I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1574 

To suspend United States security assistance with Honduras until such time 

as human rights violations by Honduran security forces cease and their 

perpetrators are brought to justice. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 3, 2021 

Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. 

OMAR, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. ESHOO, 

Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KIND, Mr. KILMER, Mr. 

LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. 

MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MOULTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. OCASIOCORTEZ, Mr. PANETTA, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. 

RASKIN, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. RUSH, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. VARGAS, and Mr. 

WELCH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on 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 committee concerned 

A BILL 

To suspend United States security assistance with Honduras 

until such time as human rights violations by Honduran 

security forces cease and their perpetrators are brought 

to justice. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Berta Ca ́ceres Human 

5 Rights in Honduras Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The Honduran military and police are wide9 ly established to be deeply corrupt and commit 

10 human rights abuses, including torture, rape, illegal 

11 detention, and murder, with impunity. 

12 (2) The New York Times revealed documents 

13 on April 15, 2016, indicating that top officials of the 

14 Honduran police ordered the killings of drug-crime 

15 investigators Julia ́n Arı ́stides Gonza ́les and Alfredo 

16 Landaverde in 2009 and 2011, respectively, with the 

17 subsequent knowledge of top police and, evidently, 

18 high-ranking government officials. The Times sug19 gested in a subsequent article that the revelations 

20 were being manipulated by the President of Hon21 duras for his own corrupt purposes. Both cases re22 main in impunity. 

23 (3) Individuals in the military and police with 

24 documented records of having committed gross 

25 human rights abuses with impunity continue to serve 


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1 in, and be appointed and reappointed to high posi2 tions with state security forces. Former Army gen3 eral in the Armed Forces Julian Pacheco Tinoco, the 

4 Minister of Security, was the highest ranking official 

5 in charge of the repression of protesters by the po6 lice following the November 27, 2017, election, and 

7 has been twice named in United States Federal 

8 court as overseeing drug trafficking. He was re9 appointed to his position by President Juan Orlando 

10 Herna ́ndez in December 2018. 

11 (4) Other individuals who previously served in 

12 high-ranking positions and who are documented to 

13 have committed gross human rights abuses continue 

14 in impunity. In January 2021, United States Fed15 eral prosecutors filed new motions with the Depart16 ment of Justice in the Southern District of New 

17 York that implicate senior military, police, political, 

18 and business figures in laundering money, bribery, 

19 and murder, including former head of National Po20 lice, Juan Carlos ‘‘El Tigre’’ Bonilla Valladares. 

21 (5) International human rights bodies have re22 ported that the Honduran military and police com23 mit human rights abuses, including killings, with im24 punity. The Associated Press has documented death 

25 squad activity by police. Human Rights Watch has 


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1 reported: ‘‘The use of lethal force by the national po2 lice is a chronic problem.’’. The United Nations 

3 Working Group on Business and Human Rights 

4 stated in 2019 that ‘‘numerous evictions, seeking to 

5 allow business to operate, have been conducted with 

6 the excessive use of force by police and military . . . 

7 resulting in the loss of life and grave injury to peo8 ple’’. 

9 (6) The Department of State’s 2019 Human 

10 Rights Report for Honduras reported: ‘‘Civilian au11 thorities at times did not maintain effective control 

12 over the security forces.’’. It summarized: ‘‘Signifi13 cant human rights issues included: unlawful or arbi14 trary killings, including extrajudicial killings; tor15 ture; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; 

16 arbitrary arrest or detention.’’. In 2020, Human 

17 Rights Watch reported that ‘‘Security forces com18 mitted abuses while enforcing a nationwide COVID– 

19 19 lockdown that President Juan Orlando 

20 Herna ́ndez imposed in March.’’. 

21 (7) Repeated efforts to clean up the Honduran 

22 police have largely failed. A recent commission 

23 charged with cleaning up the police reports that it 

24 has cleaned up over 5,000 members, but the great 

25 majority of those were separated for reasons of reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:47 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1574.IH H1574

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1 structuring, retirements, or disabilities. Only ap2 proximately 100 cases of alleged criminal activity 

3 have been forwarded to the Public Ministry for pros4 ecution. Few of those are being prosecuted. The ac5 tions and results of the police cleanup commission 

6 have not been independently verified, moreover, and 

7 its directors include Julian Pacheco Tinoco, the Min8 ister of Security, named as a drug trafficker, and 

9 Vilma Morales, one of the top two negotiators for 

10 the leader of the 2009 coup. Long-lasting, funda11 mental reform of the police still needs to be enacted. 

12 UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human 

13 rights defenders determined that, ‘‘progress (on po14 lice clean up) is diminished by the involvement of 

15 the armed forces in carrying out police functions and 

16 maintaining public order since 2011’’. In its report 

17 for 2020, Human Rights Watch concludes: ‘‘Efforts 

18 to reform public-security institutions have stalled. 

