Child Soldiers Global Report 2004 - Honduras
| Publisher | Child Soldiers International |
| Publication Date | 2004 |
| Cite as | Child Soldiers International, Child Soldiers Global Report 2004 - Honduras, 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4988065528.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Republic of Honduras
Covers the period from April 2001 to March 2004.
Population: 6.8 million (3.2 million under 18)
Government armed forces: 12,000
Compulsory recruitment age: no conscription
Voluntary recruitment age: 18
Voting age: 18
Optional Protocol: acceded 14 August 2002
Other treaties ratified (see glossary): CRC, GC AP I and II, ICC, ILO 138, ILO 182
Under-18s may not enlist in the armed forces, there is no conscription and there were no reports of under-18s in the armed forces. A UN expert who visited the country in 2001 raised concerns about extrajudicial killings of street children and members of youth gangs by the security forces. In 2002 the chief of staff of the armed forces called for the reintroduction of conscription as a means of reducing criminal activities by youth gangs.
Context
As many as 1,500 children under the age of 18, most of them socially disadvantaged, have been killed in Honduras since 1998.1 Some were victims of a campaign of "social cleansing" in which street children have been killed, ostensibly to combat crime and promote public security. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions expressed concern about these killings during a visit to Honduras in August 2001.2 The authorities have shown little political will to investigate the killings and bring the perpetrators to justice.3
An amendment to Article 332 of the Penal Code, known as the Anti-Maras Law, proscribed maras – gangs and other groups involved in violent extortion or intimidation of the public – and has been used by the police to detain hundreds of gang members under "Operation Freedom".4
Government
National recruitment legislation and practice
Article 276 of the 1982 constitution, as amended by Decree No. 24-94 and ratified by Congress in 1995, establishes voluntary military service from the age of 18 in peacetime. Honduras reported to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in 1998 that "military service is now voluntary and educational. There is no compulsory conscription.
Only persons over 18 may enlist in the armed forces".5
In 2002 General Daniel López Carballo, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, called for the reintroduction of compulsory military service to reduce criminal activities by youth gangs.6 Members of the armed forces have taken part in a major social rehabilitation program aimed at young gang members.7
1 Amnesty International, Honduras: Zero tolerance ... for impunity – Extrajudicial executions of children and youths since 1998, 25 February 2003, http://web.amnesty.org/library/engindex.
2 UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Report to the Commission on Human Rights: mission to Honduras, UN Doc. E/CN.4/2003/3/Add.2, 14 June 2002, http://www.ohchr.org.
3 Communication from Casa Alianza, Honduras, 28 April 2004.
4 Presidency of Honduras, "Presidente Maduro encabeza 'Operación Libertad' tras entrar en vigor la Ley Antimaras", 18 August 2003, http://www.casapresidencial.hn/2003/08/18_1.php.
5 Periodic report of Honduras to UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/65/Add.2, 20 February 1998, http://www.ohchr.org.
6 Tiempo Digital, "Fuerzas armadas inician lucha para volver a cacerías humanas", 16 January 2002, http://www.tiempo.hn.
7 Presidency of Honduras, "Fuerzas armadas serán incorporadas en rehabilitación de pandilleros", 13 March 2003, http://www.casapresidencial. hn/2003/03/13_1.php.
