II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 388 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2021 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. VAN HOLLEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

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. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Honduras Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Act of 

6 2021’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

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 services and covered munitions items to the Honduran police or 

military. 

Sec. 8. Suspension and restrictions of security assistance extended to the Republic of Honduras unless certain conditions are met. 

Sec. 9. Sunset. 

3 SEC. 2. POLICE OR MILITARY OF THE REPUBLIC OF HON4 DURAS DEFINED. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘police or military of the Repub6 lic of Honduras’’ means— 

7 (1) the Honduran National Police; 

8 (2) the Honduran Armed Forces; 

9 (3) the Military Police of Public Order of the 

10 Republic of Honduras; or 

11 (4) para-police or paramilitary elements, acting 

12 under color of law or having received financing, 

13 training, orders, intelligence, weapons, or other 

14 forms of material assistance from the forces identi15 fied in paragraphs (1) through (3). 

16 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 

17 Congress makes the following findings: 

18 (1) Since the 2009 military coup, the Republic 

19 of Honduras remains plagued by systemic corruption 

20 and human rights violations, exemplified by— 


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1 (A) widespread collusion among govern2 ment officials, state and private security forces, 

3 organized crime, and members of the private 

4 sector, including in the knowledge and perpetra5 tion of physical and legal threats, assassina6 tions, forced disappearances, and other abuses 

7 against human rights and environmental de8 fenders, members of the political opposition, 

9 journalists, and others; 

10 (B) the excessive use of force by members 

11 of the police or military of the Republic of Hon12 duras, particularly in the context of civil society 

13 protests; 

14 (C) the failure of the Government of Hon15 duras to protect the rights, interests, and phys16 ical security of indigenous peoples in land and 

17 natural resources disputes, in contravention of 

18 its obligations under the Honduran constitution 

19 and under international treaties to which it is 

20 a state party; and 

21 (D) the failure of the Government of Hon22 duras to enforce the Honduran Labor Code in 

23 violation of its obligations under International 

24 Labor Organization Conventions, which the 

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1 teeing freedom of association, the right to col2 lective bargaining, and other fundamental labor 

3 protections. 

4 (2) There is substantial evidence that President 

5 of Honduras Juan Orlando Herna ́ndez has engaged 

6 in a pattern of criminal activity and use of the state 

7 apparatus to protect and facilitate drug trafficking, 

8 as exemplified by three high-profile corruption and 

9 drug trafficking cases that were tried or are being 

10 prosecuted in the United States District Court for 

11 the Southern District of New York, in which the 

12 President of Honduras was named as a co-con13 spirator, including the following: 

14 (A) The October 2019 conviction of the 

15 President of Honduras’s brother Juan Antonio 

16 Herna ́ndez, in which Federal prosecutors and 

17 multiple witnesses testified that the President 

18 of Honduras received $1,500,000 in drug pro19 ceeds that were funneled toward his successful 

20 2013 presidential campaign, and that organized 

21 crime had infiltrated the Honduran National 

22 Police and National Party. 

23 (B) The March 2020 indictment of 

24 Geovanny Daniel Fuentes, a drug trafficker, in 

25 which Federal prosecutors alleged that the 


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1 President of Honduras accepted $25,000 in 

2 bribes in exchange for protecting the defendant 

3 from law enforcement intervention against his 

4 cocaine trafficking activities and facilitated the 

5 use of Honduran military personnel as security 

6 for the defendant’s drug trafficking operations. 

7 On February 5, 2021, Federal prosecutors filed 

8 a court document stating that the President of 

9 Honduras was under investigation in connection 

10 with the case. 

