Militarization in Honduras Causes Spike in Human Rights Abuses

Militarization in Honduras Causes Spike in Human Rights Abuses
Published 9 July 2015 (14 hours 21 minutes ago)

Allegations of military abuses have skyrocketed concurrently with an increase in militarization in the violence-plagued country.



Increased militarization in Honduras in recent years has led to a flood of alleged abuses at the hands of soldiers, including arbitrary detentions, murder, torture, and rape. Militarization spiked in Honduras following the 2009 military coup in the name of increasing security and cracking down on violence in the Central American country that has been dubbed the murder capital of the world.

​President Juan Orlando Hernandez brought in a strategy of putting “a soldier on every corner” after his National Party predecessor Porfirio Lobo had already ramped up militarization in 2012.

According to Honduran authorities, militarization is an effective strategy to crack down on drug gangs and violence crime. But analysts have pointed out that the drug war serves as a pretext for increased criminalization of political dissent and that the focus on gang violence obscures the widespread political violence, repression, and impunity in Honduras.

More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Militarization-in-Honduras-Causes-Spike-in-Human-Rights-Abuses-20150709-0025.html