MODERNIZATION OF HONDURAN PRISONS CONTINUES POST-COUP

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 000041 FOR INL/LP MAYRA AHERN USAID for Donnie Harrington SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SNAR KCRM KJUS EAID PREL HO SUBJECT: MODERNIZATION OF HONDURAN PRISONS CONTINUES POST-COUP ¶1. (U) Summary: Under the de facto regime which came to power following the June 28, 2009 coup d'etat, implementation of the Ministry of Security's pre-coup prisons reform plan, while delayed, has continued. GOH-funded construction of an administrative segregation annex nicknamed "The Maquila" at the national prison in Tamara is almost complete. The Maquila will be Honduras's first maximum security facility. Plans are near completion for the next major construction phase, an EU-funded, 368-bed minimum security annex to support rehabilitative and educational programs, also at Tamara. These new facilities are significant steps forward in the modernization of the Honduran corrections facilities, which will enable the GOH to employ much-needed controls and management reforms. These changes in turn will hinder the ability of the most violent and disruptive offenders to run their criminal enterprises from prison, and reduce violence both within the prisons and in the community. Transfer of the system's highest-risk offenders into the Maquila will also be an opportunity to gain vital information on the structure and operations of the transnational gang leadership in Honduras, if carried out properly. End summary. -------------- Background -------------- ¶2. (U) At present, the Honduran prisons system is overcrowded, outmoded and poorly managed. Most facilities were designed and built before Honduras experienced an explosion in violent crime in the first decade of the 21st century, and following the incarceration of hundreds of suspected and convicted gang leaders in the anti-crime "Mano Dura" operations of 2004-2005, organized crime leaders have effectively taken control of many prisons. Prisoners are housed 20 to 60 per cell, with little distinction made between violent and nonviolent offenders. While suspected members of MS 13 and 18th Street gangs are kept in separate facilities, conditions in these segregated units provide no means for control by prisons authorities, and the gangs have virtually total control of their environment, often managing their criminal operations from within the prisons and exercising authority over the general prison population. Guards are poorly trained, shifts are understaffed and prisoners are able to carry out threats against them and their families, effectively undermining control by prisons authorities over the offenders. ¶3. (U) In 2008, President Zelaya's Minister of Security COL Jorge Rodas Gamero developed a plan to build modern facilities that would enable the GOH to regain control over the prisons, implement modern corrections management principles and reduce the level of violence in the system by segregating out the highest-risk offenders (Note: Rodas has a post-graduate degree in corrections. Rodas was one of a small number of Zelaya administration officials to stay on following the coup. End note). Implementation of the plan was made possible by reforms to the corrections laws in 2007-2008 which allowed for identification of offenders' profiles and required separation of the condemned from the accused. In November 2008, a new 400-bed medium-security facility was opened in Juticalpa, replacing the 1950s-era 90-bed facility that housed over 200 inmates. ¶4. (U) Following an INL-funded visit by Rodas and the National Director of the Honduran National Police corrections directorate Alan Najera to state corrections facilities in Colorado and New Mexico in December 2008, Rodas revised the reform plan to accommodate a modern prisoner classification system, which is based on a risk-management approach to placing offenders in various degrees of supervision and control to reduce violence and improve management within prison populations. -------------- The Maquila -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In December 2008, President Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya approved USD 1 million in GOH funds to construct a 200-bed, high-security administrative segregation wing at the national prison in Tamara. The project would convert a former prison workshop facility ("maquila" in Spanish) into Honduras's first modern, high-security facility. Construction began in early 2009 under contract with the architect who designed the facility in consultation with Rodas and INL corrections advisors. The facility will house two prisoners per cell, and is designed to increase the ability of corrections guards to monitor inmates at all times, while minimizing the opportunities for inmates to move within the facility or communicate between cells. The facility will have food preparation and infirmary facilities on-site, thereby reducing the need to transport offenders to other zones of the prison complex. Construction of the Maquila is over 80_percent complete, and is expected to be finished by June. This is a nine-month delay from the original target completion date of September 2009, and the project budget is now USD 1.4 million. Details of the construction project will be reported septel. ¶6. (U) But construction alone will not solve the problems in the Honduran corrections system. In fact, the current Tamara men's facility was built according to a modern design, but lack of procedures and controls undermined the ability of corrections authorities to manage the prisoner population. In that respect, the nine-month delay in the Maquila construction project may turn out to be serendipitous, as it will allow time for the INL-funded training and equipment activities to provide the support needed to make the facility an effective step forward in managing the prisoner population. USG assistance activities were suspended in response to the June 2009 coup, and therefore did not keep pace with the original development plans. But with the anticipated resumption of security sector assistance following the inauguration of the democratically-elected Lobo administration on January 27, Post will resume support for the GOH efforts to properly train and equip the corrections personnel who will manage the new facility in time for its opening. -------------- Minimum Security Rehabilitation Facility -------------- ¶7. (U) If the Maquila will serve as the corrections system's new "stick" for the most violent offenders, a planned new 400-bed minimum security facility at Tamara will be the "carrot." Design plans for the facility are almost complete, following review by the INL Regional Corrections Advisor. The facility will provide low-cost additional housing for the overcrowded system, but equally as important, will facilitate the implementation of both the modern classification system and programs for rehabilitation and training of nonviolent offenders. The project budget of approximately USD one million is being funded by the European Union, following coordination efforts between the GOH, U.S. Embassy INL personnel and EU Mission personnel in late 2008. The facility will include workshops for technical skills training and prisons industries programs that will give inmates job skills to carry with them after they complete their sentences. -------------- The Potential Impact on Citizen Security -------------- ¶8. (U) Upon completion of the two facilities, corrections authorities will be able to impose consequences for violent conduct, as well as offer incentives for good behavior. At present, many otherwise nonviolent offenders are incarcerated in an environment where the most dangerous inmates control the general population, forcing many to align with the gangs or become more violent for their own survival. By removing the most dangerous offenders from the general population and imposing consequences for misconduct, corrections authorities can transform the prisons from "gang universities" into safer, rehabilitative centers. ¶9. (SBU) Furthermore, the process of removing the most dangerous offenders, who are often the leaders of expansive and dangerous criminal organizations, from the general prison population will temporarily disrupt the gang hierarchies. As a result of this disruption, there will be a period of opportunity to gain vital information on the structure and operations of these gang networks even beyond the prison walls into the general community. If Honduran and U.S. law enforcement units are prepared and equipped to collect and analyze this information, they can take significant steps toward combating the transnational gangs in Honduras. ¶10. (SBU) Comment: We plan to make the most of the opportunity presented by the opening of the Maquila. Proper training and equipping of prisons staff will make the new facility an effective tool in Honduran corrections. Gathering and utilizing the information about crime organizations in Honduras that will come from the transfer process will provide significant gains in the fight against this transnational security threat. In order for these successes to take place, we plan to engage the incoming administration early, train and equip prisons staff in time and be ready to assist in collecting information when the window of opportunity is open. End comment. LLORENS