HONDURAN JUSTICE: A NEW SUPREME COURT, ATTORNEY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 000033 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2019 TAGS: KDEM PGOV SNAR HO PHUM KJUS SOCI SUBJECT: HONDURAN JUSTICE: A NEW SUPREME COURT, ATTORNEY GENERAL AND HUMAN RIGHTS REF: TEGUCIGALPA 15 Classified By: Ambassador Hugo Llorens, reason 1.4 (b & d) ¶1. (U) Summary: Ambassador, accompanied by Poloff, met with Attorney General Leonidis Rosa Bautista and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Vilma Morales on January 12. The main topics discussed were the nominating process for the new magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ as it is known in Spanish),the process to elect a new Attorney General and various human rights cases that the Embassy follows. End Summary. ¶2. (U) The first topic of discussion between the Ambassador, Attorney General Rosa and Chief Justice Morales over lunch at the Ambassador's residence January 12 was the nominating process for the new Supreme Court. The CSJ is made up of 15 magistrates who serve a seven-year term. The next term begins the week of January 25 (reftel). Nominations for magistrate have been scrutinized by a seven-member Nominating Board comprised of civil society leaders who will wrap-up public hearings with the candidates on January 13. The board will then present a list of 45 nominees to the National Congress by January 23, which then will select the 15 magistrates by January 25. Rosa and Morales both agreed that the Nominating Junta has had a valuable role involving civil society in the nominating process. They noted that according to the Constitution, the power to name the new magistrates of the Supreme Court lies solely with the National Congress. Technically, both said they believed that the Congress could only choose members from the list of 45 or from the 15 current magistrates. ¶3. (SBU) The conversation then centered on the status of the Attorney General position and end of Rosa's term this March. The Attorney General has a five- year term and is selected by a Committee made up of members of the Supreme Court, the Attorney's college, as well as representatives from the National Human Rights Commission. Rosa's term as Attorney General at the Public Ministry ends in March but in order to maintain stability during the changes in the Supreme Court and the Presidential election he told the Ambassador he planned to request an extension of six months to one year. He claims that the extension would only happen with full political consensus, but that he has not broached the subject with President Manual "Mel" Zelaya, who is likely to oppose the proposition as they are political opponents. Both indicated the pervasive fear and growing influence of illicit organized crime interests in the political system and the importance of ensuring that the Attorney General is not linked to such elements. ¶4. (C) Rosa also reported that Mario Fernando Hernandez Bonilla, one of four Congressional Vice President alternates, who was killed on November 22, was found to be linked to cocaine traffickers. (Note: There was fear at the time of the killing that the murder was politically-motivated, though several Embassy sources reported that Hernandez had possible crime connections. End note.) ¶5. (C) The Ambassador noted that although during the Cold War years, Honduras had generally had a far better human rights record than neighboring, Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, this was no longer the case. The Ambassador conveyed our concerns about a number of human rights cases tracked by the Department of State and in the U.S. Congress. At the request of the Ambassador, Rosa and Morales agreed to provide an update on all human rights cases of interest to the Embassy. The following cases were discussed at the meeting: the killing of labor lawyer Dionisio Diaz Garcia, the illegal detention and rape of Donny Reyes, the threats to labor leader Lorna Jackson and the case of slain labor leader Rosa Altagracia Fuentes, slain Red Cross regional president Jose Raul Carranza, the extradition of Dagoberto Perez TEGUCIGALP 00000033 002 OF 002 Zuniga, the killing of Garifuna fisherman Guillermo Norales Herrera, the case of two plain-clothed policemen being found on the campus of the National University with an alleged-hit-list and rising violence against gay, lesbian, and transgender individuals in Honduras. The Ambassador also stressed the need to more effectively fight the problem of trafficking in persons and sexual predators and also said he expected Honduran justice to be equally tough on Americans who came to Honduras and committed sexual crimes, particularly against children. Rosa and Morales stressed that they have made great strides in the pursuit of justice but in most cases the "intellectual authors" of crimes committed remained free due to lack of proper evidence, political will and the lack of protection for witnesses. Rosa charged that interference by Zelaya was the reason that the intellectual author of the Diaz case remains free. He stated that Zelaya has stayed at the home of the alleged "intellectual author" Richard Swasey. ¶6. (U) Both Rosa and Morales agreed that the justice system needs help protecting witnesses from either being assassinated for what they know or intimidated into silence. Morales also indicated the need for mutual legal assistance treaties (MLAT) between the countries of Central America regarding extraditions and successful programs which could be models for the region. Too often, according to Morales and confirmed by Rosa, orders of extradition are unsuccessful because they are held up or dropped as they pass through various levels of the Executive Branch of each nation. Morales stated that a more effective and just system would be the devolution of authority for extraditions to each nations' Chief Justice. Rosa agreed and also added that there are MLAT opportunities to share model programs amongst the region indicating the success El Salvador has had with its anti-extortion program. LLORENS