Honduras Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2716 To suspend certain United States assistance for the Government of Honduras until corruption, impunity, and human rights violations are no longer systemic, and the perpetrators of these crimes are being brought to justice. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 21, 2021 Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. OMAR, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. RUSH, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. WELCH, Ms. SCANLON, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad- dition to the Committees on the Judiciary, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To suspend certain United States assistance for the Govern- ment of Honduras until corruption, impunity, and human rights violations are no longer systemic, and the per- petrators of these crimes are being brought to justice. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2716 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Honduras Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Act of 3 2021’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 this Act is as follows: 6 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Police or military of the Republic of Honduras defined. Sec. 3. Findings. Sec. 4. Sense of Congress. Sec. 5. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Sec. 6. Imposition of sanctions with respect to the president of Honduras. Sec. 7. Prohibition on commercial export of covered defense articles and serv- ices and covered munitions items to the Honduran police or military. Sec. 8. Suspension and restrictions of security assistance extended to the Re- public of Honduras unless certain conditions are met. Sec. 9. Sunset. SEC. 2. POLICE OR MILITARY OF THE REPUBLIC OF HON- 7 DURAS DEFINED. 8 In this Act, the term ‘‘police or military of the Repub- 9 lic of Honduras’’ means— 10 (1) the Honduran National Police; 11 (2) the Honduran Armed Forces; 12 (3) the Military Police of Public Order of the 13 Republic of Honduras; or 14 (4) para-police or paramilitary elements, acting 15 under color of law or having received financing, 16 training, orders, intelligence, weapons, or other 17 forms of material assistance from the forces identi- 18 fied in paragraphs (1) through (3). 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2716 IH SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) Since the 2009 military coup, the Republic 3 of Honduras remains plagued by systemic corruption 4 and human rights violations, exemplified by— 5 (A) widespread collusion among govern- 6 ment officials, state and private security forces, 7 organized crime, and members of the private 8 sector, including in the knowledge and perpetra- 9 tion of physical and legal threats, assassina- 10 tions, forced disappearances, and other abuses 11 against human rights and environmental de- 12 fenders, members of the political opposition, 13 journalists, and others; 14 (B) the excessive use of force by members 15 of the police or military of the Republic of Hon- 16 duras, particularly in the context of civil society 17 protests; 18 (C) the failure of the Government of Hon- 19 duras to protect the rights, interests, and phys- 20 ical security of indigenous peoples in land and 21 natural resources disputes, in contravention of 22 its obligations under the Honduran constitution 23 and under international treaties to which it is 24 a state party; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2716 IH (D) the failure of the Government of Hon- 1 duras to enforce the Honduran Labor Code in 2 violation of its obligations under International 3 Labor Organization Conventions, which the 4 Government of Honduras has ratified, guaran- 5 teeing freedom of association, the right to col- 6 lective bargaining, and other fundamental labor 7 protections. 8 (2) There is substantial evidence that President 9 of Honduras Juan Orlando Herna´ndez has engaged 10 in a pattern of criminal activity and use of the state 11 apparatus to protect and facilitate drug trafficking, 12 as exemplified by three high-profile corruption and 13 drug trafficking cases that were tried or are being 14 prosecuted in the United States District Court for 15 the Southern District of New York, in which the 16 President of Honduras was named as a co-con- 17 spirator, including the following: 18 (A) The October 2019 conviction of the 19 President of Honduras’s brother Juan Antonio 20 Herna´ndez, in which Federal prosecutors and 21 multiple witnesses testified that the President 22 of Honduras received $1,500,000 in drug pro- 23 ceeds that were funneled toward his successful 24 2013 presidential campaign, and that organized 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2716 IH crime had infiltrated the Honduran National 1 Police and National Party. 2 (B) The March 2020 indictment of 3 Geovanny Daniel Fuentes, a drug trafficker, in 4 which Federal prosecutors alleged that the 5 President of Honduras accepted $25,000 in 6 bribes in exchange for protecting the defendant 7 from law enforcement intervention against his 8 cocaine trafficking activities and facilitated the 9 use of Honduran military personnel as security 10 for the defendant’s drug trafficking operations. 11 On February 5, 2021, Federal prosecutors filed 12 a court document stating that the President of 13 Honduras was under investigation in connection 14 with the case. 15 (C) The April 2020 indictment of former 16 National Director of Police Juan Carlos ‘‘El 17 Tigre’’ Bonilla, in which Federal prosecutors al- 18 leged that the President of Honduras accepted 19 bribes from drug traffickers, facilitated multi- 20 ton shipments of cocaine bound for the United 21 States, and entrusted the defendant with spe- 22 cial assignments, including murder. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2716 IH (3) The President of Honduras has also dem- 1 onstrated a track record of contempt for the rule of 2 law, exhibited by— 3 (A) his support for the 2009 military coup, 4 repudiated as unlawful by the United Nations, 5 the Organization of American States, the Euro- 6 pean Union, and numerous foreign govern- 7 ments, while a member of Congress; 8 (B) his support for a 2012 congressional 9 measure, widely viewed as illegal, to replace 10 four Supreme Court justices while the leader of 11 Congress; and 12 (C) his 2017 candidacy for a second presi- 13 dential term, in violation of the Honduran con- 14 stitution’s longstanding prohibition on presi- 15 dential reelection, which in 2015 was nullified 16 in a ruling by the justices referred to in sub- 17 paragraph (B). 