[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1945 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1945

 To suspend United States security assistance with Honduras until such 
 time as human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and 
               their perpetrators are brought to justice.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 28, 2019

   Mr. Johnson of Georgia (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Serrano, Ms. 
Schakowsky, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Moore, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Foster, Mrs. 
  Napolitano, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Speier, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Panetta, Mr. 
Lowenthal, Ms. Omar, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Rush, Mr. Tonko, Ms. 
 Lee of California, Mr. Lynch, Miss Rice of New York, Mr. Khanna, Mr. 
   Grijalva, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Haaland, Mr. Pocan, Mr. 
Cicilline, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Pallone, 
 Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Ms. Judy Chu of California, 
  Ms. Norton, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Himes, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. 
Beyer, Mr. Kind, Mr. Payne, and Mr. Ted Lieu of California) introduced 
  the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To suspend United States security assistance with Honduras until such 
 time as human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and 
               their perpetrators are brought to justice.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Berta Caceres Human Rights in 
Honduras Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Honduran police are widely established to be deeply 
        corrupt and commit human rights abuses, including torture, 
        rape, illegal detention, and murder, with impunity.
            (2) The New York Times revealed documents on April 15, 
        2016, indicating that top officials of the Honduran police 
        ordered the killings of drug-crime investigators Julian 
        Aristides Gonzales and Alfredo Landaverde in 2009 and 2011, 
        respectively, with the subsequent knowledge of top police and, 
        evidently, high-ranking government officials. The Times 
        suggested in a subsequent article that the revelations were 
        being manipulated by the President of Honduras for his own 
        corrupt purposes. Both cases remain in impunity.
            (3) Individuals in the police with documented records of 
        having committed gross human rights abuses with impunity 
        continue to serve in, and be appointed and reappointed to high 
        positions with the police. Former general in the Armed Forces 
        Julian Pacheco Tinoco, the Minister of Security, was the 
        highest ranking official in charge of the repression of 
        protesters by the police following the November 27, 2017, 
        election, and has been twice named in United States Federal 
        court as overseeing drug trafficking. He was reappointed to his 
        position by President Juan Orlando Hernandez in December 2018.
            (4) Other individuals who previously served in high-ranking 
        positions and who are documented to have committed gross human 
        rights abuses continue in impunity.
            (5) International human rights bodies have reported that 
        the Honduran military and police commit human rights abuses, 
        including killings, with impunity. The Associated Press has 
        documented death squad activity by police. Human Rights Watch 
        has reported: ``The use of lethal force by the national police 
        is a chronic problem.''. In its report for 2018 it concluded 
        that ``Violent crime is rampant in Honduras''. It noted that: 
        ``Marred by corruption and abuse, the judiciary and police 
        remain largely ineffective. Impunity for crime and human rights 
        abuses is the norm.''.
            (6) The Department of State's 2018 Human Rights Report for 
        Honduras reported: ``Civilian authorities at times did not 
        maintain effective control over the security forces.''. It 
        summarized: ``The most significant human rights issues included 
        alleged arbitrary and unlawful killings; a complaint of 
        torture; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; 
        arbitrary arrest or detention; unlawful interference with 
        privacy; killings of and threats to media members,'' and other 
        issues.
            (7) Repeated efforts to clean up the Honduran police have 
        largely failed. A recent commission charged with cleaning up 
        the police reports that it has cleaned up over 5,000 members, 
        but the great majority of those were separated for reasons of 
        restructuring, retirements, or disabilities. Only approximately 
        100 cases of alleged criminal activity have been forwarded to 
        the Public Ministry for prosecution. Few of those are being 
        prosecuted. The actions and results of the police cleanup 
        commission have not been independently verified, moreover, and 
        its directors include Julian Pacheco Tinoco, the Minister of 
        Security, named as a drug trafficker, and Vilma Morales, one of 
        the top two negotiators for the leader of the 2009 coup. Long-
        lasting, fundamental reform of the police still needs to be 
        enacted.
            (8) Evidence indicates that topmost officials in charge of 
        the police have been allegedly involved in drug trafficking. 
        The National Director of the Police and his top two lieutenants 
        have been documented by the Associated Press to have previously 
        participated in cocaine trafficking. Julian Pacheco Tinoco, the 
        Minister of Security, reappointed in December 2018, has been 
        twice named in United States Federal court as overseeing drug 
        trafficking.
            (9) Rights Action has documented that the Fifteenth 
        Battalion of the Honduran Armed Forces allegedly participated 
        with police and private security forces in some of the killings 
        of over 100 small-farmer activists in the Aguan Valley 
        beginning in 2010. In 2015, Human Rights Watch confirmed that 
        the killings of Aguan farmers were met with no consequences. To 
        date there has been one confirmed conviction of a private 
        security guard. Assassinations of key activists continue. In 
        October 2016, Jose Angel Flores, the president of the Unified 
        Campesino Movement of the Aguan (MUCA), and Silmer Dionisio 
        George, another MUCA member, were assassinated, with impunity.
            (10) Further examples abound of human rights abuses by the 
        military: in July 2013 members of the Armed Forces shot and 
        killed Tomas Garcia, a Lenca Indigenous activist, and injured 
        his son while they were peacefully protesting a dam project; in 
        May 2014, nine members of the Ninth Infantry reportedly 
        tortured and killed Amado Maradiaga Quiroz and tortured his 
        son, Milton Noe Maradiaga Varela. The cases remain in impunity. 
        In an emblematic case, on December 27, 2015, the Honduran Navy 
        reportedly killed Joel Palacios Lino and Elvis Armando Garcia, 
        two Garifuna Afro-Indigenous men who were engaged in digging a 
        car out of the sand on a beach. Ten members of the Honduran 
        military were convicted of the killing of these 2 men, 
        underscoring that egregious human rights are committed by state 
        security forces.
            (11) The current Government of Honduras has expanded the 
        military's reach into domestic policing, including the creation 
