Human Rights Abuses Allegedly Committed by Honduran Military Police
(PMOP: Policía Militar del Orden Público)
Alleged Abuses | ||||||
Perpetrators | Victims | Abuse | Date/Location | News Source | ||
2 PMOP officials: Elmer Eliazar Mejia Aguilar and Jose Luis Melgar Deras, a captain and lieutenant from the military (Fuerzas Armadas) assigned to PMOP unit | Siblings Ramón Eduardo (19), and Zenia Maritza Díaz Rodríguez (20) killed | Witness said police men wearing ski masks and bullet-proof vests abducted the two the night before their bodies were discovered. The two PMOP officials were charged with killing the siblings by the Public Ministry. The officials were investigated and remanded to the custody of the First Infantry Battalion pending further hearings. | 4/12/2014 (bodies found) Tegucigalpa 9/2014 (officials charged) | U.S. State Department Human Rights Report 2014 | ||
4 uniformed members of the military police | José Guadalupe Ruelas García, human rights defender (director of children’s rights organization Casa Alianza) was severely beat. | Garcia was beat by officials before being detained. He was detained under charges of driving under the influences, but alcohol tests confirmed his sobriety. The police took him of his car, beat and insulted him, dragged him to the Presidential House, and confiscated his wallet (containing $200) and his car. | 5/8/2014 Tegucigalpa | U.S. State Department Human Rights Report 2014 | ||
Members of PMOP in conjunction with members of the Preventive Police | Five alleged drug gang members: José Neptali Soto (18), Luis Alberto Mejía Estrada (20), Luis Argenis Chacón Hernández (19), José Enrique Guzmán Cano (20), and one child member (17) | Police shot and killed alleged gang members during a house raid. | 10/05/2014 Mi Rey, La Cerrito Lindo de la Rivera Hernández, San Pedro Sula | |||
Members of PMOP in conjunction with members of the National Antiextortion Force (FNA) | Alleged Gang Member: Child (15) | Police opened fire and killed an alleged child gang member, also shot and injured another 15 year-old alleged gang member. | 10/30/2014 Miguel Ángel Pavón y las Ayestas, Cortés, San Pedro Sula | |||
Four soldiers from the 10th Batallion and a policeman, under the command of the sergeant responsible for the area | Community leader and member of indigenous advocacy group COPINH: José Husbaldo Guzmán Argueta (62) | Argueta was allegedly attacked by soldiers and police, beaten and, while on the ground, shot in the face by a soldier with an M-16, killing him instantly. | 06/18/2014 Colomoncagua, a town near the Salvadoran border | |||
PMOP | Community leader: Carlos Alberto Carrasco (56). Passerby: Ernesto Carcamo Ronald Ramos (22). Bodyguards of Carrasco: Juan Ramón García Pacheco (21) and José Orellana German Alvarado (19) | Carrasco and his two bodyguards were dragged out of his house at 9 pm by men in ski-masks and military dress, who had arrived in two luxury SUVs, and who shot them and a passerby dead. | 07/07/2014 El Carmen neighborhood, San Pedro Sula | Honduras Accompaniment Project (PROAH) | ||
Soldier (unclear if PMOP) | Rio Blanco Community leader and activist: Tomas Garcia (49) and his 17 year old son. | Soldier shot and killed Mr. Garcia at close range with M-16 in broad daylight in front of 200-300 people. Mr. Garcia’s teenage son was also shot several times, receiving serious injuries and requiring hospitalization. | 07/15/13 Rio Blanco | |||
PMOP | University Student: Kevin Solórzano Hernández (19) | Arrested and held for supposed connection to murder of Prosecutor, despite no legal basis according to Human Rights Group ‘Alianza Por Los Derechos Humanos.’ Allegedly beaten by 7 members of PMOP to confess to the crime. | 11/2014-ongoing Tegucigalpa | |||
Three PMOP | Journalist and member of Honduras’ LGBT community, Ely Vallejo | The evening of the attack Vallejo was allegedly confronted by three military police entering his apartment. He said they were in uniform and two of them attacked him. The third yelled the beating was “to teach him a lesson.” Also allegedly continually targeted for threats, causing him to leave the country. | 11/2014-1/2015 San Pedro Sula | |||
At least one PMOP | Journalist, César Omar Silva Rosales | Rosales was denied access to Honduran National Congress while trying to cover a session discussing the constitutional range of the Military Policy. Rosales was told that his name was not in the list of authorized journalists and when he asked for an explanation, a high-ranking military official pointed his finger at him saying: “You cannot come in because I do not want you to and I am the one in charge here. Continue publishing videos of militaries eating dog and you will see... in a ditch, gagged and with yellow legs you will be found.” | 1/24/2015 Tegucigalpa | |||
