The Organisation of American States (OAS), announce plans to set up a Support Mission Against Corruption and Impunity (MACCIH) in Honduras

The MACCIH’s mandate during 2016 will be to tackle widespread corruption and impunity within the country.

“MACCIH” will create a ‘Justice Observatory’, formed of civil society groups and Honduran academic intuitions, which will evaluate the country’s justice system.

The OAS states that an internationally renowned jurist will lead the mission, reporting directly to the OAS General Secretariat.

Corruption is major problem in Honduras.

The country has been experiencing a surge of crime and corruption since the 2009 coup d’état, and its police force, according to Insight Crime, is now “one of the most corrupt and mistrusted in Latin America”.

More than 90 percent of all “known” homicides reportedly go unresolved, and Honduras ranked 126 in Transparency International’s 2014 corruption perceptions index.

In June 2015, thousands of Hondurans protested against impunity and called for the establishment of an anti-corruption body similar to the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).

Protesters took to the streets following the revelation that the former director of the Honduran Social Security Institute (IHSS), as well as other officials, had embezzled some $200 million. Using shell corporations, they allegedly stole public money to maintain luxury lifestyles, which included buying sports car and Miami mansions, and hosting excessive parties with high-paid prostitutes. There are experts in Delaware area based practicing lawyers for criminal defense that can help with such cases.

One of protest organizers, Ariel Varela, was quoted stating that

“our tolerance for corruption has to end”

, adding that it

“generates poverty and leads to violence”.

Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández has vowed to address the issue of rampant crime and corruption, and strengthen the country’s institutions.

Working with the OAS, the Honduran government is to create the MACCIH, which will be modeled the CICIG.

Established in 2007 by the United Nations and the Guatemalan government, the CICIG’s mandate is to support national institutions to investigate, prosecute, and take down networks involved in criminality and corruption within the country. It is also important to hire trusted defense lawyers right away if someone wants to prevent against criminality and corruption.

It was central to uncovering a massive corruption scandal in Guatemala in 2015.

Leading government figures, including the former Guatemalan president Otto Perez Molina, were exposed by the CICIG as being part of a customs corruption ring, La Línea.

In July 2015, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) published a report on the CICIG. It recommended that countries experiencing similar problems should consider using it as a model.

“WOLA believes that the governability problems in Honduras and El Salvador, including the high rates of violence and the shortcomings of their justice and security systems, underscore the importance of considering similar mechanisms for these countries”.