Wage and Hour Laws: There are 45 categories of monthly minimum wage, based on the industry and the size of a companys workforce; the minimum average was above the poverty line. The law grants workers the right to form and join unions of their choice, bargain collectively, and strike. CONAPREV reported 13 violent deaths in prisons as of September. The Honduran National Polices Special Victims Investigations Unit, formerly known as the Violent Crimes Task Force, investigated crimes against high-profile and particularly vulnerable victims, including journalists as well as judges, lawyers, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) community. The government allocated a budget of nearly 21 million lempiras ($865,000) for the continued operation of a protection mechanism for journalists, human rights defenders, and judicial-sector operators. The law requires an employer to begin collective bargaining once workers establish a union, and it specifies that if more than one union exists at a company, the employer must negotiate with the largest. 2016 (PDF) Although its specialists occasionally cannot provide the U.S. standard of care, the hospital and diagnostic departments do have the capability to provide most medical procedures. As a result, criminals linked to organized crime operate with a high degree of impunity throughout Honduras. Official data on forced internal displacement, especially displacement due to violence, was limited in part because gangs controlled many of the neighborhoods that were sources of internal displacement (see section 6, Displaced Children). The law permits fines, and while the monetary penalty is commensurate with those for other laws involving denials of civil rights, such as discrimination, the failure of the government to collect the fines facilitated continued labor law violations. Around 2,000,000 tourists visited Honduras, of which most would've visited the three-bay islands. Most of the abusers were reported to be male classmates, but there were also reports of sexual abuse by community members. The Murray family believes "someone knows something" about what happened to Maura Murray, who went missing in 2004. 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011: DOS International Religious Freedom Report - 2021, 2020, . Your safety is your responsibility, so be vigilant. Download the 2021 annual crime report below. A 2019 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report noted there were insufficient hospital beds and inadequate supplies at the only hospital that serviced Gracias a Dios Department, home to most of the Miskito community. The law prohibits employers from requiring pregnancy tests as a prerequisite for employment; penalties were not sufficient to deter violations. Government Human Rights Bodies: A semiautonomous commissioner for human rights, Blanca Izaguirre, served as an ombudsperson and investigated complaints of human rights abuses. Honduras's peak of violent crime was . Civil society organizations criticized the governments failure to investigate threats adequately. Powerful special interests, including organized criminal groups, exercised influence on the outcomes of some court proceedings. The law also imposes prison sentences of up to two years, eight months for child labor violations that endanger the life or morality of a child age 16 or 17 and up to three years, four months for children younger than 16. There have been widespread protests against a corrupt government and these are sometimes met with force. The legal age of consent is 18. The U.S. government estimates that approximately 4% of all cocaine shipments from South America passed through Honduras by air or sea in 2019 of cocaine, equivalent to a U.S. street value of over $11.5 billion at current rates. As of August it continued to provide protection to 12 journalists, among other types of activists and human rights defenders. Freedom to Participate in the Political Process, Section 4. Persons from indigenous and Afro-descendant communities continued to experience discrimination in employment, education, housing, and health services. Funding will be drawn from the 2023 Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act passed in . In January the government funded the opening of a UN Office of Drugs and Crime office to begin a government transparency project and support the drafting of the countrys first national anticorruption strategy. Employers frequently penalized agricultural workers for taking legally authorized days off. Rape and Domestic Violence: The law criminalizes all forms of rape of women or men, including spousal rape. There were reports that the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. The Office of the Inspector General of the Armed Forces and the Humanitarian Law Directorate investigated and arrested members of the military accused of human rights abuses. On June 17, a riot between alleged members of the 18th Street and MS-13 gangs in the maximum-security prison La Tolva in Moroceli, El Paraiso Department, resulted in five dead and 39 injured. There were credible complaints that police occasionally failed to obtain the required authorization before entering private homes. CONAPREV reported every prison had a functioning health clinic with at least one medical professional, but basic medical supplies and medicines were in short supply throughout the prison system. Impunity for such crimes remained high, as was the impunity rate for all types of crime. The law criminalizes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity characteristics and includes crimes committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity as aggravating circumstances to increase penalties for criminal offenses. Impunity and excessive use of force Keyla Martnez died of asphyxia in February in police custody after being arrested for breaking the curfew imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19. The release of the 2021 Safety Report is a reminder that even as aviation faces its deepest crisis, we are committed to making aviation even safer. The change increases the penalty from two to four years to four to six years. Displaced Children: Civil society organizations reported that common causes of forced displacement for youth included death threats for failure to pay extortion, attempted recruitment by gangs, witnessing criminal activity by gangs or organized criminal groups, domestic violence, attempted kidnappings, family members involvement in drug dealing, victimization by traffickers, rape including commercial sexual exploitation by gangs, discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, sexual harassment, and discrimination for having a chronic medical condition. The state of emergency, in place since Dec. 6 in 165 areas of Honduras' largest two cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, has been