A. International level

6. Honduras is a party to the seven major international human rights instruments, and ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 2002. It is also a party to the two Optional Protocols to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but has ratified only the first Optional Protocol and the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but not the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Government of Honduras submitted a core document for use by the treaty bodies in September 1998 (HRI/CORE/1/Add.96). In July 2006, a total of nine periodic reports from Honduras were overdue: two to the Committee against Torture (first and second); one to the Human Rights Committee (second); three to the Committee on the

Elimination of Discrimination against Women (fourth to sixth); one to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (first); and the two initial reports due under the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

7. Honduras is not a party to the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries, which has been ratified by 28 States. Despite the limitations of this 1989 Convention, accession constitutes an important step towards addressing the problem of mercenaries. The Working Group is encouraged by the verbal statements and repeated indications from the executive, legislative and judicial branches in Honduras and welcomes indications from the treaty department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the issue of ratification of the Convention could be placed before Congress in the coming months. The Working Group welcomes this step and offers its support and assistance for speedy ratification.

8. One of the Convention’s limitations is that PMSCs and their employees fall into a grey area which the Convention does not specifically cover. This demonstrates the need for appropriate national regulation, control and monitoring of the activities of these security companies to guarantee State responsibility for the effective protection of human rights. In terms of human rights obligations, while the responsibilities of non-State actors remain a matter for debate, the Working Group considers that private enterprises, as organs of society, share the obligations set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

9. Once international treaties enter into force, they become part of domestic law and their provisions can be invoked by individuals or legal entities in any court or before any authority in the country. Any conflict between a treaty and the Constitution is resolved in accordance with the Constitution, which stipulates that, in cases of conflict between a treaty and domestic law, the treaty shall prevail (Constitution of Honduras, arts. 16, 17 and 18).

B. National level

10. Given the limited international regulation of PMSCs, the Working Group notes the critical importance of complementing international efforts by establishing licensing and registration systems for PMSCs and their employees at the national level. Such regulation should include defining minimum requirements for transparency and accountability of firms, screening and vetting personnel, and establishing a monitoring system including parliamentary oversight.

11. With regard to the situation of Chileans trained in Honduras, relevant articles in the Constitution include article 15 (in which Honduras endorses “the principles and practices … which promote human solidarity, respect for the self-determination of peoples, non-intervention and the strengthening of universal peace and democracy”), as well as articles 30 to 35, in particular article 32, which states that “foreigners may not carry out political activities of a national or international character in the country, on pain of punishment in accordance with the law”. The Constitution does allow the National Congress to authorize foreign military missions to provide assistance and technical cooperation in Honduras, and to allow or forbid foreign troops to pass through Honduran territory (art. 205). Although there is no provision specifically dealing with military training of foreign civilians, Congress argues that activities by foreign troops on Honduran soil should be authorized by the legislature and not the Government.

12. The Working Group was informed of the amendment process designed to strengthen the provisions of the Criminal Code in order to counter the use of mercenaries. The National Human Rights Commissioner noted that article 317 of the Criminal Code stipulated up to six years’ imprisonment for training of nationals of third countries, with a clear distinction made where the ultimate purpose was training for the security services. Senior representatives of the judiciary were seeking to expand the definitions to fulfil the requirements of the Convention against Mercenaries, and also indicated that a special law could be one legislative avenue to pursue in this regard. The Procurator-General favoured amending the Criminal Code, where “unlawful association” meant simply belonging to a gang. Another provision which the judiciary considered in need of improvement was article 416 of the Criminal Code, which dealt with the recruitment of troops of foreign nationality.

13. The Working Group was informed that an Interdepartmental Commission had been set up in June 2006 to meet two to three times per month, convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to ensure greater coordination of the efforts of the authorities for the promotion and protection of human rights. The Commission includes the Procurator-General, the Special Procurator for Human Rights, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Justice, the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Public Security, the Supreme Court and the Procurator.

14. Another measure was the establishment of a “mercenaries unit” in the Ministry of Public Security (Acting Director-General of Special Investigation Services in the DGIC). The Special Unit for Private Security Companies was set up in early 2006, with the task of undertaking joint inspections with the Ministry of Labour. The Unit is to make announced or surprise inspection visits.

15. In October 2002, the Honduran National Congress approved a law regulating the possession of firearms and other weapons. The law bans individuals, including members of private security firms, from possessing weapons such as AK-47s. The Ministry of Security, which also licenses weapons of particular calibres, maintains a ballistics register indicating who is responsible and who owns weapons. A Criminal Unit in the Ministry of Public Security will be administering the ballistics register, while not controlling it. The previous Government privatized the ballistics register in 2004 under a concession arrangement. The figure of US$ 24 per weapon initially charged has now been reduced to US$ 17 per weapon. Now all equipment is monitored, and the State keeps US$ 5 for each weapon registered.

16. Each PMSC must report on its weapons, including their calibre, and register them. Unregistered weapons are confiscated. By law, PMSCs cannot use automatic weapons (nor can the police). Previously, a PMSC could loan weapons to another company, but now such transfers are prohibited. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for authorizing imports of small arms and light weapons and granting licences to importers.

17. The Working Group notes that, although PMSCs do not act as agents of the State, the State is responsible for issuing licences and for monitoring and oversight both of parent companies and of subsidiaries.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 814