2023-08-30 19:00:00
Tegucigalpa. One of the deep challenges that Honduras faces is the disappearance of people in various contexts, such as armed violence and migration. According to figures from the Security Secretaryin the last decade a total of 9,838 individuals have disappeared in the country, the vast majority of whom are young.
Faced with this situation, an important advance for the protection of disappeared persons and their families has taken place. During a recent meeting with the Opinion Commission of the National Congress, relatives of disappeared persons urged the approval of the Law for the Legal Protection of Disappeared Persons and their Families, whose initiative was presented in July by the president of Congress, Luis Rolando Redondo .
This legal framework is crucial, as it seeks to prevent and build an effective and comprehensive response to the disappearance of people and its consequences on families. The bill on disappearance in Honduras consists of five titles through which it determines the obligations of the Honduran State in terms of disappearance, search, location and identification of disappeared and deceased persons; and recognizes the rights of disappeared persons and their families, among them, the right to an immediate search, to the truth, to justice, to reparation, and to non-repetition.
The bill grants disappeared persons all the rights provided for in the Constitution of the Republic, as well as other normative instruments. It stresses the responsibility in the chain of command and investigation of disappearances and establishes a protection and search system.
The disappearance of people is a scourge that requires urgent attention, and States have the responsibility to prevent, care for, and protect the families that suffer the consequences of this situation. The adoption of a specific law to address disappearances in Honduras and a national search mechanism would constitute a fundamental step for their prevention and attention, as well as to guarantee the rights of people to access assistance measures.
The words of Mercedes Guillén, who is looking for her husband and expressed in Garífuna, reflect the importance of this initiative for those who are looking for a loved one: “We do not lose hope that we will find our relatives. We have faith that this law will be implemented so that it can support us and help us in this fight for our disappeared relatives… so that the government can comply with what it is embodied in the law for the benefit of the relatives of the disappeared persons”.
Darwin Pineda, from the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Migrants from the South of Honduras (COFAMIDESUR), stresses that this law seeks to ensure that the rights of disappeared persons are respected and trusts that it will have the support of all the benches and the 128 deputies and deputies of the National Congress.
For families, this proposal represents an opportunity to be recognized by the State in order to obtain the necessary support in the search for their loved ones. Before legislators, Ana Cecilia Turcios Sánchez, also from COFAMIDESUR and who for 11 years has been searching for her son who disappeared on the migratory route, declared: “We do not lose hope. My son came up with the idea of a better life (…) and being able to help me, but fate cut him off from that dream (and) we do not know his whereabouts to this day. With this law, each one of us hopes to have an answer as mothers, as fathers, as brothers, husbands, children who have a missing family member. It’s very hard and I don’t wish it on anyone… behind me there are a lot of mothers whom I accompany now due to pain”.
Ana emphasized that “all the family members have been alone and today we need this law to be complied with so that the State can support us, because the State is the only one that can give that response to each mother, to each family.”
The design process of the Law for the Legal Protection of Disappeared Persons and their Families has been collaborative, actively involving the families of the victims and the organizations that accompany them. This encourages the bill to reflect the experiences and proposals and meet the needs of families in search of their loved ones.
The support and interest of the National Congress of Honduras has been essential to build and promote a legal proposal that comprehensively addresses the issue of disappearance in the country, and will be essential for its approval and future implementation.
The International Committee of the Red Cross recognizes the significant progress that a Disappearance Law would represent in Honduras, since through its correct implementation it would contribute to progress towards compliance by the Honduran State with its international obligations in the matter, including those derived of the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons against Enforced Disappearances of the United Nations.
The ICRC reaffirms its commitment to continue supporting the efforts of the families, the Honduran State and the organizations involved in the search for disappeared persons and the protection of the rights of their relatives.
Founded in 1863, the ICRC helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence, doing everything possible to protect their dignity and alleviate their suffering, often together with its Red Cross and Red Crescent partners. Red. In addition, the Institution seeks to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening the law and universal humanitarian principles.
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Press contact: Bianca Solórzano, communications officer in Honduras: [email protected], +504 9452-5422
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