11 (C) The April 2020 indictment of former 

12 National Director of Police Juan Carlos ‘‘El 

13 Tigre’’ Bonilla, in which Federal prosecutors al14 leged that the President of Honduras accepted 

15 bribes from drug traffickers, facilitated multi16 ton shipments of cocaine bound for the United 

17 States, and entrusted the defendant with spe18 cial assignments, including murder. 

19 (3) The President of Honduras has also dem20 onstrated a track record of contempt for the rule of 

21 law, exhibited by— 

22 (A) his support for the 2009 military coup, 

23 repudiated as unlawful by the United Nations, 

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1 pean Union, and numerous foreign govern2 ments, while a member of Congress; 

3 (B) his support for a 2012 congressional 

4 measure, widely viewed as illegal, to replace 

5 four Supreme Court justices while the leader of 

6 Congress; and 

7 (C) his 2017 candidacy for a second presi8 dential term, in violation of the Honduran con9 stitution’s longstanding prohibition on presi10 dential reelection, which in 2015 was nullified 

11 in a ruling by the justices referred to in sub12 paragraph (B). 

13 (4) In recent months, the executive and legisla14 tive branches of the Government of Honduras have 

15 taken significant steps to entrench corruption, block 

16 oversight by national prosecutors and international 

17 investigators, and shield senior officials and parlia18 mentarians from criminal liability, including the fol19 lowing actions: 

20 (A) On January 19, 2020, the Government 

21 of Honduras announced the closing of the Mis22 sion of Support against Corruption and Impu23 nity in Honduras (MACCIH), the anti-corrup24 tion mechanism established in 2015 by the Or25 ganization of American States and the GovernVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Mar 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S388.IS S388

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1 ment of Honduras. MACCIH brought 14 cor2 ruption-related cases against dozens of high3 profile criminal defendants and oversaw the cre4 ation of an anti-corruption judicial circuit and 

5 special prosecutor’s unit that was disbanded fol6 lowing the mission’s closure. 

7 (B) On June 25, 2020, the Government of 

8 Honduras enacted a new penal code that re9 duced prison terms for corruption-related 

10 crimes, including embezzlement, illicit enrich11 ment, obstruction of justice, and fraud. The 

12 measure is retroactive, benefitting Honduran 

13 officials already convicted or facing prosecution. 

14 (C) On October 16, 2019, the National 

15 Congress of Honduras passed a law that re16 stored immunity to all parliamentarians for 

17 crimes related to legislative activities and a law 

18 that blocked the Attorney General’s office from 

19 investigating cases involving the improper use 

20 of state funds for up to 7 years. 

21 (5) These recent measures follow a longer pat22 tern of congressional decrees of amnesty or immu23 nity for crimes perpetrated by authorities in Hon24 duras, including for those committed during the 

25 2009 coup and its aftermath, those perpetrated by 


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1 state security forces, and those involving the misuse 

2 of public funds by former and current legislators, 

3 contributing to a climate of impunity. 

4 (6) Space for civil society to operate in the Re5 public of Honduras remains severely constrained, 

6 with rights activists and journalists subject to acute 

7 levels of violence, surveillance, harassment, and in8 timidation. The Republic of Honduras ranks as the 

9 deadliest country in the world for human rights and 

10 environmental defenders on a per capita basis and 

11 third in the number of assassinations, with 31 de12 fenders killed in 2019 and 204 defenders killed since 

13 2009. 

14 (7) The 2019 United States Department of 

15 State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 

16 international human rights bodies, and numerous 

17 monitoring groups have reported that the Honduran 

18 police and military commit human rights violations 

19 with impunity, including unlawful killings, torture, 

20 and the use of unnecessary force and lethal weapons 

21 against protestors and civilian bystanders. Individ22 uals with documented records of human rights viola23 tions and links to drug trafficking continue to serve 

24 in high-ranking positions within the Honduran police 

25 and military, and few of the alleged cases of human 


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1 rights abuses perpetrated by police and military per2 sonnel are prosecuted or tried in court. 

