Law for the Reconstruction of the Constitutional State of Law and to Prevent the Recurrence of Events

REPEAL OF LEGISLATIVE DECREE NO. 141-2009 AND REJECTION OF THE COUP D'ÉTAT. To repeal Legislative Decree No. 141-2009 regarding the removal of the Constitutional President of the Republic of Honduras José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, approved on Sunday, June 28, 2009 and published in the Official Gazette "La Gaceta" 31,950 on Wednesday, July 1, 2009, for being an Illegal Decree as this Branch of State lacks the authority to remove the President of the Republic against whom no crime has been proven to date in memory of the victims, so that such facts do not repeat. To reject the Coup d'État perpetrated on June 28, 2009, for constituting an illicit international act in accordance with the judgment rendered on October 5, 2015 by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, by which the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), in application of Article 21 of the Democratic Charter and Article 9 of the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS) suspended Honduras' right to participate in said organization.

FOR THE MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS. To officially declare the Public Plaza, located in front of Toncontín Airport with the name of Plaza Isy Obed, the first young person murdered on July 5, 2009 and to erect in memory of the victims, a symbol and banner with their names. Likewise, to support the direct descendants and/or ascendants of those murdered as recorded by the reports of the IACHR and Human Rights organizations in Honduras, through a social program that guarantees their education and survival in conditions of dignity and security. To authorize the Secretary of Finance so that, at the request of the Secretary of Human Rights, the required budgetary allocation is made.

RECOGNITION AND VALIDITY OF THE CARTAGENA AGREEMENT. To recognize and declare legally and legitimately valid the Agreement for National Reconciliation and the Consolidation of the Democratic System in the Republic of Honduras, known as the Cartagena Agreement and signed by President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and Former President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales and as witnesses of honor the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías and the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, on May 22, 2011 in the city of Cartagena de Indias, Republic of Colombia, which is described as follows: "AGREEMENT FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF HONDURAS. The signatory parties to this agreement, Recalling that on April 9, 2011, in the framework of the Meeting between the Presidents of Colombia and Venezuela in the city of Cartagena, Colombia, a meeting was held between Presidents Juan Manuel Santos, Hugo Chávez and Porfirio Lobo, to which Former President José Manuel Zelaya joined by telephone, during which the acceptance of the mediation of Colombia and Venezuela was agreed upon based on the four (4) points raised by Former President Zelaya for the solution of the Honduran political crisis, which would lay the groundwork for the return of the Republic of Honduras in regional and multilateral organizations; Recognizing the political crisis before, during and after June 28, 2009, which resulted in a polarization of Honduran society; taking into account the resolutions of the Organization of American States in which it condemned the events of June 28, 2009 as a Coup d'État and suspended Honduras from the organization and aware of the need to contribute to national reconciliation and to the consolidation of the Honduran democratic system; Underscoring the commitment assumed by the Government of Honduras to guarantee to Former President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, as well as to other former members of his government, the exercise of all his freedoms of political action and all the guarantees contemplated in the Constitution of the Republic and the laws of Honduras, taking for this purpose the special measures of personal security that are necessary; Reaffirming the commitment assumed by the Government of Honduras to guarantee the process of strengthening democratic life in the country with political participation under equal conditions, in particular, in the context of this Agreement, for the National Front of Popular Resistance; Recognizing the will of the parties to take the necessary measures that allow the return to normalcy and the free exercise of politics under equal conditions for all political forces in the country; Admitting that during the political crisis there have been persons who claim to have been affected by the violation of their human rights, the Government of Honduras, through the Secretary of Justice and Human Rights undertakes to address their complaints and thus contribute to the reconciliation of Honduran society in a framework of verifiable guarantees, respecting the work of all Human Rights Organizations and awaiting the support of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations; Agreeing on the convenience of having the solid accompaniment of the Follow-up Commission comprised of the two (2) mediators of the national reconciliation process in the Republic of Honduras, which may be expanded to other countries by common agreement between the parties"; They agree:

• 1)

  To frame all actions and decisions of the Government of Honduras in strict compliance with the Constitution and the Law;

• 2)

  To guarantee to Former President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales his return to Honduras, with full recognition of his rights according to the Constitution and the laws of Honduras, including the exercise of his political action in conditions of security and freedom;

• 3)

  To deepen the guarantees granted for the return in conditions of security and freedom to former officials of the government of Former President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales and other persons affected by the crisis who today are abroad, with full recognition of their rights according to the Constitution and the laws of Honduras;

• 4)

  To welcome the decision of the competent authorities to annul the judicial proceedings against Former President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, underscoring the presentation of documents by the General Public Prosecutor's Office and the General Solicitor's Office before the ad hoc Court of Appeals, according to which both institutions waive the right to present an amparo appeal, as well as its admission by the Court, with which the judicial decision is final;