8 PMOP officers | Female sweatshop worker | While waiting for a bus after her shift in a sweatshop, was forced into a military police patrol by gunpoint, taken to an isolated area and gang raped. | 11/21/2014 San Pedro Sula | |||
Intelligence Agents/Military | Four student activists (middle and high school) Elvin Antonio López (19), Darwin Josué Martínez (21), Minor (13), and Unknown | Students had been involved in recent protests demanding the government improve school conditions, including new plans for a schedule that would end classes at 7 PM, a very dangerous time for youths to be on the streets. Four students were assassinated in the protests. Dozens more were beaten, threatened, intimidated, according to reports. | 3/24/2015 Tegucigalpa/Comayaguela | |||
At least two PMOP | Movimiento Amplio Universitario (MAU) Student Director, Nery Gomez | Less than 24 hours after the assassination of student protesters, PMOP entered the home of Gomez without a warrant, emptying and taking his documents. | 3/25/2015 Tegucigalpa | |||
At least one PMOP Members of Fuerza de Seguridad Interinstitucional Nacional (Fusina) and PMOP PMOP Platoon Members of PMOP | Heriberto Flores Ramos (19) Journalist and cameraman for “Patrulla Nocturna” from TN5 Matutino News | According to his family, Ramos was out drinking with friends when police tied him up, took him away in a private car, tortured him and then shot him in the head multiple times, leaving his corpse in a nearby factory. As of Jan 28., PMOP had no comment. Destruction of kiosque in education center without authorization. PMOP Officers came to national police dormitory house without a warrant and proceeded to seize household, police equipment, among others, alleging that the occupants of the property were involved with organized crime. Verbal and physical abuse from PMOP to journalist and cameraman. The latter was hit | 1/2015 Tegucigalpa 03/04/2015 Department of Santa Bárbara 04/09/2015 Colonia San Miguel 03/13/2015 Outskirts of Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital in San Pedro Sula | |||
PMOP member | Honduras Director of Criminal Investigation | PMOP officer, Joel Cervantes, arrested for a homicide committed in 2010. The victim’s identity was not revealed. | 06/04/15 San Pedro Sula | |||
Members of Military Police and National Police | Dunia Montoya, journalist with Revista Vida Laboral | |||||
Human Rights Abuses and Abuses of Power | ||||||
PMOP Officers | Vice President of SITRAPANI (National Child Welfare Agency Worker’s Union): Marco Antonio Rodriguez | PMOP officers forced Rodriguez and his son onto the street, made them lie face down and handcuffed them while they searched the house. His wife and daughter were forced to stand facing a wall with guns pointed at them. When Rodriguez asked to see the search warrant, the police replied, “What search warrant? Here we can do whatever we want.” | 10/10/2013 Tegucigalpa | |||
PMOP officers accompanied by a military judge and public prosecutor | LIBRE party leader and FNRP indigenous activist: Edwin Robelo Espinal (38) | Officers broke down door and ransacked home of Espinal. Espinal has been targeted in the past. In 2010, he was detained and tortured by police and his girlfriend was killed by security forces in 2009. | 10/23/2013 Flor del Campo, Tegucigalpa | |||
Unclear whether it was six soldiers or PMOP officers | Transgender Woman | Soldiers or PMOP officers participated in beating of transgender woman. | 07/2014 12 avenida, San Pedro Sula | |||
Sergeant Lucio Gómez of the PMOP in the presence of three other PMOP officers and an investigator | Geovany Alexander Reyes Ardón, Martha Elena Quiroz, and two other unnamed passengers
| After a bus failed to stop at a police checkpoint, PMOP officer Gómez shot at the bus with a rifle, shattering the back window and injuring four passengers. | 10/01/2014 Quezada, Tegucigalpa | |||
PMOP officers | Medical Doctor: Samuel Santos | Unexplained raid of a private home: While Santos was at work, PMOP officers raided his home and intimidated his wife and children. | 09/01/2014 Tegucigalpa | |||
315 soldiers and policemen and around 40 private security officers (unclear to what extent PMOP/Tigres) | President of the Regional Agrarian Platform: Jaime Adaly Cabrera Del Cid and President of MARCA: Walter Ernesto Cárcamo Lezama, both arrested, along with 12 others. Two unnamed campesinos hospitalized. | Forced eviction without explanation: Forces used tear gas, pepper spray and gunfire into the air resulted in two campesinos being hospitalized. 14 people were arrested including 5 minors, with the 9 adults (4 of them women, one of them pregnant) held in custody for several days. | 05/21/2014 Two MARCA campesino communities in Trinidad and El Despertar | |||
Eight PMOP officers
