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Honduras Domestic Human Rights Organizations
Human rights groups in Honduras first became active in
the early
1980s when revolution and counterrevolution brought
violence and
instability to Central America. In Honduras, these groups
organized
in response to the mounting level of domestic violence
targeted at
leftist organizations, particularly from 1982 to 1984,
when General
lvarez commanded the military. Human rights organizations
were at
times targeted by the Honduran military with harassment
and
political violence. According to some observers, the
United States
embassy in Honduras also participated in a campaign to
discredit
Honduran human rights organizations at a time when
Honduras was
serving as a key component of United States policy toward
Central
America.
In the early 1990s, there have been three major
nongovernmental
human rights organizations in Honduras: the Committee for
the
Defense of Human Rights in Honduras (Comité para la
Defensa de
Derechos Humanos de Honduras--Codeh); the Committee of the
Families
of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (Comité de las
Familias
de los Detenidos y Desaparecidos Hondureños--Cofadeh); and
the
Center of the Investigation and Promotion of Human Rights
(Centro
de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos
Humanos--Ciprodeh).
Established in 1981 by Ramón Custodio, Codeh became the
country's foremost human rights organization in the 1980s
with a
network throughout the country. The organization has
withstood
harassment and intimidation by Honduran security forces.
In January
1988, Codeh's regional director in northern Honduras,
Miguel Ángel
Pavón, was assassinated before he was about to testify in
a case
brought before the IACHR.
In the early 1990s, Codeh remained the country's most
important
and most internationally known human rights organization.
Codeh
continues to issue annual reports and to speak out
frequently, not
only on human rights violations, but also on economic,
social, and
political issues. Some observers have criticized Codeh for
going
beyond a human rights focus, as well as for exaggerating
charges
against the government and military. In the 1980s and as
late as
1990, the United States Department of State in its annual
human
rights reports on Honduras often charged that Codeh's
charges were
ill-documented, exaggerated, and in some cases false.
Cofadeh was founded in 1982 by Zenaida Velásquez,
sister of
Ángel Manfredo Velásquez, the disappeared student and
labor
activist whose case Codeh and Cofadeh brought before the
IACHR. As
its name suggests, Cofadeh's membership consists of
relatives of
the disappeared and detained, and in the 1980s, its
members often
demonstrated near the Presidential Palace in the center of
Tegucigalpa.
Ciprodeh, founded in 1991 by Leo Valladares, provides
human
rights educational and legal services. The group offers
human
rights courses and monthly seminars, as well as a special
program
for the protection of the rights of children and women.
Until late 1992, the Honduran government had not
established an
effective human rights monitor, and Codeh and Cofadeh
often served
this purpose. In 1987 the Azcona government had
established the
Inter-Institutional Commission on Human Rights (Comisión
InterInstitucional de Derechos Humanos--CIDH), made up of
representatives from the three branches of government and
the
military, to investigate human rights violations. The CIDH
proved
ineffective and did not receive cooperation from either
civilian
judicial or military authorities.
In December 1992, the Callejas government inaugurated a
new
governmental human rights body, a human rights commission,
headed
by Valladares of Ciprodeh. This new office--the National
Commission
for the Protection of Human Rights (Comisión Nacional para
la
Protección de Derechos Humanos--Conaprodeh)--was active in
1993 in
receiving complaints of human rights violations and in
certain
instances provided "protection" to those citizens issuing
complaints.
Although Honduras has experienced more than a decade of
civilian
rule, many observers maintain that the military is still
the most
powerful political actor in the country. Since the
mid-twentieth
century, the military has become a cohesive national
institution
and has made strides in improving its professionalism. The
Honduran
armed forces handled themselves well in the 1969 war with
El
Salvador and the sometimes-not-too-cold war with Nicaragua
in the
1980s. The question for the Honduran armed forces in the
1990s,
however, is how they will deal with regional peace,
downsizing, and
a populace growing disenchanted with the military's role
in
national politics.
* * *
Book length treatments of the armed forces and police
are
scarce. Leticia Salomón's Política y militares en
Honduras
provides a short overview of political-military relations.
The
recently published "The United States, Honduras, and the
Crisis in
Central America" by Donald E. Schulz and Deborah Loff
covers United
States relations with the government and armed forces of
Honduras
and explores the role that important Honduras military
leaders have
played in the politics of the country. Several works by
Tom Barry
and Kent Norsworthy, such as Inside Honduras and
Central
America Inside Out: The Essential Guide to Its Societies,
Politics,
and Economics, include chapters on the armed forces,
police,
and foreign military assistance. James A. Morris's
Honduras:
Caudillo Politics and Military Rulers (1984) is dated
but
contains useful background information.
Also useful are annual or semi-annual publications,
including
World Defence Almanac, The Military Balance,
and
Foreign Military Markets: Latin America and
Austrasliasia,
which contain information on the order of battle, weapons
inventories, and defense expenditures.
Journal and newspaper articles were highly useful in
the
preparation of this chapter, especially Julio Montes's
"The
Honduran Army--The Last 20 Years," in Jane's
Intelligence
Review (February 1993). The Los Angeles Times, New
York
Times, Washington post, and Miami Herald
provide regular
reporting on political and military developments in
Honduras.
The Latin American Weekly report and the
Foreign
Broadcast Information Service Daily Report--Latin
America also
provide regular reporting on military activities in
Honduras.
The penal and judicial systems of Honduras are
adequately
treated in La administracion de justicia en Honduras:
descripcion y analisis del sector, by the Instituto
Latinoamericano de las Naciones Unidas para la Prevención
del
Delito y Tratamiento de Delicuente. (For further
information and
complete citations,
see
Bibliography.)
Data as of December 1993
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