocate. Twitter: @maritaerrepe

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