| Unnamed female, (20) | Alleged rape of woman by eight PMOP officers: After being transported to the city center by Preventive Police, PMOP officers allegedly took custody of the woman, drove her to the Cofradía area, raped her, psychologically tormented her and abandoned her on the side of the road. | 11/22/2014 San Jorge, Cofradía, San Pedro Sula | |||
At least one PMOP | Child Rights Group, Casa Alianza, director: José Guadalupe Ruelas | Mr. Ruelas was signaled to stop at a military police checkpoint. His car was stationary when a police on a motorbike collided with it. Mr. Ruelas was pulled out of the car by military police and beaten. Police took his belongings, including a laptop, before taking him to a police station. | 05/8/2014 Tegucigalpa | |||
Roughly 500 Honduran National Police, PMOP, in conjunction with the Operation Xatruch III military unit | 6 indigenous children | Police and soldiers broke up a demonstration using tear-and pepper-gas, hospitalizing 6 children and forcing others to be evacuated to a boat. According to reports, the tear-gas was fired into the kindergarten, as well as into people's homes. | 05/23/14 Puerto Castilla, Trujillo | |||
Two PMOP: Carlos Eduardo Paz Echeverría (23), y Gerson Ermeli Alemán, (22) | The state | The two officers allowed released two people who had been detained in a van and wanted for smuggling crimes. The two officers were arrested and will face trial. | Tegucigalpa 1/2015 | |||
Four PMOP | Fruit Shop Owner, Luis Portillo (43) | Alleged kidnappers dressed in plainclothes walked into Portillo’s shop and told him he was under arrest. He resisted as they kidnapped him, bringing him into an unmarked pick-up truck. Mr. Portillo was saved by police as his brother-in-law caught on and followed the abductors. | 2/13/15 Comayagüela, Tegucigalpa | |||
Two Soldiers | Car occupants | Two soldiers shot at a car without any warning, according to its occupants, who appear not to have been hurt in the attack. The two soldiers have been charged with attempted murder, damage and abuse of authority. | 11/29/14 Cabo Cañaveral, Santa Cruz de Yojoa municipality | |||
At least two PMOP PMOP officer and local municipal police | Journalist and Cameraman Maritza Alvarado Gomez | “Bajá esa cámara, pues, bajá esa cámara, bajá esa mierda...¡no viejo!” warned a PMOP member with his gun wielded to a cameraman and journalist reporting outside of a hospital. Military police proceeded to verbally and physically assault the men. The footage has been released. Shot that lead to woman’s death | 3/13/15 San Pedro Sula 04/24/2015 @ the corner of Colonia Kennedy | |||
PMOP officers in Gracias a Dios, Honduras | Ministerio Público (MP) on behalf of local business owners | The Ministerio Público summoned PMOP officers in Puerto Lempira, Gracias a Dios, Honduras, on counts of power abuses, including violating the rights of business owners and harassing businesses “at least 6 times a week” without just cause | 6/9/15 | |||
470 PMOP members | 10 health centers and hospitals | The PMOP members, under order from President Hernández, took over 10 health centers and hospitals to control medication distribution until further notice to apparently counter medication pricing markups of up to 5000%. However, the military and government was involved in a scandal in 2013 that helped fund Hernández’s presidential campaign via stealing USD $200 mil from social security and health sectors | 6/19/15 | |||
10 PMOP members | Francis Gonzales | PMOP members accused of beating up a civilian, Francis Gonzalez, and causing serious injury in Puerto Lempira, Gracias a Dios. The National Commissioners of Human Rights, Juan José Aritas, said that Gonzalez was “affected by a contingent of the Military Police that hurt his integrity, and medical evaluations will be carried out.” | 6/22/15 | |||
4 PMOP members | Local police agents and members of La Fuerza de Seguridad Interinstitucional Nacional (Fusina) | 4 PMOP members, Eber Rolando Betanco, Carlos David Hernández, Darlin Nahúm Reyes y Óscar Lauren García, were arrested for the robbery of 25,000 lempiras by local agents. They called in backup from the Fusina, who condemned them and said they will be investigated by the judiciary. They are being held in a federal prison. | 6/23/15 | |||
Abuses committed by TIGRES (Tropa de Inteligencia y Grupos de Respuesta
Especial de Seguridad or Intelligence and Special Security Response Troop)
Corruption | ||||||
Perpetrators | Victims | Abuse | Date/Location | News Source | ||
22 Members of the TIGRES implicated, including Police Commissioner in charge of the operation and another Police Commissioner who helped distribute the stolen money |
| Theft of $1.3 million (28 million lempiras) during operation to arrest the alleged drug gang brothers Valle Valle. | 10/05/2014 Stolen during operation in El Espíritu, Florida, Copán. Distributed in San Pedro Sula | |||
