Combating Honduran youth gangs has provoked numerous abuses

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, May 30, 2006

Combating Honduran youth gangs, known for the use of extreme violence and drug trafficking, has Taxi Heathrow Airport provoked numerous abuses, including murders on the part of police officers and vigilance groups against young people accused of being members of this organization. 

The accusation came from a conflict resolution trainer, Colombian Ricardo Torres who has dedicated the last 8 years to young gang members and was taken on by the Latin American Mennonite Communications Group (AMLAC) but has also been formulated in reiterated opportunities by human rights groups.

Torres has worked with gang members in many cities in northern Honduras, either in the streets or in meeting places, on football fields and in prisons. Once he wins their trust he asks them about their lives and offers help to leave the gangs.

“In our Church language, this is a process of Evangelism,” said Torres. “Young people really need pastoral accompaniment,” he added.

Torres works in the Justice and Peace Project, a Mennonite organization in Honduras in La Ceiba, with four other staff members and 20 volunteers in three regions of northern Honduras in the rehabilitation of current and old members of gangs, with an emphasis on HIV/AIDs prevention.

They visit gang members in hospital and in prison. They organize football games and trips to the beach and use these activities as opportunities to talk about how to improve self-esteem and resolve conflicts in an non violent manner.

For many members of gangs, beginning a different life style is difficult, affirmed Torres as we gang members try to kill people who seek to leave.

But the violence is not only internal, many gang members, young men with characteristic tattoos are frequently beaten by police officers or arrested and retained without trials for long periods of time.

“In the long term the prison violence separates gang members from society,” said Torres.

An April 5, 2003 riot in the El Porvenir prison in La Ceiba left 69 dead at the hands of soldiers, police guards and other prisoners. According to a government report, the majority of victims are suspected of being members of gangs.

The Justice and Peace project helped members of the families to organize a massive funeral.

In December last year Brother Ricardo, as he is known among the gangs, was lauded by the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for the Victims of Torture, a Honduras human rights organization.