19 Marred by corruption and abuse, the judiciary and 

20 police remain largely ineffective. Impunity for 

21 human rights abuses, violent crime, and corruption 

22 remains the norm’’. 

23 (8) Evidence indicates that topmost officials in 

24 charge of the police have been allegedly involved in 

25 drug trafficking. The National Director of the Police 


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1 and his top two lieutenants have been documented 

2 by the Associated Press to have previously partici3 pated in cocaine trafficking. Julian Pacheco Tinoco, 

4 the Minister of Security, reappointed in December 

5 2018, has been twice named in United States Fed6 eral court as overseeing drug trafficking. United 

7 States Federal prosecutors have released documents 

8 implicating Honduran President Juan Orlando 

9 Herna ́ndez in a drug trafficking and money laun10 dering conspiracy with his brother Juan Antonio 

11 Herna ́ndez. In October 2019, Tony Herna ́ndez was 

12 convicted of drug conspiracy in United States Fed13 eral Court. 

14 (9) Human rights organizations have docu15 mented that the Fifteenth Battalion of the Hon16 duran Armed Forces allegedly participated with po17 lice and private security forces in some of the 

18 killings of over 100 small-farmer, agrarian reform 

19 activists in the Agua ́n Valley beginning in 2010. In 

20 2015, Human Rights Watch confirmed that the 

21 killings of Agua ́n farmers were met with no con22 sequences. To date there has been one confirmed 

23 conviction of a private security guard. Assassinations 

24 of key activists continue. In October 2016, Jose ́

25 Angel Flores, the president of the Unified 


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1 Campesino Movement of the Agua ́n (MUCA), and 

2 Silmer Dionisio George, another MUCA member, 

3 were assassinated, with impunity. Local human 

4 rights organizations report a chronic problem with 

5 witness intimidation coupled with reports that the 

6 identity of witnesses is leaked by police investigators. 

7 Violence, threats, and criminalization of agrarian re8 form advocates in the region continues. 

9 (10) Further examples abound of human rights 

10 abuses by the military: in July 2013 members of the 

11 Armed Forces shot and killed Toma ́s Garcı ́a, a 

12 Lenca Indigenous activist, and injured his son while 

13 they were peacefully protesting a dam project; in 

14 May 2014, nine members of the Ninth Infantry re15 portedly tortured and killed Amado Maradiaga 

16 Quiroz and tortured his son, Milton Noe Maradiaga 

17 Varela. The case remains in impunity. In an em18 blematic case, on December 27, 2015, the Honduran 

19 Navy reportedly killed Joel Palacios Lino and Elvis 

20 Armando Garcı ́a, two Garı ́funa Afro-Indigenous men 

21 who were engaged in digging a car out of the sand 

22 on a beach. Ten members of the Honduran military 

23 were convicted of the killing of these 2 men, under24 scoring that egregious human rights are committed 

25 by state security forces. On June 20, 2019, Eblin 


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1 Noe Corea, a 17-year-old student leader was killed 

2 by the military while participating in a protest with 

3 the Platform in Defense of Health and Education. 

4 On April 24, 2020, state security forces beat three 

5 brothers in Omoa, Cortes, shooting two of them and 

6 killing one after they were arbitrarily detained for 

7 selling bread. A member of the Army assigned to the 

8 Maya Chorti Task Force, is accused of the killing. 

9 (11) The current Government of Honduras has 

10 expanded the military’s reach into domestic policing, 

11 including the creation of a 4,300-member Military 

12 Police in clear violation of the Honduran constitu13 tion and with disastrous results, including the 

14 killings of a 15-year-old boy, Ebed Yanes, in 2012 

15 and a student, Erlin Misael Carı ́as Moncada, in 

16 2014, after they had passed unarmed through check17 points, and the January 2, 2017, killing of 17-year18 old Edgardo Moreno Rodriquez. While one member 

19 of the armed forces was convicted and sentenced in 

20 the case of Yanes, the case of the United States21 trained colonel who allegedly subsequently ordered a 

22 cover-up remains in impunity. Since the creation of 

23 the Military Police, ‘‘allegations of human rights 

24 abuses by the military have increased notably’’, re25 ports Human Rights Watch. The Military Police 


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1 now count 9 battalions and plan 2 additional battal2 ions. 

3 (12) During the crisis that erupted following 

4 the highly contested November 2017 Presidential 

5 election, massive protests against electoral fraud and 

6 the constitutionality of disputed re-election campaign 

7 of President Juan Orlando Herna ́ndez emerged 

8 throughout the country. The United Nations and the 

9 Committee of Families of the Detained and Dis10 appeared in Honduras (COFADEH) have docu11 mented that in response, Honduran state security 

12 forces killed at least 23 people, many of them pro13 testers and bystanders; one additional person re14 mains forcibly disappeared by state security forces. 

