GOH BRIEFS DIPLOMATIC CORPS ON SAN PEDRO SULA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001160 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR WHA/CEN, DRL/PHD, INL/LP, INR, CA, AND DS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV SNAR KCRM KJUS CASC ASEC HO SUBJECT: GOH BRIEFS DIPLOMATIC CORPS ON SAN PEDRO SULA PRISON FIRE; PLEDGES FULL INVESTIGATION REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1141 ¶B. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 1742 ¶C. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 861 ¶D. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 1309 ¶1. (U) Honduran Vice President (and Acting President) Vicente Williams and Minister of Government and Justice Jorge Ramon Hernandez Alcerro on May 18 briefed the diplomatic corps, including DCM and PolOff, on the May 17 fire in a cell block for gang members that killed 103 inmates in a prison on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula. (Some press reports indicated that 104 inmates died.) Approximately 25 injured prisoners were treated at a nearby hospital. (Two other injured prisoners died at the hospital.) The GOH confirmed that no foreigners were among those killed in the fire. The vast majority of the victims were members of the gang "Mara Salvatrucha," AKA "MS-13." The incident caused President Ricardo Maduro to cut short his trip to Europe and return to Honduras. The GOH said that preliminary reports indicated that the fire was allegedly caused by a short circuit of air conditioning wiring (some press reports had indicated an electrical short circuit in a refrigerator for soft drinks had caused the fire). ¶2. (U) Vice President Williams said that once the fire started, it spread to the mattresses and curtains which apparently caused the toxic gases that killed most victims. Firemen who arrived at the prison were able to put out the fire before it spread to other cell blocks. Preliminary reports indicate that while some inmates burned to death, the vast majority died from asphyxiation. ¶3. (U) Williams said that the GOH was doing everything possible, from helping the families, to conducting an investigation, to seeking international assistance for improving the poor Honduran prisons. The GOH was paying for all costs (medical treatment, return of the bodies to the prisoners' home towns for burial, etc.). Williams pledged that there would be a complete investigation, and that if any Honduran security officials were found to have been involved in the incident, through action or negligence, they would be held accountable. The state-owned electricity company ENEE would help firemen conduct the investigation of how the fire started. Currently, there is no evidence that any of the victims were shot. Nevertheless, the GOH has seized the prison guards weapons and handed them over to the Public Ministry for ballistics testing, something the GOH did not do immediately after the April 2003 incident which caused ongoing evidence problems in that investigation. According to Williams, although shots were reportedly fired, initial investigation results showed no bullet holes in the walls or dead bodies. ¶4. (U) Williams noted that a commission formed after the April 5, 2003, incident at El Porvenir prison near La Ceiba, in which 68 persons, 61 of them gang members, were killed, had recommended a series of reforms. The GOH was seeking to implement these reforms, but needed financial and technical assistance from international donors. Williams said the GOH was considering as possible options prison privatization or granting concessions to operate prisons to private companies, and told DCM that the GOH had discussed the idea prior to the May 17 fire with a U.S. company. In any event, the prison system needed to be modernized with new legislation and new facilities. The GOH said that plans had been made for a replacement prison in San Pedro Sula for 1,500 inmates and would cost USD 10-12 million to build. ¶5. (U) Press reports noted that seven gang members were killed March 21, 2003, at the same prison under mysterious circumstances. Some prisoners compared the fire to the April 2003 incident at La Ceiba and the May 3, 2002, prison uprising in Choluteca that left four inmates dead and 21 injured. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: The GOH acted prudently by immediately recognizing the seriousness of this incident and pledging to hold accountable any GOH official that may bear some responsibility for the incident. While there were vague offers of technical assistance from a few countries, it is doubtful if the GOH will be successful in obtaining the needed funds for prison construction from international donors. Another reform under consideration is to separate oversight of the penal system from the Ministry of Public Security (the Ministry that also includes the police). However, the prisons are one of the most lucrative potential corruption opportunities in the Honduran government. Any proposed changes to their administration is likely to be very controversial, and to meet with considerable opposition. End Comment. Palmer