WOLA: Advocacy for Human Rights in the Americas

THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE IN DATA

Honduras

The Central America Monitor presents robust quantitative data primarily obtained through official information requests in several key areas. These data assess advances, setbacks, or stalling on specific human rights and rule of law issues from 2014 to 2021. Below, start by viewing the data regionally or clicking on a country. Then, select a section. Under each section, select a specific indicator to explore the corresponding data points. You may also download the raw data or share the graphics.

EVALUATING PROGRESS MONITORING ASSISTANCE

Honduras has high levels of inequality and poverty. In this section, we display its socioeconomic situation as background for all subsequent sections. We aim to provide broad centralized and reliable data that can serve as a starting point for further investigation. As such, we decided to include disaggregated data only when immediately relevant to the sections we monitor.

Sources: National Institute of Statistics of Honduras.

Sources: National Institute of Statistics of Honduras.

Notes: The government does not update its population projections annually by race or ethnicity. Consequently, the figure shown in a given year is derive from the last census that took place in 2013.

Sources: 2013 population census of Honduras.

Notes: The government does not update its population projections annually by race or ethnicity. Consequently, the figures shown in a given year derive from the last census that took place in 2013.

Sources: 2013 population census of Honduras.

Sources: National Institute of Statistics of Honduras.

Sources: National Institute of Statistics of Honduras.

Source: National Institute of Statistics of Honduras.

Note: Figures shown were taken from the World Bank, which included the following note: “GDP at purchaser’s prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products. It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in current U.S. dollars. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using single year official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used.”

Source: World Bank (accessed June 2021).

Note: All amounts have been converted to United States Dollars using the exchange rate of 24.6 Honduran Lempiras. The rate was calculated using the average minimum salary assuming a standard work day of eight hours.

Sources: Ministry of Labor and Social Security and Central Bank of Honduras.

Notes: All amounts have been converted to United States Dollars using the exchange rate of 24.6 Honduran Lempiras. The figure shown was calculated to represent per capita costs of basic provisions, known as the “basic basket of goods” (canasta básica).

Sources: National Autonomous University of Honduras.

Sources: National Statistics Institute of Honduras.

Sources: National Statistics Institute of Honduras.

Notes: The literacy rate refers to the percentage of people who can read and write, and includes those older than 15 in Honduras.

Sources: National Statistics Institute of Honduras.

Sources: National Statistics Institute of Honduras.

Amidst the very high levels of violence for the general population in Honduras, human rights defenders, activists, journalists, justice system officials, lawyers, LGBTQ+ persons, and trade unionists face among the highest rates of threats, aggressions and killings in the world. We show how even for their higher profile cases, few actually enter the justice system and end in sentencing.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Note: The Public Prosecutor’s Office does not collect information regarding human rights defenders attacked. The data shown was compiled from a variety of other sources listed.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office, Front Line Defenders, ACI-Participa, CIDH, CONADEH, NDI, CIPRODEH, United Nations.

Note: Regarding complaints of human rights violations perpetrated by members of the police filed with CONADEH, for the year 2014, CONADEH provided complaints against the National Police and its dependencies, while for the years 2015-2019, the data reflects complaints against the National Preventive Police and the Police Investigations Department, which is why the number of complaints is much higher in 2014.

Source: CONADEH.

Note: In relation to the prosecutorial units of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP), the Special Prosecutor’s Office for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists and Social Communicators was created in 2017. The Violent Deaths Unit of Bajo Aguán was created in 2014, but the MP does not have information on its personnel until 2017.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Note: As for the Protection System, the Prevention and Context Analysis Unit was created in 2018 and the three other units in 2016. The information provided on the staffing of these units covers total staff, not only specialized staff.

Source: Ministry of Human Rights.

Note: The Protection System was created in 2016, which is why there is no data for previous years. In addition, it is important to clarify that the funds differ from those included in the base series report as we used an aggregate exchange rate instead of a different exchange rate for each year under study.

Source: Security Tax, Ministry of Human Rights.

Note: The National Protection System began to attend to requests for protection measures on July 2015.

Source: Ministry of Human Rights.

Note: The National Protection System began to attend to requests for protection measures on July 2015.

Source: Ministry of Human Rights.