15 The great majority of the victims, according to the 

16 UN and COFADEH reports, were killed by the Mili17 tary Police. All these cases remain in impunity. In 

18 addition, 3 people accused of crimes while protesting 

19 were imprisoned for 2 years while awaiting trial 

20 under dire, life-threatening conditions; 3 years later 

21 they continue to be subjected to criminal proceedings 

22 characterized by procedural delays and obstruction 

23 of fundamental rights including the right to work. A 

24 fourth remains in exile. 


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1 (13) The Military Police continue to commit se2 rious human rights abuses. On November 30, 2017, 

3 Daniel Isaac Varela, age 12, was wounded by mem4 bers of the military police in Comayagu ̈ela during a 

5 post-election demonstration while he was purchasing 

6 candy with friends and the military opened fire. On 

7 December 3, 2017, Manuel de Jesu ́s Bautista Sal8 vador disappeared while held in detention by the 

9 Military Police in Cofradı ́a, Corte ́s, and his where10 abouts remain unknown. In response to the COVID– 

11 19 pandemic, the Government of Honduras declared 

12 a state of emergency in March 2020 authorizing a 

13 militarized lockdown and suspension of constitu14 tional guarantees resulting in an ‘‘alarming in15 crease’’ in human rights violations by state security 

16 forces, including attacks on human rights defenders, 

17 journalists, and citizens protesting for food. 

18 COFADEH reports that with militarization of the 

19 country, there has been a reactivation of death 

20 squads resulting in 17 forced disappearances in 

21 2020. 

22 (14) The Honduran judicial system has been 

23 widely documented to be rife with corruption. 

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1 connected with organized crime and drug traffickers, 

2 contributing to near-complete impunity. 

3 (15) The Department of State in its 2019 

4 Human Rights Report for Honduras reports that 

5 ‘‘there were several reports that the government or 

6 its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings’’. 

7 It noted that ‘‘Impunity remained a serious problem, 

8 with significant delays in some prosecutions and 

9 sources alleging corruption in judicial proceedings.’’. 

10 (16) Overall, the judicial system remains inef11 fective and corrupt. The IACHR report for 2019 

12 states, ‘‘The lack of access to justice has created a 

13 situation of structural impunity that has the effect 

14 of perpetuating and, in certain cases, favoring the 

15 repetition of serious human rights violations.’’. 

16 (17) Summarizing the situation, Human Rights 

17 Watch reported for 2019 that ‘‘Judges face inter18 ference from the executive branch and others, in19 cluding private actors with connections in govern20 ment.’’. It concludes: ‘‘Efforts to reform public-secu21 rity institutions have stalled. Marred by corruption 

22 and abuse, the judiciary and police remain largely 

23 ineffective. Impunity for crimes and human rights 

24 abuses is the norm.’’. 


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1 (18) The March 2, 2016, assassination of 

2 prominent Lenca Indigenous and environmental ac3 tivist Berta Ca ́ceres, world-renowned recipient of the 

4 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her work 

5 defending Indigenous land rights against a hydro6 electric dam project, illustrates the human rights cri7 sis in Honduras, and the deep complicity of the 

8 Honduran government. Ca ́ceres, the leader of 

9 COPINH, the Council of Indigenous and Popular 

10 Organizations of Honduras, had reported to authori11 ties 33 threats previous to her killing, but none had 

12 been investigated, and the government had failed to 

13 provide adequate protection measures as mandated 

14 by the Inter-American Commission on Human 

15 Rights, with protection by Honduran security being 

16 withdrawn the day of her death. 

17 (19) In December 2019, seven men were con18 victed in the killing of Ca ́ceres. One of them was an 

19 active duty officer in the military at the time of his 

20 arrest and two others are former military. Prosecu21 tion of the intellectual authors is still pending. Evi22 dence made public in the trial indicates the partici23 pation of several executives and directors of DESA 

24 Corporation, the dam construction company, in the 

25 murder scheme. However, only the president of 


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1 DESA, a former military officer has been charged. 

2 Though charged in March 2018, his trial has yet to 

3 begin due to unreasonable delays initiated by defense 

4 lawyers and permitted by the judiciary. The convic5 tions raise serious questions about the role of the 

6 Honduran military in her assassination, including 

7 higher ranks in the chain of command within the 

8 military as well as the identity of the intellectual au9 thors of the assassination. Evidence in the docu10 ments in the case file indicate that members of the 

11 Honduran elite were responsible for ordering 

12 Ca ́ceres’s assassination, and remain in impunity. 

13 Evidence also indicates possible involvement of indi14 viduals of higher rank in the military, but there is 

15 no indication that prosecutors are investigating these 

16 individuals. 

