Major cities connect via an inconsistently maintained, two-lane system of paved roads, with many unpaved secondary roads. Serious crime in the city of Ojai was down for the third year in a row in 2022, according to figures released Feb. 22 by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office. Indigenous and ethnic minority communities are frequently located in rural areas, which enjoy lower levels of criminal activity. Honduras crime rate & statistics for 2020 was 36.33, a 13.52% decline from 2019. These workshops are part of a multiphase effort to promote transparency, cooperation,. Institutions such as the National Womens Institute attempted to enhance the governments response to domestic violence by opening three additional womens centers in the country. The government considers rape a crime of public concern, and the state prosecutes rapists even if victims do not press charges. The law requires individuals and companies that employ more than 20 school-age children at their facilities to provide a location for a school. Although its specialists occasionally cannot provide the U.S. standard of care, the hospital and diagnostic departments do have the capability to provide most medical procedures. Travelers should be aware, however, that the assistance the Embassy can provide is limited to making sure U.S. citizens are not treated differently from local detainees and providing them with a list of local attorneys. International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and USAID implementing partners have reported threats and violence when visiting some rural communities. Due to the remote nature of these areas, the governments ability to respond to violence or other problems is often very limited, as is access to medical facilities. The Public Ministry received one report of discrimination based on an individuals disability as of September. Her most recent evaluation was in August, and the court declared her fit to stand trial in September. ; these are generally safer areas in which to reside because of their heightened security measures. On October 7, the National Congress increased penalties for forced labor under the trafficking-in-persons article of the penal code from five to eight years imprisonment to 10 to 15 years, bringing the penalties in line with the penalties for other analogous serious crimes, such as kidnapping. Under the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework, with significant support from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the government continued to build capacity to provide services to vulnerable populations, including IDPs, those at risk of forced displacement, refugees, and returned migrants. Diarrheal illness is very common even in large cities and luxury accommodations. CONAPREV reported 13 violent deaths in prisons as of September. There were no reports of anti-Semitic acts. Most children who worked did so without STSS permits. With offices throughout the country, the ombudsperson received cases that otherwise might not have risen to national attention. The court found that Hernndez suffered harassment by police the night before she was killed, the police and military had effective control of the streets on the night she died, and Honduras conducted no effective investigation into her killing. The law establishes prison sentences of up to two and one-half years for child abuse. The government investigated violence and threats of violence against union leaders. The Honduras Medical Center (HMC) is the primary private hospital that the Embassy uses for emergency response and when hospitalization is required. Roatn and the Bay Islands are geographically separate from the mainland and experience lower crime rates even when compared with other Caribbean islands. A revision to the penal code that entered into force in June 2020 broadly reduces criminal penalties for corruption by officials. Since 2010, 42 journalists have been killed, UNESCO reported. Prison conditions were harsh and at times life threatening due to pervasive gang-related violence and the governments failure to control criminal activity within the prisons. Share this via Printer. While many protests remain relatively peaceful, demonstrations can escalate into violent confrontations with the police resulting in destruction to public and private property. These tensions have resulted in intense protests and violence. This resulted in multiple protests by environmentalist groups claiming the project is illegal due to the damage to the bioreserve and exacerbating the citys already dire water shortage. Counterfeit medicines are available inpulperas (private home-operated convenience stores), but have also been reported inFarmacias del Ahorro. The law prohibits all the worst forms of child labor. . The quasi-governmental National Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment (CONAPREV) received 18 complaints of the use of torture or cruel and inhuman treatment through August. According to government estimates, children with disabilities attended school at a lower rate than the general population. The safety situation in Honduras has been deteriorating in recent years due to gang violence and organized crime. Thefts, break-ins, assaults, rapes, and murders do occur. Always carry a mobile phone in case of emergency. There are an estimated 7,000-10,000 gang members in a country with an approximate population of ten million people. The National Interinstitutional Security Force coordinates the overlapping responsibilities of the national police, military police of public order, National Intelligence Directorate, and Public Ministry during interagency operations. Reach the local police anywhere in Honduras by dialing 911. While the risk from crime in Honduras remains a concern, most U.S. citizens visiting or residing in Honduras are unaffected by violence and visit for tourism or humanitarian aid work without incident. There were allegations that companies used collective pacts, which are collective contracts with nonunionized workers, to prevent unionization and collective bargaining because only one collective contract may exist in each workplace. The law also sanctions abortion providers. There are no known international terrorist groups operating in Honduras. The Ministry of Securitys Directorate of Disciplinary Police Affairs investigated members of the Honduran National Police accused of