First, it is important to remember that all Honduran institutions are underfunded. If your local police department in the US is possibly underfunded, think what kind of chronic understaffing, lack of training, and lack of equipment there is in Honduras. Ditto the judicial system. So, if some of the following practices seem unjust and unfair, just try to understand that it is not that people here don't want to advance, it's just that they have a challenge each day to keep from backsliding.

If you want to report a non-violent crime, you will be responsible for transporting the police. They aren't going anywhere until you buy the gas, unless someone was hurt or killed. In my work, I have a need at times for a police report, or other assistance from the police, and I always budget for their gas and if it is going to be a long day, some food and soft drinks. Yes, there should be room in the police department budget for fuel for the vehicles, but the car won't move without gas.

Then, if you want to prosecute a non-violent crime, you will have to hire a lawyer. This is a figure in Honduran criminal law; the "private accuser," which is a lawyer who represents a criminal victim, and tries the case, as opposed to the Public Attorneys (Fiscalia, Ministerio Publico). There are two ways to press charges in any crime, one is with a private accuser and one is via the Ministerio Publico, like the District Attorneys office.

Can you guess which one is more effective? And either way, if you go for the publicly supported route, you should still budget for transportation, food if necessary. So neither option is free. There are four attorneys that work at the Fiscalia in Roatan. They try all the criminal cases in Islas de la Bahia, except for those in which the victims pay their own private accuser. Although Roatan is a very quiet and safe place overall, there are enough major crimes (homicide, major drug trafficking busts) that I believe that all four of those lawyers probably work hard all week and still don't get everything done.

So, if you are the victim of a crime against your property, and no one was hurt, you will not automatically get any attention from the police or the judicial system. If you want to press charges, you will personally have to coordinate the whole thing, and pay all the expenses.

This is why people get let out of jail after 24 hours. If I were asked to advise a person who found themselves in jail, that is always the first advice -- sit tight, after 24 hours, if no one is paying a private attorney, then no other procedures will be filed, and the defense attorney shows up and asks that the imprisoned person be released, since there is no ongoing criminal charges.

I also like to point out that crime affects everyone, the poor are especially likely to be victims of crime. Ask some little lady in Barrio Los Fuertes how many times a week she gets rolled for the 20 Lps. she was going to use to buy eggs and tortillas. And her family doesn't eat that day. Honduras is a sea of necessities, with a trickle of resources. The poor do not receive welfare. The sick do not receive health care. Abandoned children live in the streets. And crime victims do not get justice.

Ok, anyone still with me? The bottom line is, no one in Honduras is going to help you, they don't have the resources. You have to do everything yourself, which is kind of freeing once you actually accept it. You have to protect your own belongings.

That is my advice (since I've been asked). Take care of yourself. If you came down here to make demands on the government, then that is going to be a disappointment for you.

Regards,

Melanie Wetzel

www.honduranlaw.com