• 5)

  To ensure special compliance with the Constitution of the Republic regarding the guarantees of respect and protection of human rights;

• 6)

  To ensure compliance with all the guarantees that the Law grants so that the National Front of Popular Resistance requests its registration before the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and participates democratically in Honduras' political and electoral processes and so that it may integrate the official political-electoral bodies under equal conditions. In this context and with full respect for the procedures and legal attributions, to instruct the Follow-up Commission to verify compliance with the procedures to be followed for the registration of the National Front of Popular Resistance in an environment of cooperation and transparency;

• 7)

  To reiterate that the reform to Article 5 of the Honduran Constitution regulates the calling of plebiscites with clearly established procedures, which allows the possibility for the people to be consulted. Said reform authorizes all sectors to initiate legal procedures for the holding of a plebiscite and thus submit to the will of the people in a direct manner the political, social and economic decisions through the new constitutional figures of the plebiscite and referendum. Therefore, the request that Former President Zelaya has expressed to call a National Constituent Assembly shall be framed within these consultation mechanisms. In that sense, the Government of Honduras undertakes to take the measures that are within the framework of its legal attributions, to ensure the electoral rights of citizens, as well as to instruct the Follow-up Commission to verify compliance with the established procedures for the holding of plebiscites in the Republic of Honduras, when said process is initiated by some sector, with full respect for the legal attributions of the Branches of State, which are complemented in the procedures related to said processes;

• 8)

  To recognize the creation of the Secretary of Justice and Human Rights as an entity that allows strengthening national capacities for the promotion and protection of Human Rights in Honduras, to follow up on the recommendations made to Honduras as a result of having submitted to the Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and to coordinate and arrange cooperation and support from the United Nations and other international organizations to strengthen public policies and national capacities to guarantee the full validity of human rights in Honduras. Along the same lines, the Honduran Presidency invited the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN to install an office in Honduras;

• 9)

  To establish the Follow-up Commission originally made up of the foreign ministers of Colombia and Venezuela, which shall enter into operation after the signing of this agreement by the President of the Republic of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo Sosa and the Former President, José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, and as witnesses the Presidents of Colombia and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Juan Manuel Santos and Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. Done in Cartagena de Indias on the 22nd day of the month of May 2011. Porfirio Lobo Sosa.- President. Republic of Honduras. José Manuel Zelaya Rosales Former President. Republic of Honduras. Witnesses: Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías.- Juan Manuel Santos. CHAPTER II AMNESTY FOR THE LIBERATION OF POLITICAL PRISONERS AND PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

AMNESTY FOR DEFENDERS OF NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. To grant a general, broad and unconditional amnesty in favor of persons against whom public criminal action has been exercised, have been prosecuted or have been handed a final and enforceable sentence, before the courts of the Republic, or who are in the process of investigation, for alleged crimes committed up to the date of entry into force of this Law, in the following scenarios:

• a)

  To persons who served as officials, employees or elected authorities during the governmental administration of the period from January 27, 2006 to June 28, 2009 and who were victims of the Coup d'État, required, accused or criminally prosecuted for opposing and protesting against the Coup d'État and for acts inherent to the exercise of their public function, proceedings that were classified as politically motivated.

• b)

  To persons who have exercised their constitutional right to social protest, through actions of resistance to oppression and civil disobedience of various kinds, and whose actions were repressed by police and military actions and criminalized by the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Judicial Branch for evidently political motivations.

• c)

  To persons who have carried out acts in defense of national sovereignty, democracy, of their territories, lands and water sources, for the benefit of their communities or in defense of their immaterial and intangible heritage and whose actions have been criminalized by justice operators for political motivations, in a context of democratic abnormality, generating extreme social conflict for economic reasons.

• d)

