Honduras: Witness protection program
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa |
| Publication Date | 12 February 2008 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | HND102747.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Honduras: Witness protection program, 12 February 2008, HND102747.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4804c0e6c.html [accessed 5 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. |
Media and human rights sources reported on Honduras' witness protection efforts (Honduras This Week 30 Mar. 1998; AI 9 June 2005; La Tribuna 24 May 2006; ibid. 22 May 2007; ibid. 23 May 2007; AFP 24 May 2007; Tiempo 24 May 2007). According to Honduras This Week, in March 1998, the government "temporarily" cancelled its witness protection program due to "lack of financial resources" when its funding from the United States Agency for International Development expired (30 Mar. 1998). However, the United States (US) Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices noted that in November 2004 the "Government published a provisional strategy for the protection of witnesses and victims in criminal cases" (28 Feb. 2005). In 2005, Amnesty International (AI) reported the following information about witness protection in Honduras:
Amnesty International understands that the witness protection programme in Honduras is limited. The first steps towards a witness protection programme began in 2003. The programme has been included in the New Procedural Penal Code, Nuevo Codigo Procesal Penal, but due to a reported lack of resources, the program has been ineffective. (9 June 2005)
Honduran news sources report that a draft Law on Witness Protection (Ley de Proteccion de Testigos) was introduced to the National Congress (Congreso Nacional) in 2003; however, this bill did not receive approval until May 2007 (La Tribuna 23 May 2007; AFP 24 May 2007). The new law is designed to shield witnesses to crime along with their families so that they can provide testimony against suspected criminals during their trials (Tiempo 24 May 2007; La Tribuna 23 May 2007). The law contains 31 articles (AFP 24 May 2007; La Tribuna 23 May 2007) divided into 4 chapters (ibid.) and outlines numerous witness protection measures, including police protection for witnesses such as accompaniment by an officer, police patrols and monitoring, change of identity, and change of residence (ibid. 22 May 2007; Tiempo 24 May 2007), which includes the possibility of moving outside of the country (ibid.). In addition, the law provides for altering a witness's physical characteristics such as his or her face with plastic surgery in order to protect his or her changed identity (ibid.; La Tribuna 18 Nov. 2007). Moreover, the law provides for measures to protect the identity of a witness during a trial, such as the use of video-conferencing and voice distortion methods (La Tribuna 22 May 2007; Tiempo 24 May 2007).
Regarding funding of the program, a 24 May 2006 La Tribuna article estimated that the cost of starting the witness protection program envisioned under the new law could range from 40 to 50 million Honduran lempiras [2,132,400 to 2,665,500 Canadian dollars (Canada 24 Jan. 2008)]. However, news sources indicated that a portion of this funding would come from assets seized from criminals by authorities (La Tribuna 24 May 2006; Tiempo 24 May 2007) and Tiempo also noted that some resources would also come from international support and tax-deductible donations (ibid.).
In November 2007, La Tribuna reported that the National Congress had approved the creation of a new Witnesses Protection Unit (Unidad de Testigos Protegidos) within the Office of the Public Prosecutor (Ministerio Publico) (18 Nov. 2007).
No information on the effectiveness of the new law or related programs could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Agence France-Presse (AFP). 24 May 2007. "Honduras fortalece la lucha contra la delincuencia al proteger testigos." (Factiva)
Amnesty International (AI). 9 June 2005. "Honduras: Witnesses to Killing of Human Rights Defender at Risk." (AMR 37/002/2005)
Canada. 24 January 2008. Bank of Canada. "Currency Conversion Results."
Honduras This Week [Tegucigalpa]. 30 March 1998. "Govt Cancels Witness Protection Program."
Tiempo [San Pedro Sula]. 24 May 2007. "Testigos en peligro de muerte podran hacerse cirugia plastica." (Rds-hn.org)
La Tribuna [Tegucigalpa]. 18 November 2007. "Testigos protegidos seran transformados con cirugia plastica."
_____. 23 May 2007. Ninfa Arias. "CN aprueba Ley de Proteccion a Testigos."
_____. 22 May 2007. "Estructura del programa."
_____. 24 May 2006. "Cambio de identidad y salida del pais para 'Testigos Protegidos'." (Periodicos de Honduras)
United States (US). 28 February 2005. Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004.
Additional Sources Consulted
Internet sites, including: Centro de Estudio de Justicia de las Americas (CEJA), Freedom House, El Heraldo [Tegucigalpa], Human Rights Watch (HRW), Latin News, Organization of American States (OAS), El Nuevo Diario [Managua], World News Connection (WNC/Dialog).
