A/HRC/35/23/Add.1 on human rights issues. They also informed him about the establishment of a system to monitor implementation of recommendations from international and regional human rights protection mechanisms. This is a positive and welcomed initiative. D. University Observatory on Violence 14. The Special Rapporteur was impressed with the quality and standing of the work of the Observatory on Violence of the Universidad Autónoma de Honduras. Its statistics are used widely and provide an accurate account of the situation of violence in the country, which is unavailable from other public institutions. The observatory is a national asset and should be treated as such. Its independence should be closely guarded. IV. Violence in society 15. Violence and insecurity are serious problems that face Honduran society, with major implications for the enjoyment and effective exercise of human rights. Violence grew exponentially since the early 2000s, when the country took on a bigger role in the drug routes from South to North America, which coincided with the infiltration of organized criminal groups and the expansion of gang activity. Following the 2009 coup, societal violence took on bigger proportions and the homicide rate in Honduras became among the highest in the region and the world. According to the Global Study on Homicide, 4 in 2012, Honduras had the highest crime rate in the world, with an annual homicide rate of 90.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the Observatory on Violence, homicide rates remained the highest in the world from 2011 to 2013, before starting to fall, from 79 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013 to 71.4 in November 2015 and to 60.0 by early 2016. 5 16. From the discussions the Special Rapporteur had during the visit, violence appears to be the result of several factors, many of them systemic and linked regionally beyond the borders of the country such as gang activity; organized crime; drug trafficking; the arms trade; corruption and extortion; ineffective law enforcement; lack of accountability for crimes against life; and deep and systemic poverty, unemployment, inequality and lack of opportunities for the population. The atmosphere of insecurity is compounded by the increasing militarization of public security and concomitant episodes of excessive use of force by members of the police force, military police and armed forces, sometimes in collusion with organized crime. 17. Although it is difficult to obtain figures, the Special Rapporteur was told that disappearances were also a common occurrence. 18. By all accounts, incidences of violence have gone down to some extent since 2013 but remain at an alarming level. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact causes for the decline, it was mentioned during the Special Rapporteur’s visit that it could be due to the fact that leaders of gangs had been captured or extradited; the increased teamwork within law enforcement; the role of the military in law enforcement; steps taken against corruption in the police; greater investigative capacity in the police and the prosecution services; greater technological abilities on the part of law enforcement; and some successes in the fight against corruption. This may not tell the full picture, and there is ample room for further study of the causes of the apparent decline. A. Situation in San Pedro Sula 19. The city of San Pedro Sula, located in the north-west corner of Honduras, grew exponentially in the late nineteenth century when foreign companies received land and tax exemptions to settle in the region, leading to the arrival of thousands of Honduran workers. 4 5 Available from www.unodc.org/documents/gsh/pdfs/2014_GLOBAL_HOMICIDE_BOOK_web.pdf. See Observatory on Violence, National Bulletin No. 40 (February 2016), available from www.iudpas.org/pdf/Boletines/Nacional/NEd40EneDic2015.pdf. 5