Submitted by Louise on
Honduras - Twenty-second session - 2015
8 May 2015 - 9.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m
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National Report
III. Progress, achievements, constraints and challenges regarding the promotion and protection of human rights in Honduras, 2010–2014
A. Security and justice
27. Policy to reduce violence against children and young persons. In an effort to develop a consistent, comprehensive and sustained approach to this issue, the executive branch approved the National Policy on the Prevention of Violence against Children and Young Persons in Honduras in February 2013. That policy was formulated in consultation with State bodies and relevant civil society organizations and is in line with the National Vision and Plan Act. Its objective is to addresses the causes of the vulnerability and victimization of children, adolescents and young persons. The Directorate for Youth of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion is currently working to implement this policy on the basis of an action plan that reflects the principles, general lines of action and indicators previously set out in the policy itself. (Recommendations 81.1, 81.2, 82.3, 82.17, 82.18, 82.21, 82.38, 82.40, 82.43, 82.44, 82.45 and 82.46).
32. Measures to combat trafficking in persons. In April 2012, Congress passed the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.43 This law is based on a series of international instruments that have been adopted by the State of Honduras and constitutes a comprehensive regulatory framework for efforts to address the issue. It also provides the legal foundation for the Inter-Agency Commission to Combat Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons, which is a decentralized body made up of representatives of the three branches of government, the Public Prosecution Service, the Office of the National Commissioner for Human Rights, the National Directorate for Children, Adolescents and Families, the National Institute of Women and an association of municipalities and civil society organizations working in the field.
37. Comprehensive reform of legislation covering children, families and women in the sphere of justice. (Recommendations 81.1, 82.3, 82.4, 82.17, 82.18, 82.21, 82.24, 82.39, 82.40, 82.41, 82.42, 82.43, 82.44, 82.45, 82.46, 82.74, 82.75 and 83.6). In February 2013, Congress adopted far-reaching amendments to the Code on Children and Adolescents and the Family Code. These amendments have not only updated those codes, but also provide greater access to justice for children and women. A number of recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child were taken into account in the formulation of the amendments to the Code on Children and Adolescents in order to strengthen child protection systems and restructure the juvenile justice system. The amendments to the Family Code are aimed at making adoptions more secure and improving the provisions on marriage and child maintenance payments. Definitions of the offences of sexual harassment and of emotional or physical child abuse were introduced into the Criminal Code. The Code of Criminal Procedure was also amended to make it possible for the public prosecutor to initiate proceedings in cases involving the offence of refusal to maintain an elderly family member. In addition, the Domestic Violence Act was amended to strengthen victims’ rights.
38. Pursuant to the abovementioned amendments, in June 2014 the current Administration set up the National Directorate for Children, Adolescents and Families of the Ministry of Development and Social Inclusion to take the place of the now-defunct Honduran Institute for Children and the Family. One of the main priorities for the National Directorate has been the juvenile justice system. Work is being carried out to upgrade the infrastructure of the system’s custodial teaching facilities, the equipment in those facilities and the teaching methodologies used. Steps are also being taken to relaunch restorative justice programmes that make use of non-custodial measures.
C. Development and equity
52. Advances in health care. During the reporting period, the national health plans for 2010-2014 and 2014–2018 have been implemented. The plans take into account the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which Honduras is committed to attaining. It should be noted, in that regard, that Honduras has achieved immunization coverage of close to 100 per cent for children of the appropriate ages. For example, the rate of coverage stands at 99 per cent for the BCG vaccine, 95 per cent for pentavalent (type 3), 96 per cent for the oral polio vaccine (type 3) and 88 per cent for the measles/mumps/rubella vaccine.82 In January 2014, in a further step in line with best practices for immunization programmes, Congress adopted the Vaccines Act, which provides a legal foundation for children’s right to be vaccinated and the duty of parents and the State to give effect to that right. (Recommendation 82.104).
54. Reforms that place greater emphasis on education. (Recommendation 82.102). In line with the views expressed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), expanding the coverage of the third cycle of primary education and of secondary education has been and is a priority for the last and present Administrations and should remain so for future ones. As a sign of that national commitment, in January 2012, Congress amended article 171 of the Constitution to redefine the length and cycles of free, public compulsory education. The length of the period of instruction was set at one year for the preschool level, nine years for the primary level and from two to three years (depending on the course of study) for the secondary level.
57. Intercultural bilingual education for indigenous and Afro-Honduran students continues to be strengthened in 1,128 preschools and primary schools in 15 of the country’s 18 departments. In 2013, the Intercultural Multilingual Education Department of the Ministry of Education was established and tasked upgrading the administrative structures of the education sector.97 (Recommendations 81.1, 82.11, 82.18 and 82.107).