human rights abuses. Fire Department operations: +504-2231-1667. You are here: crime rate portland vs phoenix / enfin libre saad avis / honduras crime and safety report 2021 January 19, 2023 / in usapho qualifiers 2021 / by Transgender persons are prohibited from changing their legal gender status. Organized criminal groups, including local and transnational gangs and narcotics traffickers, were significant perpetrators of violent crimes and committed acts of homicide, torture, kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, intimidation, and other threats and violence directed against human rights defenders, judicial authorities, lawyers, business community members, journalists, bloggers, women, and other vulnerable populations. Other ways to share Review the State Departments webpage on insurance overseas. The municipalities in which kidnappings were reported include: Districto Central (4), Jacaleapa (1), Trojes (1), Siguatepeque (1), Puerto Cortes (1), Lejamani (1), Tocoa (1), Tela (1), and Comayagua (1). Even when traffic signals are working, drivers often ignore them. LGBTI+ travelers should exercise caution, especially when expressing affection in public. Reports of kidnappings of U.S. citizens are not common, with zero reports for 2019. Participation of Women and Members of Minority Groups: No laws limit the participation of women or members of minority groups in the political process, and they did participate. Official data on forced internal displacement, especially displacement due to violence, was limited in part because gangs controlled many of the neighborhoods that were sources of internal displacement (see section 6, Displaced Children). Most crime victims are members of rival gangs, small business owners who resist gang extortion, passengers on public transportation, or those involved in land tenure disputes. . Administrative penalties were insufficient to deter violations and were rarely enforced. The security situation is expected to continue to deteriorate in 2020 and 2021. Reproductive Rights: There were no reports of coerced abortion or involuntary sterilization on the part of government authorities. Honduras is listed as a high-risk country in the INFORM risk index and according to Insight-Crime, it is among the most violent . After 37 detainees were killed in a 2019 wave of gang violence, President Juan Orlando Hernndez declared a state of emergencyextended to December 2021and put prisons under military control. The accused were in pretrial detention awaiting the next phase of the judicial process. Honduras is a constitutional, multiparty republic. Nonetheless, many prisoners remained in custody after completing their full sentences, and sometimes even after an acquittal, because officials failed to process their releases expeditiously. Openness To, and Restrictions Upon, Foreign Investment Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment Limits on Foreign Control and Right to Private Ownership and Establishment Other Investment Policy Reviews Business Facilitation Outward Investment 2. Powerful special interests, including organized criminal groups, exercised influence on the outcomes of some court proceedings. The government has also begun implementing a series of police reforms; it has formed groups such as the National Inter-Agency Security Task Force (FUSINA) and the National Anti-Gang Task Force (FNAMP) to combat crime. Organized criminal groups, such as drug traffickers and local and transnational gangs including MS-13 and the 18th Street gang, committed killings, extortion, kidnappings, human trafficking, and intimidation of police, prosecutors, journalists, women, human rights defenders, and others. Honduras has the highest rate of femicidedefined as the killing of a woman by a man because of her genderin Latin America, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reports. You can add more than one country or area. Some NGOs reported irregularities, including late delivery of technology needed to transmit results, late opening of the polls, poll workers with varying degrees of preparation and knowledge of the electoral law and processes, and lack of transparency in campaign financing. HONDURAS / 19 APR 2022 BY SETH ROBBINS EN. The law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights. In addition the law prohibits strikes in a wide range of economic activities that the government has designated as essential services or that it considers would affect the rights of individuals in the larger community to security, health, education, and economic and social well-being. In August, a former director of the Honduran hydroelectric company DESA was convicted of organizing the 2016 assassination of environmental and Indigenous rights defender Berta Cceres, who opposed construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque river. Civil society organizations criticized the governments failure to investigate threats adequately. In the 2013 census, approximately 8.5 percent of the population identified themselves as members of indigenous communities, but other estimates were higher. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Office of International Religious Freedom, Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of the Science and Technology Adviser, Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, Bureau of Information Resource Management, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Share this via Reddit The government places specially trained police forces in areas tourists frequent (e.g. LGBT people are frequently targets of discrimination, extortion, and violence from gangs, the national civil police and military police, and members of the public. For more in-depth information, review OSACs. The law mandates that authorities release detainees whose cases have not yet come to trial and whose time in pretrial detention already exceeds the maximum prison sentence for their alleged crime. Vanessa worked as a volunteer in the Association for Prevention and Education in Health, Sexuality, AIDS, and Human Rights. The Public Ministrys Office of the Special Prosecutor for Human Rights handled cases involving charges of human rights abuses by government officials. By law workers may remove themselves from situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardizing continued employment. HMCs lab was reviewed by the Regional Medical Laboratory Scientist