Law on Limitation of Telecommunications Services in Penitentiary Centers
Congreso Nacional
- Decree: 43-2015
- Published: September 16, 2015
- Issuing body: Congreso Nacional
- Gazette: 33,835
- Category: Criminal
Summary
This law prohibits all telecommunications services (cellular, internet, television, etc.) inside prisons, penal farms, and youth detention centers in Honduras. Telephone companies must install signal blockers at no cost to the State, and penalties include fines and imprisonment for anyone attempting to use or bring electronic devices into these facilities.
Considerations
Whereas, in accordance with Article 59 of the Constitution of the Republic, "The human person is the supreme purpose of society and the State. Everyone has the obligation to respect and protect it".
Whereas, Article 87 of the Constitution of the Republic establishes that: "Prisons are establishments of security and social defense. The rehabilitation of the inmate and their preparation for work shall be pursued therein".
Whereas, the operators of Mobile Telephone and Personal Communications (PCS) services have complied with the obligations imposed by the Law on Limitation of Mobile Cellular Telephone and Personal Communications (PCS) Services in Penitentiary Establishments at the National Level. As a result of their compliance, it has been evident that Persons Deprived of Liberty are implementing telecommunications services to communicate outside the facilities where they are confined, taking advantage of the rapid technological evolution of telecommunications.
Whereas, in accordance with Article 205, Subsection 1) of the Constitution of the Republic, it is within the competence of the National Congress to "create, decree, interpret, reform, and repeal laws".
Articles
It is prohibited in Penitentiary Establishments such as: Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, and in the Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys in the country, the provision of the following Telecommunications Services: Global Mobile Personal Communications Service (GMPCS), Mobile Cellular Telephone Service, Personal Communications Service (PCS), Community Registry Service, Land Mobile Service, Mobile Service of Multiple Channels of Automatic Selection (Trunked Radio), Telephone Service, Internet Service or Access to Computer Networks, Videoconferencing Service, Radio Service, Data Transmission and Switching Service, Subscription Television by Cable, Subscription Television by Wireless Means, Interactive Subscription Television, Mobile by Satellite, Value-Added Services, and other current telecommunications services and those that may eventually be implemented. Therefore, the providers of authorized telecommunications services provided and authorized by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) must implement technical measures that block the provision of their telecommunications services within the aforementioned Penitentiary and Internment facilities in the country. Excepted are the telecommunications services used by Penitentiary System personnel and other State entities in the exclusive execution of their activities, which count on formal authorization, in the cases expressly considered in the Regulation to be issued for this purpose.
The operators of Mobile Cellular Telephone Service and Personal Communications (PCS) are obligated to install the technical solutions suggested by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) that allow the blocking of signals in all facilities of Penitentiary Establishments such as: Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, and in Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys, prior to installation. Once installed and the effective operation verified by the Commission, operators shall be responsible for the effective administration, operation, and use. The safeguarding of installed equipment is the responsibility of the National Penitentiary Institute in the case of Penitentiary Establishments and of the National Directorate for Children and the Family (DINAF), for Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys. The technical solutions proposed by the providers must comply with the provisions and requirements that the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) establishes in the technical Regulation to be issued for this purpose. The cost of installation and operation of the blockers and all necessary technological service in each of the deprivation of liberty centers referred to in this Law is the obligation of the companies providing such service. In establishments where, by their nature, it is not possible to implement blockers, the pertinent authorities, in coordination with the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), must adopt the necessary alternative mechanisms to guarantee compliance with this Law.
The providers of telecommunications services, described in Article 1, other than Mobile Cellular Telephone Service and Personal Communications (PCS) are obligated, within a period of fifteen (15) days, to present the necessary technical solutions to the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) counting from the effective date of this Law. Said Commission must issue such technical solutions counting with fifteen (15) days to certify the proposals made. Once the technical solutions are certified, providers will have one (1) month to implement the technical measures in order to prevent the provision of their telecommunications services within the facilities of Penitentiary Establishments such as: Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, and in Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys.
Once the installation of technical solutions by the operators of Mobile Cellular Telephone Service and Personal Communications (PCS) is completed, the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) is instructed as a specialized technical body to verify the installation and correct operation of the technical solutions that block the signal installed in Penitentiary Establishments such as: Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, and in Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys. The National Council for the Defense and Security of the State must cooperate with the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) regarding the compliance and verification of this Law.