Human Rights Abuses | ||||||
TIGRE Police Officer René Benjamín Martínez in conjunction with Preventive Police officers Olman Enrique Miranda Morga, Serwin Miralda Aníbal Serrano and Javier Alcides Mendoza Colindres | Juan Ángel Hernandez | Harassment and abuse of authority: During a routine traffic stop, the officers arrested Mr. Hernandez for riding his motorcycle with a license but no registration. After he was taken to the Belén Police Station, he was beaten in the face, neck, arms and stomach. | 02/09/2013 Santa Fe de Comayaguela, Tegucigalpa | |||
300 police and soldiers from Xatruch III Joint Task Force | Campesinos: José Sánchez Méndez, David Ponce, Mariano Baquedano, Roger Rodríguez all injured. Seven more people arrested. | Forced eviction: At 6.15 am, 300 soldiers and police raid Paso Aguan farm without presenting an eviction order. They started firing tear gas and live bullets indiscriminately, seriously wounding two campesinos. José Sánchez almost died, and part of his liver had to be removed. David Ponce had a bullet lodged in his back. Mariano Baquedano and Roger Rodríguez were also hospitalized after being beaten. Seven people were arrested, including a minor, a member of OPDHA (Aguán Permanent Human Rights Observatory), and Gregorio Chávez's brother. | 07/03/2014 Paso Aguán farm, municipality of Trujillo, Colón | The Committee of the Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras | ||
Abuses committed by National Police & Dirección Nacional de Servicios Especiales (DNSEI)
Human Rights Abuses | ||||||
Perpetrators | Victims | Abuse | Date/Location | News Source | ||
Freddy Gerardo Mendoza Arriaza, Gregorio Alexander Anariba Meraz, and Marvin Joel Gallegos Suarez of the national police’s Special Investigative Services Directorate (DNSEI) | University students Yuri Fabiola Hernandez and Jessy Marlene Garcia killed, one woman who identity is protected was also injured. | The three officers have since been charged with homicide, cover-up, and dereliction of duty. | 7/9/2014 Colonia Loarque in Tegucigalpa | U.S. State Department Human Rights Report 2014 | ||
National Police | Journalists Dunia Montoya, Eddie Andino, Gerardo Chevez, Roman Paz | Montoya was hospitalized after receiving blows and kicks to the face from National Police. She also had fractures on her arms. The remaining journalists were also attacked with tear gas and their equipment damaged | 09/1/2015 El Progreso in Yoro | |||
National Police and PMOP officers (hooded) | Radio correspondent Cesar Obando Flores | Tear gassed and received blows in the abdomen, telephone broken. Pursued on foot by hooded police. For transmitting live broadcast of a protest | 09/01/2015 Bajo Aguan, Colon | |||
Abuses committed by the Honduran Military
Human Rights Abuses | ||||||
Perpetrators | Victims | Abuse | Date/Location | News Source | ||
Colonel Jesus Alberto Marmol Yanez, Lieutenant Colonel Juan Ruben Giron Reyes, Jose Emiliano Novoa Funez, Colonel Raynel Enrique Funez Ponce, Juan Flores Alvares, Colonel Mariano Mendoza Maradiaga | Ebed Jassiel Yanes Caceres (15) murdered on May 27th 2012. | Two years after the killing of Ebed Jassiel Yanes Carceres, a trial began against the higher level officers implicated in the cover-up of the killing. “The judge ruled that proceedings would continue against Colonel Jesus Alberto Marmol Yanez, Lieutenant Colonel Juan Ruben Giron Reyes, and Jose Emiliano Novoa Funez. In October authorities appealed the dismissal of charges against Colonel Raynel Funez Ponce, but dismissed the charges against armed forces legal advisors Juan Flores Alvares and Colonel Mariano Mendoza Maradiaga.” | 5/27/2012 (murder) 9/2012 (trial) Tegucigalpa | U.S. State Department Human Rights Report 2014 | ||
Said Edgardo Maradiaga Andino, Roger Arnulfo Calix Matute, Jorge Rene Lobo Andrade, Breinny Flores, Elmison Anae Osorio Flores, Milton Sabier Urbina Almendares, Cesar Josue Agurcia Espinoza, and Cesar Anuris Mendez Madrid (Fuerzas Armadas) | Day laborer Marco Tulio Medrano Lemus tortured and killed. | 8 members of the military have been arrested for their suspected involvement in his murder. | 8/28/2014 San Pedro Sula | U.S. State Department Human Rights Report 2014 | ||
Soldiers Wilfredo Corrales Sánchez, Ananías Misael Silva Almendárez and Yonatan Ariel Estrada Borjas | Artisanal miners in Cuculmeca tortured. | Soldiers Wilfredo Corrales Sánchez, Ananías Misael Silva Almendárez and Yonatan Ariel Estrada Borjas were arrested in October for allegedly torturing artisanal miners. In November, Silva was sentenced to two years detention, but charges against Sanchez and Borjas were dismissed. | 11/3/2014 Mine in the Cuculmeca Hill, in the village of San Juan Arriba, El Corpus | U.S. State Department Human Rights Report 2014 | ||