US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA1160

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001160 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, DRL/PHD, INL/LP, INR, CA, AND DS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, SNAR, KCRM, KJUS, CASC, ASEC, HO 
SUBJECT: GOH BRIEFS DIPLOMATIC CORPS ON SAN PEDRO SULA 
PRISON FIRE; PLEDGES FULL INVESTIGATION 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1141 
 
     B. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 1742 
     C. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 861 
     D. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 1309 
 
1. (U) Honduran Vice President (and Acting President) Vicente 
Williams and Minister of Government and Justice Jorge Ramon 
Hernandez Alcerro on May 18 briefed the diplomatic corps, 
including DCM and PolOff, on the May 17 fire in a cell block 
for gang members that killed 103 inmates in a prison on the 
outskirts of San Pedro Sula.  (Some press reports indicated 
that 104 inmates died.)  Approximately 25 injured prisoners 
were treated at a nearby hospital.  (Two other injured 
prisoners died at the hospital.)  The GOH confirmed that no 
foreigners were among those killed in the fire.  The vast 
majority of the victims were members of the gang "Mara 
Salvatrucha," AKA "MS-13."  The incident caused President 
Ricardo Maduro to cut short his trip to Europe and return to 
Honduras.  The GOH said that preliminary reports indicated 
that the fire was allegedly caused by a short circuit of air 
conditioning wiring (some press reports had indicated an 
electrical short circuit in a refrigerator for soft drinks 
had caused the fire). 
 
2. (U) Vice President Williams said that once the fire 
started, it spread to the mattresses and curtains which 
apparently caused the toxic gases that killed most victims. 
Firemen who arrived at the prison were able to put out the 
fire before it spread to other cell blocks.  Preliminary 
reports indicate that while some inmates burned to death, the 
vast majority died from asphyxiation. 
 
3. (U) Williams said that the GOH was doing everything 
possible, from helping the families, to conducting an 
investigation, to seeking international assistance for 
improving the poor Honduran prisons.  The GOH was paying for 
all costs (medical treatment, return of the bodies to the 
prisoners' home towns for burial, etc.).  Williams pledged 
that there would be a complete investigation, and that if any 
Honduran security officials were found to have been involved 
in the incident, through action or negligence, they would be 
held accountable.  The state-owned electricity company ENEE 
would help firemen conduct the investigation of how the fire 
started.  Currently, there is no evidence that any of the 
victims were shot.  Nevertheless, the GOH has seized the 
prison guards weapons and handed them over to the Public 
Ministry for ballistics testing, something the GOH did not do 
immediately after the April 2003 incident which caused 
ongoing evidence problems in that investigation.  According 
to Williams, although shots were reportedly fired, initial 
investigation results showed no bullet holes in the walls or 
dead bodies. 
 
4. (U) Williams noted that a commission formed after the 
April 5, 2003, incident at El Porvenir prison near La Ceiba, 
in which 68 persons, 61 of them gang members, were killed, 
had recommended a series of reforms.  The GOH was seeking to 
implement these reforms, but needed financial and technical 
assistance from international donors.  Williams said the GOH 
was considering as possible options prison privatization or 
granting concessions to operate prisons to private companies, 
and told DCM that the GOH had discussed the idea prior to the 
May 17 fire with a U.S. company.  In any event, the prison 
system needed to be modernized with new legislation and new 
facilities.  The GOH said that plans had been made for a 
replacement prison in San Pedro Sula for 1,500 inmates and 
would cost USD 10-12 million to build. 
 
5. (U) Press reports noted that seven gang members were 
killed March 21, 2003, at the same prison under mysterious 
circumstances.  Some prisoners compared the fire to the April 
2003 incident at La Ceiba and the May 3, 2002, prison 
uprising in Choluteca that left four inmates dead and 21 
injured. 
 
6. (SBU) Comment:  The GOH acted prudently by immediately 
recognizing the seriousness of this incident and pledging to 
hold accountable any GOH official that may bear some 
responsibility for the incident.  While there were vague 
offers of technical assistance from a few countries, it is 
doubtful if the GOH will be successful in obtaining the 
needed funds for prison construction from international 
donors.  Another reform under consideration is to separate 
oversight of the penal system from the Ministry of Public 
Security (the Ministry that also includes the police). 
However, the prisons are one of the most lucrative potential 
corruption opportunities in the Honduran government.  Any 
proposed changes to their administration is likely to be very 
controversial, and to meet with considerable opposition.  End 
Comment. 
Palmer