A/HRC/43/3/Add.2 40. The inclusion of the Office of the Attorney General and of the President of the Supreme Court in the National Council for Defence, which is led by the President, could open up space for interference by the executive and brings into question crucial democratic principles, such as the separation of powers.32 B. Fight against corruption and impunity 41. During the year, the Special Prosecution Unit on Corruption-related Impunity of the Office of the Attorney General and the Mission against Impunity and Corruption brought corruption-related charges in five cases, involving over 40 high-profile defendants, including relatives of the former President, Porfirio Lobo, former ministers and directors of State companies. In August, a national court sentenced the wife of former President Lobo to 58 years in prison on a range of corruption-related charges. This was the first case filed by the Special Prosecution Unit with the support of the Mission against Impunity and Corruption that led to a sentence. 42. Another of the cases, known as “Corruption on wheels”, was filed in September against officials of the National Bank of Honduras for Agricultural Development for embezzlement of funds of the social protection programme “Bono 10mil”, with the complicity of staff of the Office of the President. 43. In October, the adoption by Congress of the Special Law on public funds33 and the reform of the Law on Congress reinstating parliamentary immunity generated a public outcry. On 28 October, the Office of the Attorney General presented an appeal against the constitutionality of the Special Law, arguing that it promoted impunity for corruption for public officials. 44. In November 2018, seven individuals charged with the assassination of human rights defender Berta Cáceres were found guilty. On 2 December 2019, more than a year after the verdict, a tribunal issued a sentence condemning the perpetrators to penalties ranging from 30 to 50 years. The trial against the President of the company Desarollos Energéticos S.A., allegedly involved in the planning and execution of the killing, continued. C. Human rights violations by the defence and security forces 45. OHCHR is concerned about the ongoing impunity in cases of violations perpetrated by members of the defence and security forces. 46. By the end of October, only a fraction of the perpetrators of the serious human rights violations committed by the defence and security forces in the context of the protests against the results of the 2017 presidential elections had been brought to trial. OHCHR documented eight cases being prosecuted, but these concerned only 2 of the 22 homicides of civilians it had documented: a case against a police officer for the killing of a child aged 16 on 4 December 2017 in Agua Blanca, department of El Progreso;34 and another against a sergeant of the Public Order Military Police for the homicide of David Octavio Quiroz Urrutia on 15 December 2017 in Villanueva, department of Cortés. As at October, the Office of the Attorney General reported that investigations were ongoing in relation to the other cases, including deaths, injuries and one case of enforced disappearance. By that time, it had brought charges related to assassination, attempted homicide, physical assault, torture and ill-treatment, unlawful detention and abuse of authority against 28 members of the security and defence forces. By September 2019, the judiciary had dismissed seven cases in the preliminary investigation phase. 47. Prosecutors handling reports of human rights violations involving army personnel indicated to OHCHR that they had faced obstacles in obtaining information crucial to their 32 33 34 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24911&LangID=E. Decree No. 116-2019. See OHCHR, “Human rights violations in the context of the 2017 elections in Honduras”. 9