2. Equality and non-discrimination: sectoral policies and laws adopted for the benefit of vulnerable groups
64. Legislation and action to protect migrant children and adults. Since October 2011, security concerns, the search for economic opportunities and hopes of family reunification have led to a dramatic increase in the flow of unaccompanied child migrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to the United States of America. This culminated in a humanitarian crisis in 2014.115 In July 2014, the President issued an emergency decree that framed a comprehensive response to the issue and provided for the coordination of the work of all the relevant State institutions under the leadership of the National Directorate for Children, Adolescents and Families.116 He also established the Child Migrant Task Force, a committee composed of various agencies which is coordinated by the First Lady. The Task Force has worked on the ground in detention and reception centres in the United States and Mexico in order to gather first-hand information on the situation of these children and their families, which tend to be headed by single mothers. (Recommendations 81.1, 82.102, 82.109 and 82.110).
Compilation of UN information
III. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law
B. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
24. The Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) requested information about the measures put in place to prevent and investigate murders of children and adolescents, and to punish those responsible. The Committee against Torture (CAT) requested information on measures taken to investigate allegations of extrajudicial killings, in particular of minors.
33. The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children recommended that Honduras eliminate the inconsistencies and gaps in legislation that legitimized exceptions to the minimum age for child labour.
C. Administration of justice, including impunity, and the rule of law
41. The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children noted that a new system of juvenile courts had been established under the Code on Children and Adolescents. She recommended that Honduras reinforce criminal investigation processes and punish perpetrators of the sale and sexual exploitation of children; re-establish the division which had formerly worked to combat the abuse, trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents (DATESI); allocate more resources to the Office of the Special Prosecutor for Children; and adopt a proactive approach in criminal investigations and prosecutions. CAT requested information on efforts to address the widespread use of preventive detention for minors accused of serious offences such as membership of youth gangs or maras. CRC asked about the social rehabilitation services available for children and adolescents recruited by armed groups (including gangs).
I. Right to education
63. UNCT reports that the new Education Act establishes that education is free of charge, and compulsory up to secondary level. According to government figures cited by UNCT, education coverage for children aged between 6 and 11 is 92.3 per cent. However, more than 330,000 children are not enrolled in school. The poorest children continue to be the most marginalized group: 53 per cent of children in rural areas do not finish primary education owing to their entry into the labour market.
64. UNESCO acknowledged the adoption of a special plan to give access to education to persons with penal records and increase budget allocations for the education sector. It recommended that Honduras further promote human rights education and take additional measures to include people from vulnerable groups in its educational system.
L. Minorities and indigenous peoples
70. UNCT reports that the rates of child mortality and chronic child malnutrition are higher among the indigenous and Afro-Honduran communities than the national average. Non-registration of births also affects those communities more than the rest of the Honduran population, with the Miskito people particularly badly affected.
M. Migrants
72. She noted with concern reports that thousands of unaccompanied children were migrating to a third country, including from Honduras. They were fleeing rising levels of extreme poverty, extortion, risks of forcible recruitment into gangs in their local communities and schools, physical violence, domestic abuse and/or other types of insecurity. CRC requested information on the measures that are to be adopted in order to receive children and adolescents at risk of deportation from another country and ensure that they are returned under humane and safe conditions.
Stakeholders' information
C. Implementation of international human rights obligations
2. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
37. Making reference to UPR recommendations, Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (CLCGS) expressed concern about the vulnerability and high risk that children, girls and young people are exposed to, due to the increased crime, violence, extortion, kidnapping, death threats and the recruitment of children for criminal activities.
46. Joint Submission 14 (JS14) reported that despite the enactment of laws to address gender-based violence, little has changed since 2010. JS14 recommended that Honduras strengthen the criminal justice response to gender-related killing of women and girls, in particular measures to support its capacity to investigate, prosecute, and punish all forms of such crime and provide reparation and/or compensation to victims and their families; establish a comprehensive program to protect women from violence; and establish crisis centres and shelters.
47. The COIPRODEN children’s rights network reported that sexual exploitation of children was quite prevalent in certain areas, particularly those with significant tourist or trade activity.
48. The COIPRODEN children’s rights network noted that child labour and begging continued. JS4 recommended strengthening the Inspectorate-General of Labour and the Child Labour Inspectorate Unit within the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
49. The COIPRODEN children’s rights network also said that the Armed Forces’ Guardians of the Nation programme violated the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict and that minors were being exposed to military practices, weapons and a discipline that was not suitable for minors and were being put within dangerous proximity of military training camps.
62. The COIPRODEN children’s rights network said that restorative justice principles were not being systematically applied in cases involving juvenile offenders. MNP- CONAPREV reported that it had noted ill-treatment of children in conflict with the law by personnel responsible for their custody, as well as inadequate perimeter security measures. There are no programmes geared towards facilitating the rehabilitation or social reintegration of juvenile offenders, nor is there judicial support to monitor the conditions under which they are deprived of their liberty or oversee the enforcement of their sentences.
6. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living
76. The COIPRODEN children’s rights network reported that the Government had announced that it would seek to place at-risk children — who previously had been placed under the protection of the Honduran Institute for Children and the Family (IHNFA) — with municipalities, non-governmental organizations and churches, thereby limiting the Government’s role merely to the establishment of rules and regulations and oversight of child and adolescent protection. The new institution, the Directorate for Children, Adolescents and Family, will not manage centres for the care of children. MNP- CONAPREV indicated that the Directorate lacked adequate information on the number of institutions with homes for at-risk children and was therefore not properly monitoring the conditions in which such children lived or the care they received.
7. Right to health
78. The COIPRODEN children’s rights network noted that the lack of sexual education and the influence of conservative sectors of society on State institutions was hindering the adoption of policies and programmes that would help to reduce the high rate of teenage pregnancy.
10. Migrants
93. The COIPRODEN children’s rights network expressed concern about the high numbers of unaccompanied Honduran child and adolescent migrants and about their detention, and highlighted the authorities’ lack of capacity to protect repatriated minors. It was estimated that more than 15,000 children had left the country.
94. JS15 recommended the development of protection mechanisms for repatriated migrant children.
95. AI called on Honduras, inter alia, to provide consular assistance to Honduran migrants abroad and to strengthen bilateral and regional cooperation to improve the protection of the rights of irregular migrants, including the right to access justice and protection of children.
Recommendations
II. Conclusions and recommendations
124. The recommendations formulated during the interactive dialogue and listed below enjoy the support of Honduras:
124.11 Strengthen its national institutions in charge of the promotion and protection of human rights, with a view to fostering access to justice, particularly for the most vulnerable groups, such as women, older persons, children, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, people of African descent and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community (Brazil);
124.28 Prevent and punish all forms of violence against women and girls; and consolidate a higher representation of women in management and decision making positions (Peru);
124.36 Take measures to ensure full protection of children at all levels and in all spheres and to ensure that the institutions tasked to implement such measures are adequately funded and resourced in order to carry out this function effectively (Namibia);
124.37 Defend children’s rights by ensuring that the Directorate on Childhood, Adolescent and Family Issues has the appropriate legislative framework and financial resources to meet its mandate, and by implementing policies and programmes to protect children, adolescents and returned child migrants (Canada);
124.58 Take necessary measures to achieve the social reintegration of boys, girls and adolescents victims of armed gangs (Paraguay);
125.4 Continue its efforts to reform laws on the rights of women and children in the justice sphere (Qatar);
125.12 Continue efforts to address gender-related killing of women and girls (Rwanda);
125.15 Continue efforts to reduce violence against children and young persons (Rwanda);
125.16 Continue with the policy to reduce violence against children and young people (Algeria);
125.17 Provide comprehensive child protection, particularly for unaccompanied minors, by addressing the problems that give rise to their migration, and often to their exploitation, and also affording them the means by which they may be repatriated (Holy See);
125.18 Take additional measures to prevent the poor and marginalized children from early entry into the labour market and provide incentives for them to enrol in school (Thailand);
125.19 Take further measures to safeguard those Hondurans living abroad, particularly as regards to child’s protection, and providing comprehensive protection for migrant boys, girls and non-accompanied adolescents once they are repatriated (Uruguay);
125.20 Take measures to empower young people, particularly through education, with a view to preventing them from joining criminal and transnational gangs; and ensure their rehabilitation and social reintegration (Colombia);
125.21 Follow up on initiatives taken to strengthen the protection of children’s rights (Equatorial Guinea);
125.22 Adopt measures to combat trafficking in persons, particularly women and children (Romania);
125.64 Adopt institutional measures to improve the quality of live, ensuring that minors and adolescents remain permanently in the country, and preventing their unaccompanied migration. In the repatriation processes, ensure that the principle of the best interest of the child is respected and promote their effective social reintegration (Mexico);
125.65 Continue to promote and protect the enjoyment of fundamental freedoms and rights of its citizens in the areas of education, health, rights of women and children, and persons with disabilities (Nigeria);
125.66 Continue further work on the protection of vulnerable groups of the population, such as women, children and youth (Russian Federation);
125.67 Strengthen the system for the protection of persons at risk, notably women and children (Angola);
125.77 Take the necessary measures to guarantee the human rights of migrant woman and children, including single mothers and unaccompanied children (Paraguay);
125.78 Consider entering into bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements with concerned States to address the protection needs of unaccompanied migrant children from Honduras, including their repatriation and reintegration (Philippines);
125.79 Adopt measures in order to appropriately receive children and adolescents deported from another country (Poland);
125.80 Continue implementing measures to comprehensively address the phenomenon of unaccompanied migrant children (Cuba);
125.81 Pursue efforts initiated to limit the flow of migration, especially of unaccompanied children, and continue implementing the legislative framework to achieve a quality education for children (France).
126. The following recommendations will be examined by Honduras, which will provide responses in due time, but no later than the thirtieth session of the Human Rights Council in September 2015:
126.2 Consider the ratification or adhesion to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (Peru)4; ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (Portugal).