PRESIDENT MADURO VOWS TO COMBAT RISING MINOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L TEGUCIGALPA 000527

SIPDIS

FOR WHA/CEN, WHA/PPC, DRL/PHD, INL/LP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/23/2013
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KCRM ASEC SNAR KJUS PREL HO
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT MADURO VOWS TO COMBAT RISING MINOR
HOMICIDE RATE

REF: 02 TEGUCIGALPA 2956

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Roger D. Pierce for reasons
1.5(b) and (d).


1. (U) On February 19, before a hastily convened
international audience which included the ambassadors of
Great Britain, Taiwan, Germany, France, Spain, as well as
PolOff, President Ricardo Maduro vowed to combat Honduras'
surging homicide rate for minors. Maduro expressed his
administration's deep concern about the issue, calling the
murder of children the "ultimate human rights violation," and
asserted that those perpetuating these crimes will be brought
to justice. At the same time, however, Maduro acknowledged
the lack of law enforcement resources as a serious
impediment, specifically mentioning that every homicide
investigator is responsible for over 200 cases. The President
was accompanied by Defense Minister Frederico Breve and the
Minister of Public Security Oscar Alvarez.


2. (U) Following Maduro's remarks Public Security Minister
Alvarez presented government statistics compiled by his
office outlining the scope of the problem. Between 1998 and
2002, the GOH's figures count 744 minors murdered in
Honduras, primarily in the major urban centers of Tegucigalpa
and San Pedro Sula. This figure is substantially higher than
the 574 cited by the Minister of Government and Justice in an
October 2002 report (reftel). Casa Alianza (a child advocacy
NGO) has estimated that there were 1,500 extrajudicial
killings of youth under age 23 (including minors) between
January 1998 and December 2002. Alarmingly, during 2002
homicides of minors accounted for 42 percent of all cases.
Alvarez believes increased gang activity is to blame for the
killings. This has become a particular concern since the
U.S. government has stepped up deportations of Honduran
nationals, many of whom were hardened gang members while in
the United States.


3. (SBU) During his remarks, Alvarez failed to address
accusations of extrajudicial killings by GOH security forces.
Alvarez only restated often-repeated GOH policy that
Honduras would not tolerate, condone, or excuse the murder
of children. In a government handout titled "Special Report
on Child Homicide," (distributed after the event) the issue
was broached, but then only to discount the possibility that
security forces have played any major role in child homicide.



3. (C) COMMENT: The homicide closure rate in Honduras is
between 1-2 percent compared to a national U.S. closure rate
of close to 70 percent. While the GOH has adequately
identified the murder of minors as a serious issue, its
inability to dedicate more resources and technical ability to
address the problem underscores the GOH's lack of
follow-through on commitments made to the international
community last fall (reftel). The failure to recognize the
role of security forces in these killings and/or to report on
the status of the over 20 cases where police are accused of
involvement, signals that the GOH is not seriously addressing
the possibility that its own security forces may be
implicated and if so, to what degree. END COMMENT

Palmer