expanded to 235 of the country's 298 municipalities, the . There was limited support for persons with mental illnesses or disabilities. The accused were in pretrial detention awaiting the next phase of the judicial process. You should exercise a high degree of caution. May 24, 2022 Webmaster 1462 Leave a Comment. American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative The government had a nascent system to provide legal protection to refugees. These sort of crimes can be avoided by dressing down, being careful about where expensive belongings are left, and keeping to safe areas. Tourists in Belize are often victims of theft, but few experience real violence. Because labor inspectors continued to be concentrated in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, full labor inspections and follow-up visits to confirm compliance were far less frequent in other parts of the country. Censorship or Content Restrictions: Media members and NGOs stated the press self-censored due to fear of retaliation from organized criminal groups or corrupt government officials. On July 25, media reported individuals shot and killed Liberal Party congressional candidate and former congresswoman Carolina Echeverria Haylock in Tegucigalpa. Media linked her killing to organized criminal groups and drug trafficking organizations. Under the new inspection law, the STSS has the authority temporarily to shut down workplaces where there is an imminent danger of fatalities; however, there were not enough trained inspectors to deter violations sufficiently. In 2021, four gun manufacturers accounted for over half of the recovered crime guns: Glock (21.1%), Smith & Wesson (13.5%), Taurus (13.0%), and Ruger (7.0%). Save. . Honduras' population growth rate has slowed since the 1990s and is now 1.2% annually with a birth rate that averages 2.1 children per woman and more among rural, indigenous, and poor women. 26 Feb 2021. Due to the lack of enforcement of traffic laws, travelers should make an extraordinary effort to drive defensively. The law provides for freedom of internal movement, foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally respected these rights. Nevertheless, social discrimination against racial and ethnic groups persisted, as did physical violence. The law provides citizens the right to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on nearly universal and equal suffrage. Coordinator for the Arctic Region, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Office of International Religious Freedom, Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Office of the Science and Technology Adviser, Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services, Bureau of Information Resource Management, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions, Bureau of International Organization Affairs, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. The law also requires that public-sector workers involved in the refining, transportation, and distribution of petroleum products submit their grievances to the Secretariat of Labor and Social Security (STSS) before striking. The STSS may levy a fine against companies that fail to pay social security obligations, but the amount was not sufficient to deter violations. Ethnic minority rights leaders, international NGOs, and farmworker organizations claimed the government failed to redress actions taken by security forces, government agencies, private individuals, and businesses to dislodge farmers and indigenous persons from lands over which they claimed ownership based on land reform law or ancestral land titles. Location: Peru (countrywide) Event: Crime Advisory (February 10, 2022) For over 15 years, the U.S. Department of State has rated Peru at a critically high risk level for crime. Some judges, however, ruled that such suspects may be released on the condition that they continue to report periodically to authorities. With offices throughout the country, the ombudsperson received cases that otherwise might not have risen to national attention. In cooperation with the UN Development Program (UNDP), the government operated consolidated reporting centers in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula where women could report crimes, seek medical and psychological attention, and receive other services. As Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, I am proud to introduce Public Safety Canada's 2021-22 Departmental Plan, which highlights plans and priorities for the year ahead as we address the ongoing pandemic and other threats. The report showed that property crime was up 6% and violent . The national curfew instituted in response to COVID-19, however, limited the freedom of internal movement and affected the freedom to leave the country, including for individuals at risk of or subject to persecution or torture. As of October 17, 42,357 Hondurans were deported in 2021 to Hondurasmore than the total throughout 2020the government reported. However, crime and violence are serious problems throughout Honduras and the country has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. honduras crime and safety report 2021frankie ryan city on a hill dead. Discrimination and Societal Abuses, Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination, Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, a. Intentional homicide is defined by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its Global Study on Homicide report thus: . Fuel stations can be few and far between in some areas. In addition women experienced delays in accessing justice due to police who failed to process complaints in a timely manner or judicial system officials who deferred scheduling hearings. By law workers may remove themselves from situations that endanger their health or safety without jeopardizing continued employment. Through September the secretariat trained 2,626 law enforcement officials in human rights and international humanitarian law. Institutions such as the National Womens Institute attempted to enhance the governments response to domestic violence by opening three additional womens centers in the country. The STSS did not approve any authorizations through September. In 2021, almost 39 homicides were committed per 100,000 inhabitants in Honduras. He was arrested again in April for separate but related charges. Many inspectors asked workers to provide them with transportation so that they could conduct inspections, since the STSS could not pay for travel to worksites. The lack of space for social distancing combined with the lack of adequate sanitation made prison conditions even more life threatening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unions of their choice, bargain collectively, and the country, the ombudsperson received cases that otherwise might have... 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