Juan Orlando Hernández: Let's Rethink Human Rights

Proceso Digital reported Thursday that the candidate for president from the Partido Nacional thinks it is time to reconsider the concept of human rights.

Not, unfortunately, in the way one might hope, given Honduras' human rights failings.

No, Juan Orlando Hernández thinks we are doing a little too much coddling of people with that old-fashioned concept. During a campaign event in northern Honduras, he reportedly said

“I am conscious that if a public official, a police officer or a soldier should commit a crime you have to protect human rights, but the problem is that they don't talk about the rights of the victims."

In other words: in order to protect crime victims, Hernández would like the police and military to have some leeway on those expectations of observing human rights.

We wish this were not really what he said. Actually, it is worse.

The candidate was trying to explain why he was the only one of eight contestants for President who failed to sign a "security pact" promoted by the CRSP-- the state Comisión de Reforma de la Seguridad Pública.

This is the independent commission set up by legislative mandate to address the corruption and poor performance of the Honduran government bodies that should be responsible for investigating crime and prosecuting criminals. CRSP proposed that all parties subscribe to a plan that "would guarantee a profound transformation in the system and improve the results of the Secretaría de Seguridad, Ministerio Público and Poder Judicial".

Juan Orlando Hernández said he did not sign because

“I do not agree with this pact, it seems to me that is lacking a lot. It is unacceptable that it isn't clear that the Armed Forces should play a role as protagonist in recovering the peace and tranquility of the country, that does not appear right to me".

The pact goes further than that: it calls for reaffirmation of the civil role of the national police and the revamping of police on a community policing model. Since Juan Orlando Hernández was the principal architect of the new Policia Militar, it would be a bit awkward to endorse repudiation of that approach.

So the candidate of the Partido Nacional goes into the last weeks of the race as the only presidential candidate who did not agree, if elected to enact the core commitments of the CRSP accord:

• to undertake a comprehensive reform of the system of Public Security
• to completely revamp the entire police system to create a true Community Police "close to the community, transparent in its performance, efficient in its functioning, respectful of human rights and the basic norms of the State of Law"
• to reaffirm respect for the strictly civil and nonpartisan nature of all the National Police, and of the professional, independent, and apolitical character of the attorneys and judges
• to promote prevention of violence and crime through education, recreational programs, and employment for youth
• to promote civic participation in community security and violence prevention
• to maintain a constant fight against corruption of the offices of justice
• to consolidate the respect for human rights, government transparency, and accountability

The signed document shows the neatly typed signature block for the Partido Nacional candidate, devoid of his endorsement, contrasting with the signatures of all the other candidates.

Maybe Juan Orlando Hernández knows something no one else does, and believes that standing up for militarized police will give him the edge he needs to take the lead.

But as it stands, his breaking ranks simply underlines that his is the candidacy of militarizing everyday life. And if his opponents pursue the point, it could raise awkward questions about his lack of commitment to anti-corruption, pro-accountability policies.

Controlling the Supreme Court

The Honduran Supreme Court last week rolled over and offered its belly to Congress, voting 10-3 to open a disciplinary investigation into justice Marco Zuniga.

Zuniga, you will recall, wrote a scathing letter which he made public to chief justice Jorge Rivera Aviles in which he accused Rivera Aviles of being an alcoholic.

The Supreme Court vote came shortly after Congress threatened to dismiss Zuniga if he maintained his confrontational attitude with Rivera Aviles.  The threat came from Congressman Oswaldo Ramos Soto, chief author of many of the laws the previous Constitutional Branch of the Supreme Court found unconstitutional.  Ramos Soto says that Congress gave Rivera Aviles special powers to have full authority over personnel within the court, to re-assign justices to other positions within the Supreme Court, and to appoint the new council that will in the future, review and appoint judges. 

Ramos Soto said:

It's too bad that in the highest court of justice you have this type of problems.  I recommend to the magistrates involved that they moderate their tempers, calm down, because if it comes to Congress, Congress is ready to make the call, including firing them for insubordination in the Court.

The Supreme Court took the action of opening an disciplinary investigation into justice Marco Zuniga after voting 10-3 to confirm that Chief Justice Rivera Aviles was authorized by Congress to move judges around between the branches of the court, an unprecedented action.  Neither Rivera Aviles nor Marco Zuniga participated in the voting.

Congressional threats are not limited to the Supreme Court.  Now that Congress has given itself the power to remove anyone in government, it is considering removing the Public Prosecutor, Luis Rubí, who has a lousy investigation and conviction record. 

During the discussion of a revision to the law code to address hate crimes against women, Juan Orlando Hernandez said:

In advance, I tell you, I would not take it badly that as we are evaluating the performance of the Supreme Court and the Police, that this be done with the public prosecutors.

Marvin Ponce has said Rubí will be the first political justice case tried under the new law. 

This statement comes just after the Comisión de Reforma de la Seguridad Pública (CSRP) issued a report requesting the anti-corruption prosecutor be removed for corruption and incompetence, and a second report supposedly financed by the US Embassy was produced, recommending a complete reorganization of the public prosecutor's office. 

Marvin Ponce, vice president of Congress, confirmed he's heard of these reports, but the actions that might be taken are just rumors.

As Rafael Padilla of the Lawyers Against Corruption said:

The tragedy of Honduras is that justice is political, not legal, a product of the autocratic government that prevails.