3 (8) The Office of the United Nations High 

4 Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter5 American Commission on Human Rights have docu6 mented the use of arbitrary detentions, forced dis7 appearances, and specious judicial proceedings to 

8 criminalize indigenous and human rights activists, 

9 environmental defenders, journalists, opposition poli10 ticians, and others, including— 

11 (A) members of the Tocoa Municipal Com12 mittee for the Defense of Common and Public 

13 Assets, who since September 2019 have been 

14 detained pending trial following their protest of 

15 an illegal mining concession affecting the 

16 Guapinol and San Pedro rivers; 

17 (B) four Afro-indigenous Garı ́funa land de18 fenders, who on July 18, 2020, were abducted 

19 from their homes and reportedly forced into un20 marked vehicles at gunpoint by armed men in 

21 police uniforms without a warrant and remain 

22 forcibly disappeared; and 

23 (C) opposition lawmaker Marı ́a Luisa 

24 Borjas, who on July 21, 2020, was convicted of 

25 defamation and sentenced to nearly three years 


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1 in prison for naming Ficohsa bank president 

2 Camilo Atala as an intellectual author of the 

3 2016 assassination of environmental and indige4 nous rights activist Berta Ca ́ceres. 

5 (9) The vilification and criminalization of civil 

6 society actors and human rights defenders by Hon7 duran authorities has continued unabated under the 

8 cover of COVID–19 pandemic response. On March 

9 16, 2020, the Government of Honduras first notified 

10 the Organization of American States of its deroga11 tion from treaty obligations under the American 

12 Convention on Human Rights and has since sus13 pended nine constitutional guarantees, including the 

14 rights to freedom of assembly and expression, the 

15 latter of which was restored after international out16 cry. At least 34,000 citizens have been detained for 

17 violating curfew and lockdown restrictions, and jour18 nalists and human rights defenders have been im19 peded in their efforts to report on and expose human 

20 rights abuses during the pandemic. 

21 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that— 

23 (1) systemic corruption, impunity, and human 

24 rights violations by national government officials, 

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1 tary of the Republic of Honduras deplete public re2 sources and fuel widespread impoverishment, citizen 

3 insecurity, and forced displacement; 

4 (2) the President should impose sanctions on 

5 President of Honduras Juan Orlando Herna ́ndez for 

6 acts of significant corruption and human rights vio7 lations and determine under the Foreign Narcotics 

8 Kingpin Sanctions Regulations under part 598 of 

9 title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, whether the 

10 President of Honduras is a specially designated nar11 cotics trafficker; 

12 (3) the President and Secretary of State should 

13 seek to ensure that security assistance from the 

14 United States and exports of munitions by United 

15 States entities are not complicit in human rights 

16 abuses perpetrated by the police and military of the 

17 Government of Honduras, or misused to impede 

18 peaceful protestors, human rights and environmental 

19 defenders, and others from exercising the right to 

20 freedom of expression, association, or assembly; 

21 (4) the Government of Honduras should imme22 diately initiate discussions with the United Nations 

23 to negotiate the mandate for a new, independent 

24 mechanism to combat corruption and impunity with 


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1 a mission comparable to that of MACCIH, equipped 

2 with— 

3 (A) the authority to initiate cases, in co4 ordination with the Specialized Prosecutor’s 

5 Unit against Networks of Corruption 

6 (UFERCO), against any citizen of the Republic 

7 of Honduras, irrespective of their office, rank, 

8 position, or title; 

9 (B) the unimpeded authority to inves10 tigate, including the authority to subpoena doc11 uments, interview witnesses and suspects, and 

12 conduct surveillance; 

13 (C) the ability to propose laws, constitu14 tional amendments, and regulatory changes to 

15 the Attorney General’s office and other institu16 tions within the justice sector that are assured 

17 expeditious consideration and debate by the Na18 tional Congress; and 

19 (D) the requirement to conduct regular 

20 and transparent consultations with a broad 

21 range of civil society members with the goal of 

22 promoting the mandate’s successful implemen23 tation; 

24 (5) the Government of Honduras should con25 tinue to pursue MACCIH’s ongoing anti-corruption 


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1 cases and adopt legal and institutional reforms to 

