One of the most striking global issues currently is the one in Honduras. Honduras in recent years has been plagued by the ills of corruption, crime, drugs, poverty, diseases and various other problems. The problems have been continuing for many years now, and the people are starting to get restless.
The problem of corruption in Honduras can be rooted to many causes. In the country, government institutions have become weakened over the years, and have been unable to provide public services like health care and education. The judiciary and the police have been corrupted as well to a certain extent, and even if not, they have lost the confidence of the people. It is widely believed that many authorities of these institutions are directly involved with criminals or in illegal activities. So, people are reluctant to report criminal activities or wrongdoings to the authorities, in fear of being victimized. Due to this, crime rate has been increasing at a rapid pace in the country. Taking advantage of the people’s weakened resolution for justice, some civil servants colluded with the private sector and skimmed money from Government budgets, without any repercussions.
Recently, the former first lady Rosa Elena de Lobo was found guilty of embezzlement and fraud, and was sentenced to 58 years in prison. Then the President’s brother, Juan Antonio Hernandez, was found guilty by a US Court, which said he relied on “State sponsored drug trafficking”. The President has also been implicated with the charges of colluding with a former mayor to transfer drugs to his 2013 presidential campaign. More than 60 percent Hondurans believe that the President is corrupt, and that the Government has proved itself inept in the fight against corruption.
These grave instabilities led to great national and international pressure on the Honduras government. This made the Government sign a pact with the Organization of American States (OAS) in 2016, establishing the Mission to Fight Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH) until January 2020. The MACCIH has investigated 12 high profile corruption cases including a former first lady and dozens of congressmen. Many Honduran business elite were also involved. Many civil society organizations, including the US Embassy and the UN Special Rapporteur on Judicial Independence, have supported the renewal of its mandate. Yet, the President of the Supreme Court of Honduras wants the judicial system to work without MACCIH.
In its first case, MACCIH found that some members of congress had funneled over $300,000 of public funds into their own accounts through an NGO. Members of congress tried to subvert justice by modifying the annual budget law, which shifted jurisdiction to another organ. Thus the judge had to close and file the case. MACCIH has termed this high level undermining of anti-corruption activities as the Impunity Pact. Now, the Honduran business elite have joined hands to fight against this systematic corruption. They are taking part in society building activities, and actively trying to prevent any type of corruption in their own activities.
The need of the hour is to work directly with international organizations that can do the requisite research and suggest the right reforms. It is necessary to receive anonymous complaints so that people can report corruption cases and other crimes without any fear, and then the cases must be followed till the end, so that they do not meet an untimely end.
References
Ajs-us.org. (2009). Why is Honduras so Violent? | Association for a More Just Society. [online] Available at: https://www.ajs-us.org/content/why-honduras-so-violent [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
Daugaard, A. (2019). Honduras: How a surge of corruption scandals has fueled political crisis. [online] Medium. Available at: https://voices.transparency.org/honduras-how-a-surge-of-corruption-scandals-has-fueled-political-crisis-85af16ceac85 [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].
Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com (2019). Honduran president’s brother convicted in US court of drug trafficking | DW | 18.10.2019. [online] DW.COM. Available at: https://www.dw.com/en/honduran-presidents-brother-convicted-in-us-court-of-drug-trafficking/a-50894558 [Accessed 31 Oct. 2019].