18 (4) In recent months, the executive and legisla- 19 tive branches of the Government of Honduras have 20 taken significant steps to entrench corruption, block 21 oversight by national prosecutors and international 22 investigators, and shield senior officials and parlia- 23 mentarians from criminal liability, including the fol- 24 lowing actions: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2716 IH (A) On January 19, 2020, the Government 1 of Honduras announced the closing of the Mis- 2 sion of Support against Corruption and Impu- 3 nity in Honduras (MACCIH), the anti-corrup- 4 tion mechanism established in 2015 by the Or- 5 ganization of American States and the Govern- 6 ment of Honduras. MACCIH brought 14 cor- 7 ruption-related cases against dozens of high- 8 profile criminal defendants and oversaw the cre- 9 ation of an anti-corruption judicial circuit and 10 special prosecutor’s unit that was disbanded fol- 11 lowing the mission’s closure. 12 (B) On June 25, 2020, the Government of 13 Honduras enacted a new penal code that re- 14 duced prison terms for corruption-related 15 crimes, including embezzlement, illicit enrich- 16 ment, obstruction of justice, and fraud. The 17 measure is retroactive, benefitting Honduran 18 officials already convicted or facing prosecution. 19 (C) On October 16, 2019, the National 20 Congress of Honduras passed a law that re- 21 stored immunity to all parliamentarians for 22 crimes related to legislative activities and a law 23 that blocked the Attorney General’s office from 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2716 IH investigating cases involving the improper use 1 of state funds for up to 7 years. 2 (5) These recent measures follow a longer pat- 3 tern of congressional decrees of amnesty or immu- 4 nity for crimes perpetrated by authorities in Hon- 5 duras, including for those committed during the 6 2009 coup and its aftermath, those perpetrated by 7 state security forces, and those involving the misuse 8 of public funds by former and current legislators, 9 contributing to a climate of impunity. 10 (6) Space for civil society to operate in the Re- 11 public of Honduras remains severely constrained, 12 with rights activists and journalists subject to acute 13 levels of violence, surveillance, harassment, and in- 14 timidation. The Republic of Honduras ranks as the 15 deadliest country in the world for human rights and 16 environmental defenders on a per capita basis and 17 third in the number of assassinations, with 31 de- 18 fenders killed in 2019 and 204 defenders killed since 19 2009. 20 (7) The 2019 United States Department of 21 State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 22 international human rights bodies, and numerous 23 monitoring groups have reported that the Honduran 24 police and military commit human rights violations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2716 IH with impunity, including unlawful killings, torture, 1 and the use of unnecessary force and lethal weapons 2 against protestors and civilian bystanders. Individ- 3 uals with documented records of human rights viola- 4 tions and links to drug trafficking continue to serve 5 in high-ranking positions within the Honduran police 6 and military, and few of the alleged cases of human 7 rights abuses perpetrated by police and military per- 8 sonnel are prosecuted or tried in court. 9 (8) The Office of the United Nations High 10 Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter- 11 American Commission on Human Rights have docu- 12 mented the use of arbitrary detentions, forced dis- 13 appearances, and specious judicial proceedings to 14 criminalize indigenous and human rights activists, 15 environmental defenders, journalists, opposition poli- 16 ticians, and others, including— 17 (A) members of the Tocoa Municipal Com- 18 mittee for the Defense of Common and Public 19 Assets, who since September 2019 have been 20 detained pending trial following their protest of 21 an illegal mining concession affecting the 22 Guapinol and San Pedro rivers; 23 (B) four Afro-indigenous Garı´funa land de- 24 fenders, who on July 18, 2020, were abducted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2716 IH from their homes and reportedly forced into un- 1 marked vehicles at gunpoint by armed men in 2 police uniforms without a warrant and remain 3 forcibly disappeared; and 4 (C) opposition lawmaker Marı´a Luisa 5 Borjas, who on July 21, 2020, was convicted of 6 defamation and sentenced to nearly three years 7 in prison for naming Ficohsa bank president 8 Camilo Atala as an intellectual author of the 9 2016 assassination of environmental and indige- 10 nous rights activist Berta Ca´ceres. 11 (9) The vilification and criminalization of civil 12 society actors and human rights defenders by Hon- 13 duran authorities has continued unabated under the 14 cover of COVID–19 pandemic response. On March 15 16, 2020, the Government of Honduras first notified 16 the Organization of American States of its deroga- 17 tion from treaty obligations under the American 18 Convention on Human Rights and has since sus- 19 pended nine constitutional guarantees, including the 20 rights to freedom of assembly and expression, the 21 latter of which was restored after international out- 22 cry. At least 34,000 citizens have been detained for 23 violating curfew and lockdown restrictions, and jour- 24 nalists and human rights defenders have been im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:16 Jun 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2716.IH H2716 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2716 IH peded in their efforts to report on and expose human 1 rights abuses during the pandemic. 2 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 3 It is the sense of Congress that— 4 (1) systemic corruption, impunity, and human 5 rights violations by national government officials, 6 private citizens, and members of the police and mili- 7 tary of the Republic of Honduras deplete public re- 8 sources and fuel widespread impoverishment, citizen 9 insecurity, and forced displacement; 10 (2) the President should impose sanctions on 11 President of Honduras Juan Orlando Herna´ndez for 12 acts of significant corruption and human rights vio- 13 lations and determine under the Foreign Narcotics 14 Kingpin Sanctions Regulations under part 598 of 15 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, whether the 16 President of Honduras is a specially designated nar- 17 cotics trafficker; 18 (3) the President and Secretary of State should 19 seek to ensure that security assistance from the 20 United States and exports of munitions [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]