Arrest of Juan Orlando Hernández must mark the beginning of the end of impunity

Less than three weeks after leaving office, usurped for more than four years following his illegal and fraudulent re-election, former president Juan Orlando Hernández was handcuffed and taken into custody at the Honduran Special Forces barracks.

The decision was taken by a judge appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice, in response to an extradition request made by the US embassy in Honduras.

Hernández, whose brother ‘Tony’ was sentenced to life in prison in Manhattan federal court last year, is being charged with arms trafficking, organised crime and drug trafficking.

In particular, he is accused of having participated in a violent conspiracy to smuggle some 500 tons of cocaine into the United States from 2004 to the present.

As part of this conspiracy, the embassy explains, the former president received millions of dollars in bribes and profits from multiple drug trafficking organisations. In return, he shielded drug traffickers from investigation, arrest and extradition.

The former president will now be brought before a judge to decide on the extradition request.

“The arrest of Juan Orlando Hernández was a death foretold and we interpret it as a first sign of a break with the impunity of the past.

However, we cannot forget that the dictatorship still controls key state powers for the future of the country. We have no doubt that they will react.

That is why it is up to us to recover our dignity and patriotic pride, which have been shattered, and to continue along this path”, Bertha Oliva, coordinator of the Committee of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared in Honduras (Cofadeh), told La Rel.

The human rights defender regretted that it was not the national justice system that brought charges against the former president.

“It is very unfortunate that it was the justice system of another country that charged him. This hurts us as citizens. We need structural changes to democratise justice and strike at the criminal structure that has brought Honduras down.

Juan Orlando Hernández must not be made a scapegoat. His arrest must be the beginning of a profound process to end impunity and to prosecute and punish all criminals. This is not about revenge, but about justice,” said Oliva.

The United States and its double standards

The Cofadeh national coordinator also underlined the double standards of the US government.

“Hernández is a Washington man. They endorsed his illegal re-election, turned a blind eye to electoral fraud and the precious lives that were lost as a result of repression.

This support,” Oliva continued, “has turned Honduras into a country that expels its own people, that puts its territory up for sale, that allows the plundering of common goods, that humiliates its sovereignty.

In this sense, the human rights defender stated that the United States must learn to have less interference and to listen to the people when they rise up and demand independence.

Cofadeh and memory

In the new context of the country after President Xiomara Castro took office, Cofadeh remains firm in its objectives.

“Our focus will remain the same: to vindicate memory and seek justice for the disappeared detainees and martyrs. We will also continue to work to ensure respect for human rights in the country.

Together with the new human rights authorities, the Honduran organisation hopes that the new amnesty decree, recently approved by Congress and promulgated by President Castro, will be implemented.

“This would be a very important step. We want this measure to restore the rights that were taken away from the people who were judicially persecuted after the coup”, Oliva concluded.

Source: Rel UITA