Note: The National Protection System began handling requests for protection measures on July 2015. Archived requests reflect admitted cases that are archived as of August 31, 2020.

Source: Ministry of Human Rights.

Note: The National Protection System began handling requests for protection measures on July 2015. Categories shown for gender/sex reflect denominations managed by the government.

Source: Ministry of Human Rights.

Note: The record of protective measures granted by the Protection Mechanism was initiated in 2017.

Source: Ministry of Human Rights.

Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have among the world’s highest homicide rates and high rates of extortion and sexual violence, even though the latter are gravely underreported. We chose these crimes, because while homicide is the serious crime that most affects males, sexual violence is the serious crime that most affects females, and extortion affects broad segments of all sectors of society. We show how few cases actually enter the justice system and end in sentencing, thus creating a cycle of impunity for even the worst crimes.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Source: University Institute for Democracy, Peace and Security.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Note: The government did not provide data for 2018 or 2019.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Note: All budget amounts were converted to USD at the exchange rate of L24.6. The Unit assigned to the PMOP started operating in 2018; the Unit against Human Trafficking, Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Human Smuggling and the Special Operations Unit started operating in 2017; and the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Children was created in 2016.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Note: All budget amounts were converted to USD with the exchange rate of L24.6. Regarding courts and tribunals, the bodies with National Jurisdiction in Extortion were created in 2016.

Source: Judiciary of Honduras.

Honduras has characteristics of a kleptocratic state, with illicit networks at every level that have penetrated most public and private institutions. This is part of why inequality and poverty persist, because the money meant for public services is misdirected. Through public confidence surveys, we show that citizens know these dynamics, and thus, do not trust their institutions, despite existing laws. These frameworks are not enough in the face of lacking willingness and capacity. Given how pervasive corruption is, we present how few cases of the seven most impactful crimes – abuse of authority, bribery, embezzlement, fraud, illicit enrichment, influence peddling, and malfeasance – actually get reported. Within this small sample of reported crimes, we show how few cases actually enter the justice system and end in sentencing. Even in these, the sentences are incredibly light, demonstrating at every step that authorities do not actually seek to tackle corruption.

Note: The figures represent each country’s score and ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in some 180 countries.

Source: Transparency International.

Note: The Special Prosecutorial Unit against Impunity and Corruption (UFECIC) was created in 2017 and closed in 2020.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office

Note: The Special Prosecutorial Unit against Impunity and Corruption (UFECIC) was created in 2017 and closed in 2020.

Source: Public Prosecutor’s Office

Source: Superior Court of Accounts.

Source: Superior Court of Accounts.

Despite ongoing efforts to reform and professionalize the police, abuses and crimes committed by them remain incredibly common. Such abuses must end before citizens can trust their security forces as protectors rather than additional persecutors. Likewise, equal or greater investment in the justice system and social sectors is critical. Thus, we have focused the information in this section on the abuses being recorded and the personnel and budgetary resources available, so that the reader can compare across institutions. 

Source: Ministry of Security.

Note: The National Directorate for Anti-Drug Policing and the National Directorate for Border Police Services were created in 2016. No data was available for 2014 or 2015 regarding the National Directorate for Special Forces or the National Directorate for Protection and Special Services. No data was available for 2020 regarding the National Directorate for Prevention and Community Security or Police Investigations Department.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Note: No women held any rank or position within this category during the period shown.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Source: Ministry of Security.

Source: Ministry of Security

Source: Ministry of Security

Note: The Ministry of Security updates their database retroactively, therefore the data for 2014-2017 may differ from what was included in the Monitor’s baseline reports.

Source: Ministry of Security

Source: Ministry of Security

Source: Ministry of Security

Source: Ministry of Security

Note: With regard to the enrollees and graduates from the School of Criminal Investigation, the Ministry of Security did not provide data on members of indigenous people.

Source: Ministry of Security

Note: All budget amounts were converted to USD at the exchange rate of L24.6. As for the security tax, this data is an approximation based on data available on the transparency portal of the Population Security Tax (tasadeseguridad.hn).

Source: Ministry of Security, Population Security Tax

Note: All budget amounts were converted to USD at the exchange rate of L24.6.

