Honduras - Military Personnel

Corruption and impunity continued to be serious problems within the security forces. Some members of the police committed crimes, including crimes linked to local and international criminal organizations. The Office of the Inspector General of the HNP and the semi-autonomous Directorate General for the Investigation and Evaluation of the Police Career (DIECP) were responsible for oversight of the police. The Secretary of Security took some steps to reform the security forces. In September the new Police Investigation Division replaced the previous police investigative body, the National Criminal Investigation Department (DNIC). In 2014 the secretariat created digital files for all police and began tracking police officer movements through global positioning systems on their vehicles and telephones. The secretariat conducted audits through the Office of the Inspector General. Media and civil society organizations highlighted challenges to the reform process. Some NGOs continued to criticize these steps as insufficient to reform the institution.

The DIECP is responsible for assessing current officials and potential police recruits using a vetting process that includes a criminal background check, psychological evaluation, financial investigation, and toxicology and polygraph tests. The DIECP does not directly administer all these tests but relies on other government agencies to provide much of the information.

Since vetting started in 2012, the DIECP claimed to have assessed 9,000 police officers. Since 2012 the HNP dismissed 1,400 officers for cause, including at least 71 who left the force between January and September 2015 after failing polygraphs, testing positive on toxicology tests, or engaging serious misconduct. The 1,400 dismissals also included 310 officers recommended for separation by the DIECP (out of a total of 977 officers whose dismissal the DIECP recommended). The HNP reported an additional 700 officers left the force voluntarily since the vetting process began. The media reported in November that an estimated 7,300 of the approximately 12,500 officers on the force had passed DIECP’s assessments and were considered fully vetted.

On 24 November 2015, La Tribuna newspaper reported that more than 200 separated officers had filed court cases alleging wrongful dismissal and that the courts had awarded 45 million lempiras ($2.045 million) in back pay and damages in 70 cases. Civil society organizations called for a transparent police reform process that includes the dismissal of police officers who fail required integrity tests.

In addition to vetting current and potential police officials, the DIECP responds to administrative and criminal complaints against members of the police related to alleged human rights abuses, conduct unbefitting a police officer, abuse of authority, corruption, and ties to organized crime. As of September 15, the DEICP had received 493 complaints.

After concluding its investigations, the DIECP forwards cases of an administrative nature to the Secretariat of Security and cases involving possible criminal activity to the Public Ministry. The ministry is required to give each officer recommended for separation a personal hearing at which the officer has a right to defend him or herself. Many officers did not attend these scheduled hearings. This delayed efforts to purge the HNP of problem officers, since authorities may not dismiss officers who have not attended a formal hearing. Civil society organizations noted--and the DIECP acknowledged--that many cases the DIECP forwarded to either the Secretariat of Security or the Public Ministry lacked sufficient evidence for immediate prosecution or administrative action but instead required additional investigation.