A/HRC/43/3/Add.2 28. Working conditions within the national police remained an issue of discontent. In June, sectors of the police special forces declared a strike, protesting against poor labour conditions and low salaries. An agreement brokered by the Office of the National Commissioner for Human Rights not to adopt disciplinary measures against officers who had participated in the strike was reached on 20 June with the Ministry of Security. By September, however, disciplinary actions were being pursued against 92 officers and the Police Disciplinary Affairs Department had announced in an official communication that it was not bound by the agreement. C. Persons deprived of their liberty 29. By 30 September 2019, there were 21,591 adults in detention in Honduras, including 1,171 women, compared to 20,583 in September 2018. The number of persons in pretrial detention remains high (55 per cent of male and 61 per cent of female inmates). The National Committee for the Prevention of Torture qualified the conditions of detention centres as “inhumane” and in some cases amounting to mental and physical torture. Aggravated by overcrowding, other issues included lack of hygiene, poor quality and availability of water, lack of food, limited sleeping arrangements, lack of access to health care and prolonged detention in cells with no access to natural light and air. 30. Despite harsh security surveillance, weapons continued to circulate in prisons, including in the penitentiary centres with maximum-security modules, such as Ilama and Morocelí. In some cases, weapons were used to commit targeted killings. For instance, on 26 October, the shooting and stabbing of Magdaleno Meza (real name Nery Orlando López Sanabria), a pretrial detainee related to the trial of the brother of President Hernández, caused an outcry. In January 2019, his lawyers had requested the National Penitentiary Institute to transfer him because of threats against his life, but to no avail. On 9 December, one of his lawyers, José Luis Pinto, was gunned down in the department of Copán. Another of Magdaleno’s lawyers, Carlos Chajtur, has been the subject of threats.26 31. On 5 December, five inmates, reportedly members of the MS-13 gang, were killed inside the penitentiary centre of Morocelí. On 13 December, armed men shot and killed the Director of the Ilama centre, Pedro Ildefonso Armas. The Director was a primary witness to the assassination of Magdaleno Meza and appeared vividly in the video recordings of the killing. On 16 December, the Executive issued presidential Decree No. 068-2019, declaring a state of emergency in the penitentiary system and establishing an intervention commission composed of the National Inter-institutional Security Force, which includes five army Colonels and two national Police Commissioners. The penitentiary centres of Támara, Morocelí, El Porvenir and the national female penitentiary, which house 44 per cent of the overall population in detention, were already under the management of active military officers. Under the decree, control of the National Penitentiary Institute and the National Institute for Juvenile Offenders was transferred to the National Inter-institutional Security Force for a period of six months. 32. Following the entry into force of Decree No. 068-2019 on 20 December, 21 inmates were killed and at least 13 injured in the Tela male detention centre in the department of Atlántida. The National Inter-institutional Security Force had not taken control of the centre and the prison’s civilian authorities were suspended immediately. On 22 December, at least 19 inmates were killed inside the penitentiary centre of El Porvenir in Valle de Siria, in Francisco Morazán department. As at 23 December, according to data provided by the National Penitentiary Institute, 60 inmates had been killed in custody, 49 in December alone.27 33. OHCHR recalls the obligation of the State to conduct prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigations into all incidents of death in custody, as well as into any allegations of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners. 26 27 See https://tiempo.hn/chajtur-busca-asilo-en-otro-pais-por-amenazas-en-honduras/ (in Spanish). Investigations into the incidents are ongoing. 7