Honduras

A riot and fire started after clashes between rival gangs in a women’s prison resulted in at least 46 deaths. Less than a week later, 13 people were killed in a deadly shooting in the city of Choloma, believed to be linked to gang violence as well. According to a police commissioner, the killings in Choloma could be reprisals related to the prison deaths. President Xiomara Castro has ordered an inquiry into the circumstances of the prison riot, as women deprived of their liberty allegedly had access to weapons, as well as an investigation into the shooting in the city of Choloma. According to police, there are allegations that these two events are possibility connected. A local curfew in Choloma and San Pedro Sula was implemented during two weeks in response to the shooting, which President Castro characterised as a “terrorist attack” ordered by drug gangs. 

Security Gang Violence Xiomara Castro

International experts have raised alerts about the concerning levels of violence in Honduras. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights carried out a visit to the country in April, during which it highlighted that the murder of human rights and environmental activists position the country as one of the most violent in the region. Social leaders and activists have stressed that the implementation of a state of emergency to counter organized crime in the past months has negatively impacted their activities. Further, the Norwegian Refugee Council carried out a visit to Honduras, during which it expressed concern for the levels of violence similar to those of an armed conflict, with many displaced and a disproportionate impact on women, who are subjected to sexual and other forms of gender-based violence

State of Emergency Gender-Based Violence Human Rights Defenders Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

President Xiomara Castro signed an executive decree to lift a ban on emergency contraception that had been in place since 2009. The decree was signed on International Women’s Day. Women’s rights activists and organizations celebrated the reversal of this ban, which had been one of Castro’s campaign promises before her 2021 election, particularly given the fact that abortion in Honduras remains prohibited under all circumstances. The emergency contraception pill will be sold over the counter at pharmacies and be free at health centres (last December its use had exceptionally been approved in cases of rape).

Xiomara Castro

On 24 November the Honduran government announced a new strategy to counter high levels of extortion in the country. The new strategy includes the implementation of a state of emergency in several neighbourhoods and the use of emergency powers to investigate and detain those suspected of committing extortion. This includes the suspension of due process guarantees with a view to end widespread extortion against those who work in transportation (such as taxi and bus operators). The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Honduras has pointed out that disadvantaged and marginalized communities primarily live in such neighbourhoods, and thus the need for an adequate social policy that targets the root causes of violence and provides a long term and sustainable solution to it.

Gang Violence Organized Crime Xiomara Castro