  For all members of social and professional sectors or delegates who, forming boards, councils or directorates, acting in the name and representation of institutions of public administration, autonomous, centralized or decentralized; within the framework of the coup d'état that imposed a repressive dictatorship to date and were accused for the actions executed whether they are condemned with a prison sentence, detention or special or absolute disqualification (principal or accessory) or if the proceedings are still in process, pending judgment. The broad, absolute and unconditional amnesty contemplates the crimes that are to be enumerated, both in their degree of completed execution or attempted: 1) With the validity of the Penal Code contained in Decree 144-1983 of September 26, 1983, this amnesty includes the crimes contemplated in the following articles: In Title IX, Chapter III, Articles 284 and 289, Title XIII Chapter III, Articles 349 numerals 2 and 3, Chapter VI, Articles 370, 371, 372, 373, 373A, Chapter VII Article 374 and 375, Chapter VIII, Article 376, Title XII, Chapter III, 331, 332 A, Chapter V, Article 335, Chapter VII, Articles 337, 338, 339, 340, 341 and 342, Chapter IX Articles 343 and 344, Title VII, Chapter I Articles 217, 218 and 219, Chapter IV Article 227, 228 and 229, Chapter IX, 254, Chapter X, Articles 256 and 257, Title VI, Chapter I Article 193 of the Penal Code, Article 62 of the Organic Law of the Superior Court of Accounts and Articles 172, 176, 179 and 186 of the Forest Law, whose cases are in any stage of the criminal process. 2) With the validity of the Penal Code contained in Decree No. 130-2017 dated January 18, 2018, this amnesty includes the crimes contemplated in the following articles: In Title II Chapter II, Articles 183 and 184; Title III Chapter II Articles 199 and 200; Title VIII Chapter I Articles 235, 236, 237 and 238, Chapter II Articles 245, 246 and 248; Title XX Chapter II Article 360 Chapter VIII Articles 378, 379 and 380, Chapter IX articles 381, 382, 283; Title XXVI Chapter III Section I Articles 456, 458, 460, Section II 461 and 452 Chapter IV Article 473; Title XXIX Chapter I Articles 532 and 535, Section II Article 541, Section III Crimes Article 553, Article 554; Title XXXI Chapter I Article 570, Chapter III Article 580; Articles 172, 176, 179 and 186 of the Forest Law and whose cases are in any stage of the criminal process. In the case of subsections b), c) and d) of this Article, the status of citizens who exercised their constitutional rights of resistance to oppression, of protest, of defenders of Human Rights or defenders of their territories, lands, waters or immaterial heritage, shall be accredited with a Certification issued by the SECRETARY OF HUMAN RIGHTS in coordination with the COMMITTEE OF FAMILIES OF DETAINED AND DISAPPEARED IN HONDURAS (COFADEH) that contains a description of facts and a broad, clear and sufficient justification, which shall be a necessary document for the respective justice operator to apply the amnesty.

OBLIGATION OF JUDGES AND MAGISTRATES. The Judges and Courts shall order on their own initiative or at the request of any of the Parties, the immediate release of all persons prosecuted in the circumstances and for the crimes referred to in the preceding Article and shall decree the final dismissals in accordance with this Decree.

REFERRAL OF CASE FILES TO COURTS OF FIRST INSTANCE. The appellate courts that are hearing the crimes covered in this Decree shall remit within the term of twenty-four (24) hours to the respective Court the case file of the corresponding trial.

ADMINISTRATIVE CLOSURE AND JUDICIAL FILING. The Courts and Tribunals, Public Prosecutor's Office and other police, military and penitentiary agencies, in which records or antecedents of persons protected by this Decree are held, shall proceed with the administrative closure thereof and the filing of the proceedings insofar as the punishable acts covered by this Law are concerned. This amnesty decree extinguishes criminal actions and sanctions imposed with respect to the crimes established in this Law. Persons benefited by this Law may not in the future be detained or prosecuted for the same already criminalized facts. CHAPTER IV CREATION OF THE ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION WITH FULL INVESTIGATIVE POWERS AND ABSOLUTE INDEPENDENCE. IMMEDIATE ACTIONS AGAINST IMPUNITY AND CORRUPTION OF THE HOLDERS OF THE POWERS OF STATE

INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION AND IMPUNITY WITH ADVISORY SERVICES FROM THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATION. To create the International Commission against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras, under the advisory services of the United Nations Organization, which shall function independently conducting investigations, with emphasis on intelligence and financial analysis; and punitive actions to frontally combat the plunder of public assets. This entity must be directed by professionals of recognized honor, selected by the State of Honduras, from a proposal by the United Nations, under the highest international standard, as well as its advisory team and based on the Agreement that for this purpose the Executive Branch shall sign through the Constitutional President.

To Accompany for the Signing of the Agreement. The Constitutional President of the Republic is authorized to sign an Agreement with the United Nations Organization, which involves the institutions that have the constitutional and legal duty to combat Corruption and Impunity and other interested entities that have demonstrated their commitment to combating these scourges. Within the main functions of the Commission shall be included the investigation of the administrative conduct of the holders of the powers of State.

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 second day of the month of February of two thousand twenty-two. LUIS ROLANDO REDONDO GUIFARRO PRESIDENT CARLOS ARMANDO ZELAYA ROSALES SECRETARY LUZ ANGÉLICA SMITH MEJÍA SECRETARY To the Executive Branch Therefore: Execute. Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., February 4, 2022. IRIS XIOMARA CASTRO SARMIENTO PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC THE SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE OFFICES OF GOVERNANCE, JUSTICE AND DECENTRALIZATION TOMÁS EDUARDO VAQUERO