        of a 4,300-member Military Police in clear violation of the 
        Honduran constitution and with disastrous results, including 
        the killings of a 15-year-old boy, Ebed Yanes, in 2012 and a 
        student, Erlin Misael Carias Moncada, in 2014, after they had 
        passed unarmed through checkpoints, and the January 2, 2017, 
        killing of 17-year-old Edgardo Moreno Rodriquez. While one 
        member of the armed forces was convicted and sentenced in the 
        case of Yanes, the case of the United States-trained colonel 
        who allegedly subsequently ordered a cover-up remains in 
        impunity. Since the creation of the Military Police, 
        ``allegations of human rights abuses by the military have 
        increased notably'', reports Human Rights Watch. The Military 
        Police now count 9 battalions and plan 2 additional battalions.
            (12) During the crisis that erupted following the highly 
        contested November 2017 Presidential election, massive protests 
        against electoral fraud and the disputed re-election campaign 
        of President Juan Orlando Hernandez emerged throughout the 
        country. The United Nations and the Committee of Families of 
        the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (COFADEH) have 
        documented that in response, Honduran state security forces 
        killed at least 16 people, many of them protesters and 
        bystanders; one additional person remains forcibly disappeared 
        by state security forces. The great majority of the victims, 
        according to the UN and COFADEH reports, were killed by the 
        Military Police. All these cases remain in impunity. In 
        addition, 3 people accused of crimes while protesting remain in 
        prison awaiting trial under dire, life-threatening conditions 
        and a fourth remains in exile.
            (13) The Military Police continue to commit serious human 
        rights abuses. On November 30, 2017, Daniel Isaac Varela, age 
        12, was wounded by members of the military police in 
        Comayaguela during a post-election demonstration while he was 
        purchasing candy with friends and the military opened fire. On 
        December 3, 2017, Manuel de Jesus Bautista Salvador disappeared 
        while held in detention by the Military Police in Cofradia, 
        Cortes, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
            (14) The Honduran judicial system has been widely 
        documented to be rife with corruption. Judges, prosecutors, and 
        other officials are interconnected with organized crime and 
        drug traffickers, contributing to near-complete impunity.
            (15) The Department of State in its 2018 Human Rights 
        Report for Honduras reports that ``Corruption and impunity 
        remained serious problems within the security forces.''. It 
        noted that ``Impunity existed in many cases . . . as evidenced 
        by lengthy judicial processes, few convictions of perpetrators, 
        and failures to prosecute intellectual authors of crimes.''.
            (16) Overall, the judicial system remains ineffective and 
        corrupt. The Department of State reported for 2017 that it was 
        ``often ineffective, and subject to intimidation, corruption, 
        politicization and patronage . . . Powerful special interests, 
        including organized crime groups, exercised influence on the 
        outcome of some court proceedings.''.
            (17) Summarizing the situation, Human Rights Watch reported 
        for 2018 that ``Judges face interference from the executive 
        branch and others, including private actors with connections in 
        government.''. It concludes: ``Efforts to reform the 
        institutions responsible for providing public security have 
        made little progress. Married by corruption and abuse, the 
        judiciary and police remain largely ineffective.''.
            (18) The March 2, 2016, assassination of prominent Lenca 
        Indigenous and environmental activist Berta Caceres, world-
        renowned recipient of the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for 
        her work defending Indigenous land rights against a 
        hydroelectric dam project, illustrates the human rights crisis 
        in Honduras, and the deep complicity of the Honduran 
        government. Caceres, the leader of COPINH, the Council of 
        Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras, had reported 
        to authorities 33 threats previous to her killing, but none had 
        been investigated, and the government had failed to provide 
        adequate protection measures as mandated by the Inter-American 
        Commission on Human Rights, with protection by Honduran 
        security being withdrawn the day of her death.
            (19) As of November 2018, seven men have been convicted in 
        the killing of Caceres. One of them was an active duty officer 
        in the military at the time of his arrest and two others are 
        former military. A third former officer and the president of 
        the DESA Corporation, the dam construction company, has been 
        charged and is awaiting trial. The convictions raise serious 
        questions about the role of the Honduran military in her 
        assassination, including the higher chain of command within the 
        military as well as the identity of the intellectual authors of 
        the assassination. Evidence in the documents in the case file 
        indicate that members of the Honduran elite were responsible 
        for ordering Caceres's assassination, and remain in impunity. 
        Evidence also indicates possible involvement of individuals of 
        higher rank in the military, but there is no indication that 
        prosecutors are investigating these individuals.
            (20) The Government of Honduras continues to unduly limit 
        legally mandated access by Ms. Caceres's family to 
        participation in the prosecution as permitted under Honduran 
        law.
            (21) In this context of corruption and human rights abuses, 
        trade unionists, journalists, lawyers, Afro-Indigenous 
        activists, Indigenous activists, small-farmer activists, LGBTI 
        activists, human rights defenders, and critics of the 
        government remain at severe risk; and previous human rights 
        abuses against them remain largely unpunished.
            (22) Journalists continue to be attacked with impunity. On 
        May 2, 2016, prominent opposition journalist Felix Molina was 
        shot multiple times in the legs hours after he had posted 
        information potentially linking Caceres's killing to a top 
        government official, members of an elite family, and one of the 
        prosecutors in the case. Those who report on protests against 
        the government are threatened and attacked by state security 
        forces. On November 26, 2018, journalist Geovanny Sierra from 
        the UNETV opposition television station was in the process of 
        reporting on the repression by security forces of a protest 
        marking the one-year anniversary of the disputed 2017 elections 
        when he was fired upon by members of the police assigned to the 
        National Penitentiary. He survived the attack but suffered 
        extensive injuries to his right arm. Both cases remain in 
        impunity.
            (23) United States agencies allocated approximately $39 
        million that Congress appropriated through the Consolidated 
        Appropriations Act, 2017, to the Honduran police and military 
        for fiscal year 2017.
            (24) The Inter-American Development Bank lent $60,000,000 
        to the Honduran police between 2012 and 2018, with United 
        States approval.