As if to underscore Padilla's point, the Supreme Court ruled 9-4 with two abstentions to uphold the police cleanup law, the very same law that the four justices illegally fired by Congress said was unconstitutional because it failed to provide for the due process rights of the accused. So Congressional moves to remove justices who dared to disagree with them worked: from here on, expect Congress to be able to act with impunity.

Investigate Anti-Corruption Prosecutor

Henry Salgado, the anti-corruption Prosecutor, must step aside; that's the request of the Comisión de Reforma de Seguridad Publica.

That is the commission composed of three Hondurans and two foreigners charged to oversee the cleanup of the police, judiciary, and prosecutor's office.

Their first act was to ask for a meeting with the Public Prosecutor, Luis Rubí, to request that he follow recommendation 42 of the official Truth Commission, and put the anti-corruption Prosecutor on leave while his actions over the last several years are investigated.

The commission has no enforcement powers and can only make recommendations. Nonetheless, this is significant for a number of reasons.

In reiterating the Truth Commission recommendation, they noted that Salgado appeared to have not properly done his duty in investigating the Zelaya and Micheletti governments. Specifically, he only investigated and accused officials of the Zelaya administration. and did not investigate acts of corruption in the de facto government.

Rubí announced he would meet with the Comisión de Reforma de Seguridad Publica Monday so that they could discuss their letter and turn over any information they had. Asked if he will open an investigation, he replied:

We have to reach an agreement and follow procedures. We must follow the proper procedures.

Salgado pursued prosecutions against Zelaya and others for corruption, but has either lost those cases in court, or had them dismissed due to procedural improprieties. But Rubí isn't really any better: he has been a particularly ineffective Public Prosecutor, and his office has won few convictions. And then there's his role in the 2009 coup d'etat. It would seem that he should be a target for the commission, not the person in control of whether their recommendations are followed.

Arturo Corrales: Corrruption Accusations are OK

Arturo Corrales doesn't get it.

The Honduran Police are corrupt.  There are over 5000 open investigations of police officers for criminal acts, human rights violations, and acts of corruption.  In addition, its commanding officers don't feel that they are bound by Honduran law.

An example of this is the revelation that in 2010 the police commanders allowed the registration of 143 assault rifles, which are banned from private ownership by Honduran law.  The charges, against the highest police officials, including former police commissioner Ricardo Ramirez del Cid, and ex head of the investigative police, the DNIC, Marco Tulio Palma.  Palma has also been charged with aiding in the escape of four police officers wanted for the murder of two university students.

Into this corruption comes the Comisión de Reforma de la Seguridad Pública , an oversight group charged with cleaning up the police, judges and legislators.  This commission consists of three national members, and two international members.  Lobo Sosa asked Chile and Canada, his go-to countries for foreign yes men, for nominations to the commission.

But in order to be credible, this commission, and its members, must be beyond reproach.  No one has raised doubts about the Honduran members, nor the Canadian member. The Chilean nominee, General Aquiles Blu Rodriguez, is accused of corruption in his own country; specifically with appropriating 20 kilograms of cocaine from drugs confiscated by the Chilean Caribineros, taking money confiscated from suspected drug traffickers, and changing an official police report to protect the child of a former director of the Carabineros.

Congress person Augusto Cruz of the Christian Democrat party called on Lobo Sosa to reject General Blu given the accusations against him.

"We can't have him in Honduras when there are already doubts about his participation in acts associated with drug trafficking."

Arturo Corrales told the press that none the less, General Aquiles Blu will be part of the commission.

"We had knowledge of this before the news broke; his curriculum vita is impeccable, his resume is untouchable. There is nothing more that we can do except thank President Piñera, and the Chilean government who have sent us someone with such an excellent record of service in the Carabineros of Chile."

Corrales rejects the charges against General Blu, arguing that Blu resigned when the charges were announced in Chile, but other sources report that Chilean President Piñera passed over Blu because of the accusations and forced him to retire.  The charges were serious enough that Blu, according to Chilean sources, was forced to resign, and the Director of the Carabineros, General Eduardo Gordon, whose son Blu was protecting, resigned amidst scandal.

While Chilean sources seem to think the charges were substantiated and resulted in Blu's forced retirement, really the truth or falsity of the charges doesn't matter.  There's too much at stake in reforming the Honduran police, for there to be a place for anyone whose antecedents have been publicly questioned.  His mere presence on the commission will call into question the validity of everything it does.  How can the Honduran people have confidence in such a commission when one of its members is accused of the kinds of acts it seeks to eliminate from the Honduran police?

Arturo Corrales doesn't get that, but Matias Funes does.  Funes is one of the Hondurans appointed to the Comisión de Reforma de la Seguridad Publica. He met with Porfirio Lobo Sosa Thursday to point out that what Honduras needs is renowned people who will help clean up the image of the police, and not people who have questions about them.  Funes expressed his preoccupation that Blu is not what Honduras needs.  Lobo Sosa replied that he was sure that Chile had sent an appropriate person.

If General Blu is the honorable man that Corrales believes him to be, he will recuse himself rather than taint the commission's work with the corruption accusation against him.  Yet press reports in Honduras say he will arrive to begin work in the next few days.

Arturo Corrales doesn't get it, and if Lobo Sosa allows Blu to serve, he doesn't get it either.