Honduras must end Corruption and Impunity

Floor Speech

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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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