THE DEPUTY SECRETARY'S BREAKFAST ON THE RULE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000570 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2018 TAGS: OVIP KCRM KDEM KJUS SNAR PGOV PREL HO SUBJECT: THE DEPUTY SECRETARY'S BREAKFAST ON THE RULE OF LAW, HONDURAS Classified By: Ambassador Charles Ford, Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On June 4, the Deputy Secretary held a breakfast conversation on rule of law issues with Vilma Morales, the Chief Justice of the Honduran Supreme Court, and Leonidas Rosa Bautista, the Attorney General of Honduras. Both Honduran officials, who represent the National Party, emphasized the themes of security for Honduran citizens and for those in the government; the lack of faith most Hondurans have in the police and judicial systems; and the importance of protecting the independence of their institutions from interference and intimidation by the executive branch. Honduras faces these challenges just as stronger enforcement measures in Mexico have pushed organized crime south in search of safe operating havens, exposing weak GOH institutions to further corruption. They also bemoaned what they see as a lack of will on the part of the Ministry of Security and police to stand up to crime, and on the part of the Congress to act on vital police and judicial reform legislation. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Participants: USG The Deputy Secretary Mrs. Negroponte WHA A/S Shannon Ambassador Ford DCM Jim Williard Notetaker GOH Attorney General Leonidas Rosa Bautista Chief Justice Vilma Morales Security Is the Top Priority -------------- ¶3. (C) Supreme Court President Morales and AG Rosa Bautista were blunt in their assessment of the effect crime and security issues have on Honduran society. They said that no honest Honduran felt safe on the streets of any city, with the wealthy secreted behind high walls with barbed wire and the poor and (nearly non-existent) middle class moving from home to work and back with extreme trepidation. Rosa noted that though the murder rate in Honduras is lower than that in neighboring El Salvador, the number of drug- and gang-related &assassinations8 is higher, and many violent crimes go unreported. Morales said that security concerns permeated all aspects of governance in the country, from institutional reform to democratization, expanding lack of security to include intimidation and threats against prosecutors and others in government, including themselves. The &policia preventiva,8 charged with stopping common crime on the streets, is failing entirely to carry out its responsibility, leaving Hondurans &prisoners in their own country.8 ¶4. (C) Given Honduras, history of &mano dura8 policing that eliminated due process and resulted in human rights violations, Morales noted that some sectors of society are loathe to support a strengthened police force, while others in power are responding to rising crime with increasing authoritarianism. In Congress, this has resulted in paralysis on the police and judicial reform laws, with organized crime elements and corrupt officials who benefit from the current situation more than happy to lend a hand by encouraging delays. President Zelaya, for his part, seems unwilling to take appropriate action within his own Ministry of Security, leaving key ministry posts charged with fighting drug trafficking, including the Vice Minister position, vacant for months. A Divorce Between the People and the Police -------------- -------------- ¶5. (C) Rosa said that the gravest threat to security he saw was the complete lack of trust in the police and judicial institutions on the part of common Hondurans. People believe the police do not respond to calls for help, and, despite receiving all investigative authority in the most recent police reform, they often fail to follow up on most cases that come their way. Though the police blame prosecutors for TEGUCIGALP 00000570 002 OF 002 failure to take cases to court, and judges for failure to convict, Morales said that 85 per cent of cases that reach court proceed to a legal conclusion, while nearly a third of the cases brought to the police flounder for lack of investigation. The Deputy Secretary wondered if this was, in fact, a &divorce8 between the people and the police, or just a sign that the police were overwhelmed. The AG said that both were true, with under-trained and underpaid officers joining forces with those they are supposed to stop, or merely lacking the capacity to use their investigative powers. In addition, a failure by Hondurans to understand the division of powers between the police and the Public Ministry meant that prosecutors suffered criticism for lack of action by the police. ¶6. (C) All agreed that the number of trained police officers in Honduras was woefully low, with only 12,000 officers for a country of over seven million (New York, with a similar population has over 50,000). Often, those who receive training from or sponsored by the Embassy move on to other positions soon thereafter, bringing little or no benefit to the force they were trained to improve. A/S Shannon also noted the success in the United States and other Latin American countries with high-visibility community policing, where the mere presence of officers walking the streets reduced crime. He also emphasized the need for government-wide collaboration to address security, and buy-in from the citizens of a country. Protecting Independent Institutions... -------------- --- ¶7. (C) Both Honduran officials were concerned with the confrontation between the executive branch of President Zelaya and their own independent institutions. Both Morales and Rosa have received politically-motivated death threats in recent months, and Rosa,s house was surrounded by an intimidating crowd during a recent strike, with the police notably absent. The President has on several recent occasions called for the impeachment of the Supreme Court, the resignation of Morales, and the resignation of Rosa and his deputy. Both gave examples of lack of cooperation and intimidation from executive branch officials based on their party affiliation, or lack thereof (both Rosa and Morales are from the opposition National Party). Morales noted that the naming of a new Supreme Court would take place one month before internal political party elections, inevitably opening the process up to political bargaining and back-room dealing. Both said that without the passage of reform laws currently languishing in Congress and a commitment from the executive branch to respect the independence of the Supreme Court and Public Ministry, their institutions would continue to be weak. ...And Strengthening Them -------------- ¶8. (C) Mrs. Negroponte asked if the Supreme Court had considered a separation of administrative procedures from the judicial process, to allow both to proceed with greater alacrity. Morales responded that the court proposed a law mandating such a reform, but it has been languishing at the Congress since April 2006. Nevertheless, she had instituted such changes internally without the impetus of the law, creating, for example, a bureau within the Court to handle administrative procedures. The AG welcomed the offer of further training at International Law Enforcement Academy in El Salvador and collaboration with the FBI through the regional Legal Attache. Both he and Morales emphasized that they are not neglecting to be vigilant of the goings-on in their own back yards: 22 high officials and police have been convicted in recent months, and 8 judges have been dismissed by the Court for corruption. They also recognize the crucial need for independent internal investigation units, both within the Public Ministry and the various police forces. ¶9. (U) This cable has been cleared by D staff. FORD