2 strengthen judicial independence and protect human 

3 rights recommended by MACCIH, the Office of the 

4 United Nations High Commissioner for Human 

5 Rights, and UFERCO; 

6 (6) the United States should support credible 

7 national and international efforts to combat corrup8 tion and human rights violations in the Republic of 

9 Honduras, including UFERCO, the Office of the 

10 United Nations High Commissioner for Human 

11 Rights, and organizations working to defend human 

12 rights and expose and prevent corruption, with the 

13 necessary resources for holding private and govern14 ment actors accountable under the law and sup15 porting independent monitoring by a free press and 

16 civil society, provided that they demonstrate suffi17 cient political autonomy and willingness to prosecute 

18 high-level cases, including against senior officials 

19 and legislators of the Republic of Honduras; and 

20 (7) the Secretary of State should develop, in 

21 consultation with a broad range of representatives of 

22 civil society and human rights organizations in Hon23 duras, as appropriate, comprehensive and specific 

24 guidelines to use United States diplomacy and as25 sistance to protect human rights and environmental 


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1 defenders in the Republic of Honduras from phys2 ical, legal, or financial reprisals and threats, includ3 ing by government, police, and military officials or 

4 their associates. 

5 SEC. 5. OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMIS6 SIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. 

7 In addition to amounts otherwise appropriated for 

8 such purposes, there is authorized to be appropriated 

9 $2,000,000 in voluntary contributions to support the work 

10 of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner 

11 for Human Rights in Honduras to monitor and document 

12 human rights violations, issue public reports and rec13 ommendations, and promote international human rights 

14 standards. 

15 SEC. 6. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE 

16 PRESIDENT OF HONDURAS. 

17 (a) IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS.—Not later than 180 

18 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi19 dent shall impose the sanctions described in subsection (b) 

20 with respect to the President of Honduras, Juan Orlando 

21 Herna ́ndez. 

22 (b) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.—The sanctions de23 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

24 (1) ASSET BLOCKING.—The President shall ex25 ercise all of the powers granted to the President 


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1 under the International Emergency Economic Pow2 ers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) to the extent nec3 essary to block and prohibit all transactions in prop4 erty and interests in property of Juan Orlando 

5 Herna ́ndez if such property and interests in property 

6 are in the United States, come within the United 

7 States, or are or come within the possession or con8 trol of a United States person. 

9 (2) INELIGIBILITY FOR VISAS, ADMISSION, OR

10 PAROLE.— 

11 (A) VISAS, ADMISSION, OR PAROLE.—Juan 

12 Orlando Herna ́ndez is— 

13 (i) inadmissible to the United States; 

14 (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other 

15 documentation to enter the United States; 

16 and 

17 (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted 

18 or paroled into the United States or to re19 ceive any other benefit under the Immigra20 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

21 seq.). 

22 (B) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—Juan Orlando 

24 Herna ́ndez is subject to revocation of any 

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1 less of when the visa or other entry docu2 mentation is or was issued. 

3 (ii) IMMEDIATE EFFECT.—A revoca4 tion under clause (i) shall— 

5 (I) take effect immediately; and 

6 (II) cancel any other valid visa or 

7 entry documentation that is in Juan 

8 Orlando Herna ́ndez’s possession. 

9 (c) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 

10 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex11 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 

12 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 

13 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to the ex14 tent necessary to carry out this section. 

15 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at16 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

17 violation of subsection (b)(1), or any regulation, li18 cense, or order issued to carry out that subsection, 

19 shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub20 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter21 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

22 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 

23 commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) 

24 of that section. 


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1 (d) WAIVER.—The President may waive the applica2 tion of sanctions under this section if the President deter3 mines and certifies to the appropriate congressional com4 mittees that such a waiver is important to the national 

5 interest of the United States. 

