Reform without ownership? Dilemmas in supporting security and justice sector reform in Honduras

The citizens of Honduras have been plagued with insecurity since the 2009 coup d’état which brought to the fore a sustained crisis of security and legitimacy making the political equilibrium very fragile. Levels of violence are at an all-time high and organized crime, especially drug trafficking, is threatening the bases of state institutions and people’s physical security. The country’s socio-economic situation is dire and the global economic crisis has fuelled increasing levels of poverty and unemployment. This report describes and analyses the EU’s contribution to strengthening security and the rule of law in Honduras through a major security sector reform (SSR) program.

The report makes the following recommendations to the Honduran government:

• Elaborate a national strategy for a solid framework for security and justice sector reform
• Integrate a violence- and crime-prevention rationale into strategies and projects
• Approve pending legislation on the security and justice sector
• Increase the quality of inter-institutional coordination in the security and justice sector
• Elaborate a medium-term budgetary framework for the security and justice sectors
• Improve working relations between the security ministry and supreme court and public prosecutor
• Further dialogue with Guatemala, El Salvador, the UN and donor community in creating an international commission against impunity in Honduras
• Create a commission for national dialogue.

The report recommends the following for the EU and other donors:

• Cooperate and put pressure on the government of Honduras to elaborate a national public security policy
• Closely monitor indicators for fulfillment of conditions to implement phase two of Program of Support to the Security Sector (PASS)
• Apply conditionality before disbursing funds for phase two of PASS
• Exclude PASS from direct budget support unless the government meets conditions of capacity and transparency
• Make sure pressure for disbursement from the headquarter level does not trump guiding principles and decision-making based on the context and evidence
• Integrate a violence- and crime-prevention rationale into strategies and projects
• Sustain and intensify existing donor coordination efforts to avoid duplication of activities
• Ensure that the basic political, legal and budgetary conditions are met to ensure reasonable prospects for successful implementation and sustainability
• Explore with the government, the possibility of creating an international commission against impunity in Honduras
• Draw lessons learned from why early warning failed to prompt preventive action during the period preceding the coup d’état.