US embassy cable - 04TEGUCIGALPA1258

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEGUCIGALPA 001258 
 
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, ASEC, HO 
SUBJECT: LA CEIBA PRISON MASSACRE UPDATE; PUBLIC MINISTRY 
ALLEGES VIOLENCE WAS PLANNED AND INDICTS 51 
 
REF: A. TEGUCIGALPA 1160 
     B. TEGUCIGALPA 1141 
     C. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 1742 
     D. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 861 
     E. 03 TEGUCIGALPA 1309 
 
1. (U) On April 5, 2003, 68 persons, 61 of them M-18 gang 
members, were killed in an incident at El Porvenir prison 
near La Ceiba.  Reports produced by the Public Ministry, a 
Special Commission of the Honduran National Council for 
Internal Security (CONASIN), and the Human Rights 
Commissioner put the blame for the vast majority of deaths on 
government security forces and non-gang member inmate 
"trusties."  PolOff met May 28 with Aida Romero, Special 
Prosecutor for Human Rights at the Public Ministry, who is 
leading the GOH's prosecution of these cases, to discuss the 
status of the case.  (See refs C-E for background on this 
case.) 
 
2. (U) Romero told PolOff that on May 3 the Public Ministry 
filed criminal charges against 51 people for alleged 
involvement in the deaths.  Those charged included 19 
Preventive Police, including eight Cobras (specially trained 
police), nine Prison Police, two Army soldiers, one Air Force 
soldier, 19 prison "trusties" (non-gang member inmates who 
enforced discipline within the prison), and one regular 
prisoner.  On May 8, the judge in the case approved "watched 
freedom" (akin to a mild version of office or house arrest) 
for 39 people, provisionally dismissed cases against five 
people (two Preventive Police, two soldiers, and the regular 
prisoner) with the Public Ministry's concurrence, and closed 
a case against one "trusty" who had been murdered.  The 
judge, Rommel Ruiz Guillen, also issued arrest warrants for 
six people who failed to present themselves in court to face 
the charges. 
 
3. (U) Those involved were charged with crimes ranging from 
abuse of authority to attempted and actual murder to 
attempted and actual aggravated murder.  None of those 
charged, save for the "trusties" already in jail, were 
ordered jailed by the judge, a decision being appealed by the 
Public Ministry.  Prosecutors argue that given the gravity of 
the alleged crimes and the possibility that the defendants 
may further tamper with evidence, the defendants should be 
jailed.  (Note:  Among the problems the Public Ministry has 
encountered during this investigation are missing evidence, 
shell casings found at the crime scene that do not match the 
weapons later given to the Public Ministry by police, 
allegations that prison records have been altered, etc.  End 
Note.) 
 
4. (U) Romero highlighted a troubling aspect of the cases, 
namely that many of the M-18 gang members had been 
transferred on February 5, 2003, to the La Ceiba prison from 
Tamara Prison, the principal Honduran prison located outside 
of Tegucigalpa.  The then-Director General for Prisons, Luis 
Beltrand Arias Ramos, ordered approximately 205 M-18 gang 
members disbursed from the main prison at Tamara to various 
prisons, sending 30 to El Porvenir.  The stated reason for 
this transfer was the conflict between M-18 and non-gang 
prisoners at Tamara, including the alleged murder of a Prison 
Policeman by a M-18 gang member and seizures of weapons held 
by the M-18.  Arias wrote a memo to Minister of Public 
Security Oscar Alvarez requesting permission to transfer the 
prisoners.  Romero said Alvarez wrote on the corner of the 
memo that Arias should follow the law.  (Note: Both the Code 
of Criminal Procedure and the Law of Rehabilitation of 
Criminals have provisions (reportedly conflicting) with 
regard to transfers of inmates from one prison to another by 
prison authorities.  End Note.)  The law required that the DG 
seek judicial approval for such a transfer.  Romero indicated 
that Alvarez's intention appeared to be that Arias should 
follow this proper legal procedure, but Arias failed to take 
this step.  Romero also noted there were inconsistencies in 
Arias' statements regarding the reason for transferring the 
M-18 prisoners. 
 
5. (U) Another troubling aspect, said Romero, is that on 
January 5, 2003, a Prison Police instructor named Oscar 
Reyneira Sanchez, who is allegedly close to Arias, was 
transferred from Tamara to El Porvenir.  Reyneira then 
allegedly became close to the M-18 prisoners and eventually 
provided the weapon used by M-18 gang leader Mario Roberto 
Cerrato, AKA Boris, to kill Jose Alberto Almendarez and 
injure Jose Edgardo Coca (the two top "trusty" leaders), 
which started the April 5, 2003, incident.  Both Arias, who 
has been suspended, and Reyneira have been charged with 
various murder counts, and Arias has also been charged with 
abuse of authority. 
 
6. (U) The Public Ministry is also concerned about 
allegations that La Ceiba Preventive Police patrol cars were 
at the prison prior to the phone call (made by a prisoner) 
requesting that the Preventive Police come to the prison to 
help deal with the incident.  Carlos Esteban Enriques 
Alvarez, Commander of the Preventive Police in La Ceiba, was 
one of those indicted, but the judge ruled that he can 
continue in his post, pending the start of the trial.  There 
are also allegations that large quantities of highly 
flammable paint thinner were stored at the prison in the days 
prior to the incident. 
 
7. (SBU) Romero said that the Public Ministry is alleging 
that these suspicious events were linked, and that there was 
a plan to cause an incident that would lead to the killing of 
M-18 gang members.  Romero said she knew this theory would be 
difficult to prove in court, especially given the 
implications of involvement by both the then-DG for Prisons 
and the Commander of Police in La Ceiba, but said that the 
Public Ministry planned to press ahead.  She said the Public 
Ministry expected the case to go to trial this fall. 
 
8. (SBU) Comment:  The Public Ministry's allegations are 
troubling, but there has been speculation from the start that 
there was a possible conspiracy to kill M-18 gang members, 
especially given the fact that many unarmed M-18 prisoners 
were shot or beaten to death as they fled their burning cell 
block.  With the May 17 fire at the San Pedro Sula prison 
that killed 105 Mara Salvatrucha gang members (refs A-B and 
septel), the Honduran prison system and the GOH's tough 
anti-gang law is drawing intense scrutiny.  The trials will 
be seen by many observers as a key indicator of the ability 
of the Honduran legal system to hold police who commit 
criminal acts responsible for their crimes.  End Comment. 
Palmer