SEC. 3. SUSPENSION AND RESTRICTIONS OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE EXTENDED TO 
              REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS UNLESS CERTAIN CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN 
              MET.

    (a) Suspension of Security Assistance.--No funds may be made 
available to provide assistance for the police or military of the 
Republic of Honduras, including assistance for equipment and training.
    (b) Loans From Multilateral Development Banks.--The Secretary of 
the Treasury shall instruct United States representatives at 
multilateral development banks to vote no on any loans for the police 
or military of the Republic of Honduras.

SEC. 4. CONDITIONS FOR LIFTING SUSPENSIONS AND RESTRICTIONS.

    The provisions of this Act shall terminate on the date on which the 
Secretary of State determines and certifies to the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
Relations of the Senate that the Government of Honduras has--
            (1) pursued all legal avenues to bring to trial and obtain 
        a verdict of all those who ordered and carried out--
                    (A) the March 2, 2016, murder of Berta Caceres;
                    (B) the killings of over 100 small-farmer activists 
                in the Aguan Valley;
                    (C) the killings of 22 people and forced 
                disappearance of 1 person by state security forces in 
                the context of the 2017 postelectoral crisis; and
                    (D) the May 3, 2016, armed attack on Felix Molina, 
                and the November 26, 2018, shooting of Geovanny Sierra.
            (2) investigated and successfully prosecuted members of 
        military and police forces who are credibly found to have 
        violated human rights, and ensured that the military and police 
        cooperated in such cases, and that such violations have ceased;
            (3) withdrawn the military from domestic policing, in 
        accordance with the Honduran Constitution, and ensured that all 
        domestic police functions are separated from the command and 
        control of the Armed Forces of Honduras and are instead 
        directly responsible to civilian authority;
            (4) established that it protects effectively the rights of 
        trade unionists, journalists, human rights defenders, the 
        Indigenous, the Afro-Indigenous, small-farmers, LGBTI 
        activists, critics of the government, and other civil society 
        activists to operate without interference; and
            (5) taken effective steps to fully establish the rule of 
        law and to guarantee a judicial system that is capable of 
        investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to justice members of 
        the police and military who have committed human rights abuses.
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