[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 163 (Tuesday, November 3, 2015)]
[House]
[Page H7395]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                              {time}  1015
               HONDURAS MUST END CORRUPTION AND IMPUNITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, in September I visited Honduras as part of 
a delegation organized by the Washington Office on Latin America. Last 
month I spoke about the violence and extreme poverty that force 
families and young people to flee the country. Today I want to focus on 
another urgent issue, namely, how to confront the pervasive corruption 
in Honduras.
  We heard about the problem of corruption everywhere, from the U.N., 
the President of Honduras, and the U.S. Ambassador, to community 
leaders and NGOs with expertise in justice and human rights. Everyone 
wanted to talk about the seemingly intractable problem of endemic 
corruption in Honduras.
  The roots of corruption in Honduras are deep and longstanding. They 
encompass state actors, criminal networks, and powerful political and 
economic interests. But after a scandal revealed that government 
officials had stolen more than $350 million from the country's Social 
Security fund, which provides public health services as well as old age 
pensions, and that some of the money had gone to the electoral campaign 
of the President's political party, there has been a huge public 
outcry, demanding action to end widespread corruption.
  Tens of thousands of Hondurans have marched in the streets over the 
past months, calling for an international independent commission to 
investigate corruption and impunity, based on the model of the CICIG in 
Guatemala, but tailored to Honduran reality. This unprecedented 
movement is led by young people, organized on social media, and called 
the Indignados.
  Our delegation met with some of these young leaders. They are 
thoughtful, politically diverse, and united in their desire to see 
their country rid of corruption. They now face threats for what they 
are doing, and I hope that the Honduran Government is doing all it can 
to ensure their safety and their freedom of association and not turning 
a blind eye to the threats targeting them and their families.
  When we met with President Hernandez, he argued that he had taken 
significant steps to go after corruption. I take the President 
seriously, and I look forward to seeing concrete results from the 
actions he has already announced. I also met with NGOs, including the 
Association of Judges for Democracy, that work on judicial, legal, and 
transparency issues, who unanimously felt much more must be done.
  At the height of the protest movement, President Hernandez called for 
a national dialogue on how to address the problem of corruption, asking 
the United Nations and the Organization of American States to help 
facilitate the process and develop a consensus of what needed to be 
done.
  So I was disappointed to learn that the dialogue process was not as 
inclusive as it could have been. The U.N. was sidelined, while the OAS 
carried out a quick series of discussions before developing a proposal 
for the President. Many were concerned not only that the OAS hadn't 
consulted widely enough, but that its actions fell short of the 
thoughtful and impartial mediation needed to generate confidence in any 
forthcoming proposal.
  On September 28, the OAS presented its proposal to President 
Hernandez. After studying this proposal, I have concluded that it is 
woefully inadequate to addressing corruption and impunity, and 
reforming the weak judicial institutions of Honduras. This is not just 
my opinion.
  Last week, on October 28, a broad coalition of Honduran civil 
society, the Coalition Against Impunity, issued a statement declaring 
that the mission proposed by the OAS and the government is, itself, an 
obstacle to creating a genuine independent commission that can truly 
tackle the rampant corruption and impunity in Honduras.
  Earlier, on October 4, the Indignados issued a similar critique, 
pointing out the weaknesses of the OAS proposal to independently 
investigate crimes of corruption and ensure their prosecution.
  It is clear from my discussions in Honduras and recent statements by 
Honduran civil society that any such commission must be wholly 
independent from the government politically and financially, that it 
must have the mandate and staffing to carry out investigations of 
crimes of corruption and impunity and the freedom to pursue those 
investigations wherever the evidence warrants. It must also have the 
mandate and ability to work independently with state prosecutors and 
investigators to bring such crimes to justice.
  Honduras does not need one more round of judicial studies and 
technical assistance or a board of international mentors, as proposed 
by the OAS. Such a limited proposal not only lacks the broad support 
and confidence of Honduran civil society, but it also falls far short 
of what is required to break the culture of impunity in Honduras.
  I hope the OAS proposal can be modified and strengthened and its 
mandate expanded to establish an effective and truly independent 
mechanism that can fully investigate corruption and have a role in 
prosecutions or an alternative advanced that can meet these 
requirements. I hope that a new proposal includes close cooperation 
with the U.N.
  I further believe that U.S. and international aid needs to be 
carefully calibrated to link assistance to progress on human rights and 
ending corruption, including a truly independent commission with the 
full power of investigation into corruption and impunity and the 
ability to be part of the prosecution of those charged with such 
crimes.

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