17 (20) The Government of Honduras continues to 

18 unduly limit legally mandated access by Ms. 

19 Ca ́ceres’s family to participation in the prosecution 

20 as permitted under Honduran law. 

21 (21) In this context of corruption and human 

22 rights abuses, trade unionists, journalists, lawyers, 

23 Afro-Indigenous activists, Indigenous activists, 

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1 ics of the government remain at severe risk; and pre2 vious human rights abuses against them remain 

3 largely unpunished. 

4 (22) Journalists continue to be attacked with 

5 impunity. On May 2, 2016, prominent opposition 

6 journalist Fe ́lix Molina was shot multiple times in 

7 the legs hours after he had posted information po8 tentially linking Ca ́ceres’s killing to a top govern9 ment official, members of an elite family, and one of 

10 the prosecutors in the case. Those who report on 

11 protests against the government are threatened and 

12 attacked by state security forces. On November 26, 

13 2018, journalist Geovanny Sierra from the UNETV 

14 opposition television station was in the process of re15 porting on the repression by security forces of a pro16 test marking the one-year anniversary of the dis17 puted 2017 elections when he was fired upon by 

18 members of the police assigned to the National Peni19 tentiary. He survived the attack but suffered exten20 sive injuries to his right arm. Both cases remain in 

21 impunity. Four journalists were killed in 2020. 

22 (23) United States agencies allocated approxi23 mately $39 million that Congress appropriated 

24 through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, 


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1 to the Honduran police and military for fiscal year 

2 2017. 

3 (24) The Inter-American Development Bank 

4 lent $60,000,000 to the Honduran police between 

5 2012 and 2018, with United States approval. 

6 SEC. 3. SUSPENSION AND RESTRICTIONS OF SECURITY AS7 SISTANCE EXTENDED TO REPUBLIC OF HON8 DURAS UNLESS CERTAIN CONDITIONS HAVE 

9 BEEN MET. 

10 (a) SUSPENSION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE.—No 

11 funds may be made available to provide assistance for the 

12 police or military of the Republic of Honduras, including 

13 assistance for equipment and training. 

14 (b) LOANS FROM MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT

15 BANKS.—The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct 

16 United States representatives at multilateral development 

17 banks to vote no on any loans for the police or military 

18 of the Republic of Honduras. 

19 SEC. 4. CONDITIONS FOR LIFTING SUSPENSIONS AND RE20 STRICTIONS. 

21 The provisions of this Act shall terminate on the date 

22 on which the Secretary of State determines and certifies 

23 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep24 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

25 the Senate that the Government of Honduras has— 


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1 (1) pursued all legal avenues to bring to trial 

2 and obtain a verdict of all those who ordered and 

3 carried out— 

4 (A) the March 2, 2016, murder of Berta 

5 Ca ́ceres; 

6 (B) the killings of over 100 small-farmer 

7 activists in the Agua ́n Valley; 

8 (C) the killings of 22 people and forced 

9 disappearance of 1 person by state security 

10 forces in the context of the 2017 postelectoral 

11 crisis; 

12 (D) the May 3, 2016, armed attack on 

13 journalist Fe ́lix Molina, and the November 26, 

14 2018, shooting of journalist Geovanny Sierra; 

15 (E) the July 18, 2020, forced disappear16 ances of 4 Garifuna community leaders from 

17 Triunfo de la Cruz who were taken from their 

18 homes by heavily armed men wearing bullet19 proof vests and police uniforms; and 

20 (F) the December 26, 2020, killing of in21 digenous Lenca leader Felix Vasques in La 

22 Paz, and the December 28, 2020, killing of in23 digenous Tolupan leader Adan Mejia in Yoro; 

24 (2) investigated and successfully prosecuted 

25 members of military and police forces who are 


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1 credibly found to have violated human rights, and 

2 ensured that the military and police cooperated in 

3 such cases, and that such violations have ceased; 

4 (3) withdrawn the military from domestic polic5 ing, in accordance with the Honduran Constitution, 

6 and ensured that all domestic police functions are 

7 separated from the command and control of the 

8 Armed Forces of Honduras and are instead directly 

9 responsible to civilian authority; 

10 (4) established that it protects effectively the 

11 rights of trade unionists, journalists, human rights 

12 defenders, the Indigenous, the Afro-Indigenous, 

13 small-farmers, LGBTI activists, critics of the gov14 ernment, and other civil society activists to operate 

15 without interference; and 

16 (5) taken effective steps to fully establish the 

17 rule of law and to guarantee a judicial system that 

18 is capable of investigating, prosecuting, and bringing 

19 to justice members of the police and military who 

20 have committed human rights abuses. 

Æ 


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