Can Honduras tackle deep-seated police corruption?
2 years, 4 months ago

Can Honduras tackle deep-seated police corruption?

Al Jazeera  

Tocoa, Honduras – Amid allegations that an elite Honduran police force colluded with a notorious gang while carrying out death-squad activities, observers are asking whether the administration of President Xiomara Castro has the political power or will to reform the country’s security forces. The head of the National Police, Gustavo Sanchez Velasquez, in June acknowledged abuses by the National Anti-Gang Police Force during a segment on Honduran national television, promising: “We are going to transform it, because we’ve found an institution that violated human rights. The problem is so huge.” Adilia Castro, a human rights worker from the department of Colon, told Al Jazeera that so far, nothing has fundamentally changed with the country’s security framework: “What we’re seeing now is an attempt to lower the profile of how the state security forces operate.” Neither the National Anti-Gang Police Force nor its successor agency responded to questions from Al Jazeera. Lobo’s killing – which came amid a steady rise in mass killings this spring – presaged an order by the Castro government that military police accompany National Police in all operations.

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History of this topic

Honduras plans to build a 20,000-capacity ‘megaprison’ for gang members as part of a crackdown
6 months, 1 week ago

Honduras plans to build a 20,000-capacity ‘megaprison’ for gang members as part of a crackdown

Associated Press  

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — The president of Honduras has announced the creation of a new 20,000-capacity “megaprison,” part of the government’s larger crackdown on gang violence and efforts to overhaul its long-troubled prison system. President Xiomara Castro unveiled a series of emergency measures in a nationally televised address early Saturday, including plans to strengthen the military’s role in fighting organized crime, …

Honduras to build 20,000-inmate ‘megaprison’ as part of gang crackdown
6 months, 1 week ago

Honduras to build 20,000-inmate ‘megaprison’ as part of gang crackdown

Al Jazeera  

President Xiomara Castro says new measures including ‘terrorist’ designations for gang members are in response to public complaints about rising violence. In a late-night televised address to the nation, President Xiomara Castro said on Friday the “plan of solutions against crime” was in response to a “security emergency” and public complaints about increasing violence. Flanked by members of Honduras’s National …

No ‘clear way out’: How Ecuador descended into gang violence
10 months, 1 week ago

No ‘clear way out’: How Ecuador descended into gang violence

Al Jazeera  

Experts trace the root causes of Ecuador’s spiralling violence, as President Daniel Noboa leads a crackdown on gangs. “Ecuador is a small country in a violent neighbourhood, and it’s become a key part of global narco-trafficking networks,” said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, a US-based think tank. As Ecuador’s prominence in …

Could El Salvador’s gang crackdown spread across Latin America?
1 year, 4 months ago

Could El Salvador’s gang crackdown spread across Latin America?

Al Jazeera  

A harsh crackdown on gangs has brought Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele popularity, but experts say the cost is steep. “When massive rights violations become commonplace, it’s very rare for this to result in lasting peace,” said Noah Bullock, executive director of the Salvadoran rights group Cristosal, which has monitored rights violations under the state of exception. “The magnitude of the …

Honduras wants to build West’s only island prison colony and lock gangsters inside
1 year, 5 months ago

Honduras wants to build West’s only island prison colony and lock gangsters inside

Associated Press  

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Honduras plans to build the only island prison colony in the Western Hemisphere and send its most-feared gangsters there, tearing a page from neighboring El Salvador’s unforgiving approach to murder, robbery, rape and extortion. “A new prison is quite useless if you don’t first regain control of the others you already have,” said Tiziano Breda, a Latin …

Honduras to build island colony to imprison gang members
1 year, 5 months ago

Honduras to build island colony to imprison gang members

Al Jazeera  

Officials hope the isolated facility will cut gang members off from criminal networks on the mainland. “A new prison is quite useless if you don’t first regain control of the others you already have,” said Tiziano Breda, a Latin America expert at Italy’s Istituto Affari Internazionali. “It’s the farthest away they can possibly be, so these gang leaders feel the …

Honduras copies El Salvador’s playbook in anti-gang crackdown
1 year, 5 months ago

Honduras copies El Salvador’s playbook in anti-gang crackdown

Associated Press  

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — A crackdown in Honduras on gangs in the nation’s prisons is eerily similar to one carried out last year in neighboring El Salvador by President Nayib Bukele, observers said Tuesday. “It’s the same phenomenon,” said retired police commissioner Henry Osorto, but added that the crackdowns should be scrutinized to see whether “standards and international treaties are being …

Honduras adopts Salvadoran-style tactics in gang crackdown on prison inmates
1 year, 5 months ago

Honduras adopts Salvadoran-style tactics in gang crackdown on prison inmates

LA Times  

Authorities in Honduras forced half-naked inmates to sit in tight rows while they searched for contraband in a sweep of prisons Monday, similar to the harsh tactics of neighboring El Salvador. The prison sweep demonstrated the Honduran government’s resolve to crack down on gangs following last week’s gang-related massacre of 46 female inmates, the worst atrocity at a women’s prison …

As El Salvador’s arrest wave continues, families live in worry
2 years, 7 months ago

As El Salvador’s arrest wave continues, families live in worry

Al Jazeera  

Relatives of people arrested in government’s crackdown on gangs say they have little to no information about loved ones. “I’m worried that they aren’t giving him medical attention and that something could happen to him,” his relative, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation from authorities, told Al Jazeera. “This situation causes despair, anguish and everything that …

Can a new government dig Honduras out of its hole?
3 years ago

Can a new government dig Honduras out of its hole?

Al Jazeera  

Tegucigalpa, Honduras – When the first female president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, takes office on January 27, she will face a number of daunting challenges: restoring the country’s battered democratic institutions, tackling widespread corruption, and recovering from the crises caused by COVID-19 and last year’s devastating hurricanes. “The elections show the necessity that the current government leave and that we …

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