TEGUCIGALPA, (Reuters) – The militarization of Central America’s violent Honduras has helped to stem gang bloodshed in a land known for the world’s highest murder rate, but it has created another problem – an apparent spike in abuses blamed on soldiers.
Former President Porfirio Lobo rolled out the military in 2012 to fight drug gangs and his successor Juan Hernandez upped the offensive, pledging to “put a soldier on every corner”.
While that may help Honduras shake off its reputation as the world’s deadliest country, a litany of murder, rape and torture accusations by some victims and human rights groups against the military is haunting a country struggling to find its feet after a 2009 coup that sparked a surge in violence.
Poverty and chronic violence in Honduras were among the main factors behind a surge in illegal migration from Central America to the United States last year that caused a major political headache for President Barack Obama.
Between 2012 and 2014, Honduran soldiers were accused of being involved in at least nine murders, over 20 cases of torture and about 30 illegal detentions, according to data compiled by Reuters.
The figures assembled by Reuters come from the U.S. State Department’s 2014 Honduras human rights report, three major human rights organizations and three newspapers.
Reuters could not independently verify every incident of abuse blamed on the military, but confirmed two in interviews with victims. There is no official tally of abuses by soldiers.
In 2010 and 2011 there were no reported cases implicating soldiers in such crimes. The military was accused of abuses in 2009 related to protests following the ouster of former President Manuel Zelaya in a coup.
“The number of human rights violations by the military is rising, and the threat is greater and growing because military police operate with their faces covered and without visible identification, which fans impunity,” said Juan Almendarez, director of CPTRT, a center for the treatment of torture victims and their relatives.
Honduras’ Interior Minister Rigoberto Chang acknowledged there had been some cases of military abuses, but said they were isolated incidents and promised justice would be served.
“Those soldiers that violated the behavior code have been handed over to the courts,” Chang, whose brief includes justice and human rights, told Reuters in May when asked about the abuses. “But the presence of soldiers in the streets will continue until security is reestablished.”
Colonel Antonio Sanchez, the spokesman of the Honduran armed forces, declined to comment for this story when asked about a spike in military abuses. He said, however, that all soldiers were trained in human rights and any accused of wrongdoing would be judged in court.
“If anyone has a different idea over how the state can fight against insecurity in Honduras, let them propose it,” he said.