Honduras National Police Risk Violent Deaths

A report released by the National Commission for Human Rights (Comisionado Nacional de los Derechos Humanos – CONADEH) revealed that for the years 2011-2012 some 126 members of the Honduras National Police lost their lives in violent circumstances.

“Being a cop is a profession of vocation and service, but also in Honduras, is a high-risk work for those who exercise it,” Ramon Custodio, the commissioner for CONADEH, said.

The document states, among its findings, that at least 118 agents and police officers, representing 94 percent of the cases, were killed with firearms, three knives, one with an iron bar, one by strangulation, and three others of unknown causes.

The report also states that in 90 percent of reported cases in 2011, and 85 percent of the police homicide victims in 2012, law enforcement authorities don’t know the person or persons responsible for the crime against their peers, a situation that reveals the high level of impunity that is in such executions.