6 (e) EXCEPTIONS.— 

7 (1) EXCEPTION TO COMPLY WITH INTER8 NATIONAL OBLIGATIONS AND FOR LAW ENFORCE9 MENT ACTIVITIES.—Sanctions under subsection 

10 (b)(2) shall not apply if admitting or paroling Juan 

11 Orlando Herna ́ndez into the United States is nec12 essary— 

13 (A) to permit the United States to comply 

14 with the Agreement regarding the Head15 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake 

16 Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 

17 November 21, 1947, between the United Na18 tions and the United States, or other applicable 

19 international obligations; or 

20 (B) to carry out or assist law enforcement 

21 activity in the United States. 

22 (2) EXCEPTION RELATING TO THE IMPORTA23 TION OF GOODS.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The authorities and re25 quirements to impose sanctions authorized 


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1 under this section shall not include the author2 ity or a requirement to impose sanctions on the 

3 importation of goods. 

4 (B) GOOD DEFINED.—In this paragraph, 

5 the term ‘‘good’’ means any article, natural or 

6 manmade substance, material, supply, or manu7 factured product, including inspection and test 

8 equipment, and excluding technical data. 

9 (f) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 

10 may terminate the application of sanctions under this sec11 tion if the President determines and reports to the appro12 priate congressional committees not later than 15 days be13 fore the termination takes effect that— 

14 (1) credible information exists that Juan Or15 lando Herna ́ndez did not engage in the activity for 

16 which sanctions were imposed; 

17 (2) Juan Orlando Herna ́ndez has been pros18 ecuted appropriately for the activity for which sanc19 tions were imposed; or 

20 (3) Juan Orlando Herna ́ndez has credibly dem21 onstrated a significant change in behavior, has paid 

22 an appropriate consequence for the activity for 

23 which sanctions were imposed, and has credibly com24 mitted to not engage in an activity for which the 

25 sanctions were imposed in the future. 


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1 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED.—The terms ‘‘ad3 mission’’ and ‘‘admitted’’ have the meanings given 

4 those terms in section 101 of the Immigration and 

5 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

6 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

10 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

11 Urban Affairs of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

13 the Committee on Financial Services of the 

14 House of Representatives. 

15 (3) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

16 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

17 (A) an individual who is a United States 

18 citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for perma19 nent residence to the United States; 

20 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

21 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

22 United States, including a foreign branch of 

23 such an entity; or 

24 (C) any person in the United States. 


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1 SEC. 7. PROHIBITION ON COMMERCIAL EXPORT OF COV2 ERED DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERVICES 

3 AND COVERED MUNITIONS ITEMS TO THE 

4 HONDURAN POLICE OR MILITARY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall pro7 hibit the issuance of licenses to export covered defense ar8 ticles and services and covered munitions items to the po9 lice or military of the Republic of Honduras. 

10 (b) TERMINATION.—The prohibition under sub11 section (a) shall terminate on the date on which the Presi12 dent determines and reports to the appropriate congres13 sional committees that the police or military of the Repub14 lic of Honduras have not engaged in gross violations dur15 ing the one-year period ending on the date of such deter16 mination. 

17 (c) WAIVER.—The prohibition under subsection (a) 

18 shall not apply to the issuance of a license with respect 

19 to which the President submits to the appropriate congres20 sional committees a written certification that the exports 

21 to be covered by such license are important to the national 

22 interests and foreign policy goals of the United States, in23 cluding a description of the manner in which such exports 

24 will promote such interests and goals. 

25 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

5 and the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 Senate; and 

7 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

8 the Committee on Appropriations of the House 

9 of Representatives. 

10 (2) COVERED DEFENSE ARTICLES AND SERV11 ICES.—The term ‘‘covered defense articles and serv12 ices’’ means defense articles and defense services 

13 designated by the President under section 38(a)(1) 

14 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 

15 2778(a)(1)). 

