Honduran President Touts Country's Plummeting Homicide Rate

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Nov. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández applauded a third-party analysis of Honduras's declining homicide rate. The country will likely close out 2017 with half the homicide rate it had in 2012.

"My administration has made Honduras a much safer place than it was before I took office almost four years ago," President Hernández said. "But we still have work to do. I won't stop fighting until every Honduran feels safe and secure."

Homicides dropped more than 20 percent in the first half of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, according to figures reported by InsightCrime, a foundation that studies organized crime in Latin America and the Caribbean.

InsightCrime attributes the lower homicide rate to anti-extortion measures, police reform, improvements in criminal justice, and the allocation of government funds to crime prevention.

Last month, the Honduran Supreme Court swore in 30 judges to sit on the newly-created Specialized Courts in Extortion Matters. The Courts will try individuals, mostly gang members, suspected of extortion.

The Hernández administration has also removed one-third of the national police force for various offenses and implemented a new law banning lifetime police appointments.

In just the past year, the administration has opened new maximum-security prisons designed to prevent criminals from operating organized crime rings while incarcerated. Such prisons now hold more than 2,000 criminals.

"Thanks to the combined efforts of government officials, the national police, and international organizations, Honduras is growing safer by the day," President Hernández said.

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SOURCE Republic of Honduras