Non-compliance with the provisions of Articles 1 and 2 of this Law by the operators of Mobile Cellular Telephone Service and Personal Communications (PCS) carries the following fines:
- 1)
Ten Million Lempiras (L. 10,000,000.00) when the infraction is committed for the first time,
- 2)
Twenty Million Lempiras (L. 20,000,000.00) when the infraction is committed for the second time, and,
- 3)
The revocation of the contract or concession when the infraction is committed for the third time. Non-compliance with the aforementioned order by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) entails the corresponding civil, administrative, and criminal liabilities.
Within Penitentiary Establishments such as Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, and in Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys, it is strictly prohibited to persons deprived of liberty, their visitors, officials or employees of the National Penitentiary System or of the National Directorate for Children and the Family (DINAF), charged by act to custody, maintenance personnel, administrative employees, or any other person outside the center for any reason that enters it, the entry, possession, use, and carrying of cellular telephones, satellite telephones, fixed telephones (wireless or wireless), tablets, computers, portable communicators (walkie-talkie) or any other terminal device that allows both access to Telecommunications Services networks as well as the transmission, emission, or reception of voice, data, and/or images of any nature. The use and enjoyment of radio and television services may be permitted if received through telephones whose operation must be regulated by the regulation to be issued for this purpose, under adequate exclusive supervision by penitentiary authorities and by the National Directorate for Children and the Family (DINAF), as appropriate, as part of the performance of activities aimed at achieving the education, rehabilitation, social reintegration, and preparation for work in free life of persons deprived of liberty.
Whoever is deprived of liberty in any of the Penitentiary Establishments such as: Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, Preventive Centers, or in Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys, or carries or makes illegal use of any of the devices or terminal equipment enumerated in Article 6 above, must be sanctioned with a sentence of three (3) to five (5) years of imprisonment. With the same sentence of imprisonment, plus a fine of One Hundred Thousand Lempiras (L. 100,000.00), shall be sanctioned whoever, as a visitor to a person deprived of liberty for any reason, accesses one of the establishments enumerated in the preceding paragraph and brings into it any of the devices or terminal equipment enumerated in Article 6 of this Law. The official, employee, or person in charge of Penitentiary Establishments such as: Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, or of Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys who, through negligence, facilitates or permits the entry to said establishments of any of the devices or terminal equipment enumerated in Article 6 of this Law, must be sanctioned with a sentence of five (5) to seven (7) years of imprisonment, plus a fine of One Hundred Thousand Lempiras (L. 100,000.00) and special disqualification for the exercise of public office for double the time that the imprisonment lasts.
The prohibition established in Article 1 of this Law extends to any natural or legal person who does not have an enabling title granted by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) and who installs, provides, or operates the telecommunications services enumerated in Penitentiary Establishments, such as: Penitentiary Centers, Penal Farms, Preventive Centers, or Centers for Internment of Girls and Boys, and therefore non-compliance must be subject to the sanctions established in Article 6 of this Law, the foregoing without prejudice to what is established in the Article in the Framework Law of the Telecommunications Sector and its General Regulation. Regarding technical solutions, telecommunications providers are obligated to bear the costs of installation.
The Secretary of State in the Office of Finance must identify and allocate the financial resources required for compliance with this Law and effective verification by means of the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL).
The National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) shall be submitted to apply all administrative orders, likewise so that within the period of sixty (60) days it issues the technical Regulation of this Law.
The Operators of Telecommunications Services related in Article 1 of this Law are obligated to update the technical solutions for blocking signals in accordance with technological advancement. It is the responsibility of the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) to ensure that the technical productions implemented are kept updated in accordance with technological advancement and to require Operators the proper updating.
To repeal Decree No. 255-2013 dated December 31, 2013, published on January 31, 2014, and its amendment, contained in Decree No. 13-2014 dated May 11, 2014, published on May 26, 2014, in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta", contained in the LAW FOR THE LIMITATION OF MOBILE CELLULAR TELEPHONE SERVICE AND PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS (PCS) IN PENAL CENTERS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL and its amendments.