and found to be up to U.S. standards and quality assurance practices. Share this via Telegram Assassinations and violence continue under military supervision. Animals and people wander onto the roads. There is also a Human Rights Committee in the National Congress. The government did not restrict or disrupt access to the internet or censor online content, and there were no credible reports that the government monitored private online communications without appropriate legal authority. No cases were reported during the year. Honduras' national police force is overseen by the Secretary of Security, which had 18,770 agents in 2020 and ambitious plans to reach 26000 by 2022. Local law allows the police to detain someone for up to 24 hours for administrative processing. See the Department of States International Religious Freedom Report at https://www.state.gov/religiousfreedomreport/. However, in June and October 2021 it abstained from OAS resolutions condemning arrests of Nicaraguan presidential opposition candidates and critics and demanding their release. The government lacks resources to investigate and prosecute cases; police often lack vehicles/fuel to respond to calls for assistance. There were reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. Corruption: The new trial of former first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla de Lobo on charges of fraud and misappropriation of public funds, originally set to commence in March, was twice delayed for medical reasons. Review OSACs reports, Hotels: The Inns and Outs and Considerations for Hotel Security. However, visitors have reported being robbed while walking on isolated beaches. Forced labor occurred in street vending, domestic service, the transport of drugs and other illicit goods, other criminal activity, and the informal sector. Marred by corruption and abuse, the judiciary and police remain largely ineffective. Dial 911 for emergency or call (504) 2232-4092. An independent press and a functioning democratic political system combined to promote freedom of expression, including for members of the media. Honduras crime rate & statistics for 2019 was 42.01, a 7.91% increase from 2018. Travelers are responsible for ensuring that they have adequate health coverage while in Honduras. Gang violence is widespread in and around urban areas. Diarrheal illness is very common even in large cities and luxury accommodations. The law permits fines, and while the monetary penalty is sufficient to deter violations and commensurate with the penalties for similar crimes, such as fraud, the failure of the government to collect those fines facilitated continued labor code violations. Because labor inspectors continued to be concentrated in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, full labor inspections and follow-up visits to confirm compliance were far less frequent in other parts of the country. Birth Registration: Children derive citizenship by birth in the country, from the citizenship of their parents, or by naturalization. Government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views, but some human rights organizations criticized government officials for lack of access and responsiveness. Country Summary: Violent crime, such as homicide, armed robbery, and kidnapping, is common. For fire and public safety emergencies, dial 911. Violence was often rooted in a broader context of conflict over land and natural resources, extensive corruption, lack of transparency and community consultation, other criminal activity, and limited state ability to protect the rights of vulnerable communities. According to the Honduran National Police, there were 12 kidnappings reported nationwide during 2019. Most child labor occurred in rural areas. Civil society groups reported that women often did not report domestic violence or withdrew charges because they feared, or were economically dependent on, the aggressor. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, a. According to the secretariat, the system was designed for approximately 10,600 inmates. Girls and adolescents younger than 19 carry 15 percent of all pregnancies, the Monitoring Mechanism of the Belm do Par Convention reported in 2016. In April 2019, one or more individuals attempted a surreptitious breach of perimeter fencing at a U.S. Embassy residence. The Ministries of Security and of Defense both have human rights offices that coordinate human rights-related activities with the Secretariat of Human Rights. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Honduras. The government continued to prosecute individuals allegedly involved in the 2016 killing of environmental and indigenous activist Berta Caceres. If you or someone you know becomes the victim of a crime, contact the local police and U.S. Embassy Tegucigalpa. On March 3, unknown assailants killed Martin Pandy, president of the Garifuna community of Corozal, and another community member. The following day, protesters started a fire outside of one of the U.S. Embassys entrances during demonstrations against public-sector reforms in the country. Review OSACs report, Understanding the Consular Travel Advisory System. Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, Special Representative for Syria Engagement, U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Office of the U.S. The groups most likely to be internally displaced are children subjected to forced gang recruitment, professionals and business owners who face extortion, domestic violence survivors, and LGBT people and members of ethnic minorities who face violence and discrimination, the IACHR has reported. On March 28, transgender activist Vanessa Zuniga was killed in Tela, Atlantida Department. Only sealed commercial water containers (bottles) are considered safe to drink. Many prisoners had access to weapons and other contraband, inmates attacked other inmates with impunity, and inmates and their associates outside prison threatened prison officials and their families. It stipulates that a prosecutor has 24 additional hours to decide if there is probable cause for indictment, whereupon a judge has 24 more hours to decide whether to issue a temporary detention order. Although reports of kidnappings have dropped considerably in recent years, they continue to affect both the local and expatriate communities, with victims sometimes paying large ransoms for the prospect of release.