Source: Ministry of Security

Note: With the 2017 Organic Law, many of the police sub-directorates were reconfigured and renamed. Previously, the National Directorate for Prevention and Community Safety was the National Directorate of Preventive Police; the Police Investigations Department was formerly known as the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation and was replaced in 2016, which is why in that year, both directorates received resources (1602221.87 to DPI and 24412694. 19 to DNIC); the National Directorate for Roads and Transportation was formerly the National Directorate of Transit; the National Directorate for Special Forces was the National Directorate of Special Investigative Services; the National Directorate for Protection and Special Services and the National Directorate for Police Education were formerly the Directorate of Special Preventive Services and the General Directorate of Special Preventive Services, respectively, but no data was available on the proposals of these units. The National Directorate for Anti-Drug Policing and the National Directorate for Border Police Services were created in 2016.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

The justice system faces numerous challenges. To provide national context to the other sections and a jumping-off point for comparisons with other countries outside the region, we display the global totals of all crimes, budget, staff and particularly relevant personnel for three categories: the prosecution, judiciary and public defense. 

Sources: Public Prosecutor’s Office; National Institute of Statistics; Judiciary of Honduras.

Sources: Public Prosecutor’s Office; National Institute of Statistics; Judiciary of Honduras.

Note: Regarding the distribution of judicial staff, the Judicial Branch does not have data on staff from previous years, but only for the current year. In addition, it is important to note that the Judicial Branch does not have courts or tribunals specialized in human rights.

Note: All amounts were converted to U.S. dollars using the exchange rate of 24.6 Lempiras.

Note: All amounts were converted to U.S. dollars using the exchange rate of 24.6 Lempiras.

Note: The number of criminal charges at the MP could be higher, as data on criminal charges filed for various types of crimes were not available.

In the first five years of CAM’s operation, the military in particular most denied our requests, such that we rarely got the information needed to monitor them. Furthermore, abuses and crimes committed by the military remained incredibly common – despite efforts at some points to limit their involvement in public security – and we were consistently able to get this information from other State institutions. Such abuses must end before citizens can trust their security forces as protectors rather than additional persecutors. Likewise, equal or greater investment in the justice system and social sectors is critical. Thus, we have focused the information in this section on the abuses being recorded and the personnel and budgetary resources available, so that the reader can compare across institutions.

Note: The government denied all information requested by the Monitor regarding the number of military personnel or internal deployment of troops, arguing that disclosure of this information would jeopardize national security. The refusal to provide this information not only makes it impossible to perform a comprehensive analysis of the Armed Forces and their participation in internal police functions, but also represents an alarming tendency of opacity regarding civic oversight and accountability for possible human rights violations committed by this institution in the exercise of police functions.

Note: The government denied all information requested by the Monitor regarding the number of military personnel or internal deployment of troops, arguing that disclosure of this information would jeopardize national security. The refusal to provide this information not only makes it impossible to perform a comprehensive analysis of the Armed Forces and their participation in internal police functions, but also represents an alarming tendency of opacity regarding civic oversight and accountability for possible human rights violations committed by this institution in the exercise of police functions.

Note: The government denied all information requested by the Monitor regarding the number of military personnel or internal deployment of troops, arguing that disclosure of this information would jeopardize national security. The refusal to provide this information not only makes it impossible to perform a comprehensive analysis of the Armed Forces and their participation in internal police functions, but also represents an alarming tendency of opacity regarding civic oversight and accountability for possible human rights violations committed by this institution in the exercise of police functions.

Note: All budget amounts were converted to USD at the exchange rate of L24.6.

Note: All budget amounts were converted to USD at the exchange rate of L24.6.

Note: All budget amounts were converted to USD at the exchange rate of L24.6.

Note: With respect to complaints of human rights violations perpetrated by members of the Armed Forces, data from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and CONADEH are shown to highlight the large difference between the number of complaints reported by the two agencies.

Sources: Public Prosecutor’s Office; CONADEH.

Note: The Ministry of Defense did not provide data regarding complaints or cases remitted to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for human rights abuses, indicating that “the Armed Forces of Honduras is not the entity responsible for providing this type of information.”

Our Partners

WOLA is working in collaboration with the following organizations in Central America:

IUDOP fundacion myrna mack IUDPAS
University Institute of Public Opinion
El Salvador		 Myrna Mack Foundation
Guatemala		 Institute on Democracy, Peace & Security
Honduras

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