16 (3) COVERED MUNITIONS ITEMS.—The term 

17 ‘‘covered munitions items’’ means tear gas, pepper 

18 spray, rubber bullets, foam rounds, bean bag rounds, 

19 pepper balls, water cannons, handcuffs, shackles, 

20 stun guns, tasers, semi-automatic firearms, and 

21 their associated munitions not included in the defini22 tion under paragraph (2). 


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1 SEC. 8. SUSPENSION AND RESTRICTIONS OF SECURITY AS2 SISTANCE EXTENDED TO THE REPUBLIC OF 

3 HONDURAS UNLESS CERTAIN CONDITIONS 

4 ARE MET. 

5 (a) SUSPENSION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE.—No as6 sistance may be made available for the police or military 

7 of the Republic of Honduras, including assistance for 

8 equipment and training. 

9 (b) LOANS FROM MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT

10 BANKS AND THE UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DE11 VELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION.—The Secretary of 

12 the Treasury shall— 

13 (1) instruct United States representatives at 

14 multilateral development banks to use their voice 

15 and vote to oppose any loans for the police or mili16 tary of the Republic of Honduras; and 

17 (2) instruct the United States Executive Direc18 tor of each international financial institution and the 

19 Chief Executive Officer of the United States Inter20 national Development Finance Corporation to pro21 mote human rights due diligence and risk manage22 ment in connection with any loan, grant, policy, or 

23 strategy related to the Republic of Honduras, in ac24 cordance with the criteria specified in subsection 

25 7029(d) of the Department of State, Foreign Oper26 ations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 


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1 2020 (division G of Public Law 116–94; 133 Stat. 

2 2863) and accompanying report. 

3 (c) CONDITIONS FOR LIFTING SUSPENSIONS AND

4 RESTRICTIONS.—The provisions of this section shall ter5 minate on the date on which the Secretary of State deter6 mines and reports to the Committees on Foreign Relations 

7 and Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on 

8 Foreign Affairs and Appropriations of the House of Rep9 resentatives that the Government of Honduras has— 

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

11 and obtain a verdict of all those who ordered, carried 

12 out, and covered up— 

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

14 Ca ́ceres; 

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

16 activists in the Agua ́n Valley; 

17 (C) the killings of 22 people and forced 

18 disappearance of 1 person by state security 

19 forces in the context of the 2017 post-electoral 

20 crisis; 

21 (D) the killings of at least 6 people by 

22 state security forces in the context of anti-gov23 ernment demonstrations between March and 

24 July of 2019; 


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1 (E) the killings of at least 21 journalists 

2 and media workers between October 2016 and 

3 July 2020; 

4 (F) the July 18, 2020, forced disappear5 ances of 4 Garı ́funa community leaders from 

6 Triunfo de la Cruz; and 

7 (G) the December 26, 2020, killing of in8 digenous Lenca leader and environmental activ9 ist Fe ́lix Va ́squez at his home in La Paz, and 

10 the December 29, 2020, killing of indigenous 

11 Tolupan leader and environmental activist Adan 

12 Mejı ́a in Yoro; 

13 (2) investigated and successfully prosecuted 

14 members of military and police forces who are 

15 credibly found to have violated human rights and en16 sured that the military and police cooperated in such 

17 cases, and that such violations have ceased; 

18 (3) withdrawn the military from domestic polic19 ing and ensured that all domestic police functions 

20 are separated from the command and control of the 

21 Armed Forces of Honduras and are instead directly 

22 responsible to civilian authority; 

23 (4) established that it protects effectively the 

24 rights of trade unionists, journalists, small farmers, 

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1 nous and Afro-indigenous community members and 

2 rights activists, women’s and LGBTQI rights activ3 ists, critics of the government, and other members of 

4 civil society to operate without interference or re5 pression; and 

6 (5) taken effective steps to establish the rule of 

7 law and to guarantee a judicial system that is capa8 ble of investigating, prosecuting, and bringing to jus9 tice members of the police and military who have 

10 committed human rights abuses. 

11 SEC. 9. SUNSET. 

12 This Act shall terminate on the date that is 5 years 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS