New prison law brings hope for Honduran prisons

Better times for the Honduran prisons might at last be on their way after decades of crisis and hundreds of lost lives.

A new prison law ensures that the prisons now longer resorts under the Ministry of National Security, but are moved to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Population. One concrete and important consequence of this is that the police - often linked to human rights violations - will be removed from the prisons. At the same time a national prison institute will be established to ensure a professionalization of current and future prison guards. Furthermore, the law ensures the structural reformation of the nine worst of Honduras' 24 prisons.

The degrading and human rights violating conditions in the Honduran prisons have led to many deaths over time. Within the last few years ell over 500 inmates have lost their loves in big prison fires. The worst took place in February this year killing 360. During the investigation it came to day that keys to open cells were missing, and that several inmates were killed while fleeing the fire.

The prison law is a big win for RCT and RCT's Honduran partner, CPTRT.

"Together with CPTRT we have had annual meetings with ministers and chairmen of the Security Committee. We have put pressure on Honduras through the EU. And in March we had high level meetings between the RCT board and the Honduran security minister and vicepresident", Finn Kjærulf, RCT's Program Manager for Latin America, states.

"We are very happy and proud, but we know that one thing is the text of the law, another the practical implementation. It requires financing and man hours".

The reformation of the prison system will take two years and cost 360 million lempira.

For further information, contact Finn Kjærulf

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