This Decree shall enter into force as of the day of its publication in the Official Gazette "LA GACETA". Given in the city of Tegucigalpa, municipality of the Central District, in the Session Hall of the National Congress, on the twenty-second day of the month of April of the year two thousand fifteen. MAURICIO OLIVA HERRERA PRESIDENT MARIO ALONSO PÉREZ LÓPEZ SECRETARY JOSÉ TOMÁS ZAMBRANO MOLINA SECRETARY To the Executive Branch. Therefore: Execute. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., June 12, 2015. JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ ALVARADO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF HUMAN RIGHTS, JUSTICE, GOVERNANCE AND DECENTRALIZATION. RIGOBERTO CHANG CASTILLO National Institute of Forest Conservation and Development, Protected Areas and Wildlife NOTICE OF DECLARATORY FIRST NOTICE OF DECLARATORY OF THE PROTECTED AREA WILDLIFE REFUGE MARINE BAY OF TELA, LOCATED IN THE BAY OF TELA, MUNICIPALITY OF TELA, DEPARTMENT OF ATLANTIDA, AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE NATIONAL SYSTEM OF PROTECTED AREAS AND WILDLIFE OF HONDURAS (SINAPH). The State of Honduras, represented by the National Institute of Forest Conservation and Development, Protected Areas and Wildlife (ICF), hereby notifies the general public of the determination of declaratory as a protected area for the Wildlife Refuge Marine Bay of Tela, through the issuance of Agreement 007-2015, for its respective integration into the National System of Protected Areas and Wildlife of Honduras (SINAPH), which is located at the geographic boundary of the Bay of Tela, within the municipality of Tela, in the department of Atlantida. The objective of creation of the refuge is to establish a protected geographic space, with its limits clearly defined in the Bay of Tela and its continental waters, seeking the conservation of marine species of national and international interest, recognizing in the area access and preferential right for artisanal fishing carried out by local inhabitants, promoting and encouraging socioeconomic development through sustainable tourism and the management and use of fishery resources in a sustainable manner. The objectives of conservation being natural, cultural, and productive: The coral reefs, the sites of fish aggregations, the sea grasses, artisanal fishing with an ecosystem approach, the preferential right by local inhabitants or others that through studies are considered in the management plan for the protected area. The area of the Wildlife Refuge Marine Bay of Tela corresponds to the Site of International Importance for Birds (AICA) and Wildlife Tela Continental Reef System (Established through ICF Agreement 001-2014), comprised solely of marine ecosystems with a total area in hectares of eighty-six thousand two hundred fifty-nine (86,259.05 hectares) and its limits are defined under the UTM coordinate system and WGS-84 datum as follows:
Related laws
- Law on Limitation of Telecommunications Services in Penitentiary Centers — This law prohibits all telecommunications services (cell phones, internet, television, etc.) in prisons, penal farms, and youth detention centers in Honduras. It requires telecommunications companies to install signal blockers at these facilities at their own cost to prevent inmates from communicating outside prison and ensure penitentiary security. (Decree 43-2015)
- Decreto Legislativo No. 43-2015 — Ley de Limitación de Servicios de Telecomunicaciones en Centros Penitenciarios, Granjas Penales y Centros de Internamiento de Niñas y Niños a Nivel Nacional — This law prohibits all telecommunications services (cell phones, internet, satellite, etc.) inside prisons and juvenile detention centers in Honduras. Telecom companies must install signal blockers at their own cost, facing fines up to 20 million lempiras for non-compliance. Anyone bringing or using these devices in prison faces 3 to 7 years imprisonment. (Decree 43-2015, 2015)
- Decreto Legislativo No. 95-2017 — Reforma del Código Penal, Código Procesal Penal, Ley del Sistema Penitenciario Nacional y Ley de Limitación de Servicios de Telecomunicaciones en Centros Penitenciarios — This law reforms Honduras' judicial and penitentiary system to implement electronic monitoring as an alternative to imprisonment. It allows judges to monitor accused or convicted persons using electronic devices at their homes, reducing prison overcrowding and ensuring public safety. It affects people in criminal proceedings, the convicted, and the National Penitentiary Institute. (Decree 95-2017, 2017)
- Decreto Legislativo No. 98-2017 — Reforma al Código Penal, Código Procesal Penal, Ley del Sistema Penitenciario Nacional y Ley de Limitación de Servicios de Telecomunicaciones en Centros Penitenciarios — This law introduces electronic monitoring systems (tracking devices) in Honduras to supervise people on conditional release, precautionary measures, or pre-release from prison. The judge decides whether to apply this system instead of jail, and non-compliance results in imprisonment. It also permits limited telecommunications services in prisons for security coordination purposes. (Decree 98-2017)
- Law on Limitation of Mobile Cellular Telephone Services in Penal Centers at the National Level — This law prohibits cellular telephone companies from providing service inside prisons throughout the country. It orders the removal of antennas and blocking of signals in penal centers to prevent inmates from organizing crimes. Companies that fail to comply face fines of 20 million lempiras or lose their operating license. (Decree 255-2013, 2014)