Honduras hands prison control to military police, expands emergency powers after deadly riot

1:16 am Thursday, June 22nd, 2023

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – Honduras will return control of most of the country’s penal system to the military police for the next year, the Central American country’s presidential office said late on Wednesday, a day after a prison riot claimed nearly 50 lives.

The measure is part of a fresh crackdown on crime which includes expanding a so-called state of exception suspending some constitutional rights to cover more territories over an extended time-frame, and a greater role for the armed forces in security efforts nationwide, the government said.

Honduras will also turn islands hundreds of kilometers off the coast into a penal colony for “highly dangerous” gang leaders, the presidental office said.

Castro had promised “drastic measures” to address the deaths at a women’s prison, which she attributed to an organized attack by gang members conducted with guards’ knowledge.

Police said the clash took place when armed members of the Barrio 18 gang held back guards and attacked members of the rival Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13).

Both gangs, which have their origins in the United States, battle for control of drug trafficking and extortion rights, often clashing between themselves or with authorities.

Tuesday’s riot likely began in retaliation to recent government measures cracking down on corruption and gang control from within prison walls, authorities said.

Castro’s government sacked all members of the committee overseeing the earlier crackdown Wednesday evening.

It also returned control of 21 of the country’s 26 prisons to the military police. Castro, a leftist, had removed the military police from overseeing prisons when she took office in early 2022, handing power over to national police.

Her office also expanded the state of exception to include additional areas of the country, a move which allows authorities to limit freedom of movement and assembly, as well as search homes and make arrests without a warrant.

Human rights organizations have decried the state of exception, which follows a similar decision from El Salvador, where tens of thousands of alleged gang members have been jailed in the past year and a half.

For the women remaining jailed at the prison where the riot broke out, Castro’s government asked the judiciary reconsider detention for those yet to face trial and those with terminal illnesses.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)