From The Honduran Association for Penal Reform (HARP) 20 street road, city town To Ana Pineda, Hondurass

Minister of Justice and human rights, 5 Minister office, Government street Dear Ms. Pineda, We are an organization that has been working for penal reform in Honduras for over ten years. At this solemn moment, we think the prison fire at Ganja Prison needs to be the wake up call that hundreds of prisoners have been dreaming about. We believe that the main contributing factor to the fire was the over-crowding of prisons. This endemic over-crowding in the country is a symptom of the common practice of detentions without charge in the Handuran prison system. Based on recent statistics, more than half of those imprisoned in Honduras have not yet been convicted of a crime1. We ask you to step up in this occasion of dire need, and as the Minister of Justice and Human Rights speak up for the rights of our people and correct these flagrant abuses of Handuras international human rights obligations2. In this endeavour, Harp will support you to the best of our abilities and provide you with any data, recommendations et al. that you may need. We will also make sure that we at all of our media events publicly endorse your positive steps for reform.

1 2

Prison statistics, NGO Articles 84-93 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

As you are well aware, the catastrophe at Ganja Prison has gotten international attention. If you fail to discharge your duties, or merely implement some surface changes, that is how you will be remembered by your fellow citizens and the international community. Not acting would be an abuse of your mandate as the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, and not befitting someone of your stature. We have found the conditions of imprisonment to be undoubtedly unjust and the prison management system incompetent. These breaches of human rights provide for a disturbing cycle of often baseless detention sometimes even for display of tattoos and subsequent inhumane treatment in the prison system. What is particularly disturbing in the case of this fire is that many of the prisoners died of suffocation or severe burns due to the lack of an emergency evacuation strategy. The fact that hundreds of people, some completely innocent, were violently killed in this manner prompts us to not only ask for, but demand that serious and comprehensive attention be paid to this issue. We would also like to extend an invitation to you for our Conference on Prisoners Human Rights next month which is being organized with the collaboration of thirteen different human rights organizations. Our collective concern has prompted us to come together in a collective stance for the reform of Handuras Criminal and Prison systems. Please find the enclosed invitation with this letter. In anticipation, Maya Assange, Chief Executive Officer, The Honduran Association for Penal Reform

Conference on Prisoners Rights

26th28th of April, 2012 5 PM8PM

RSVP: Ms. Juna Kapi Joint Action Committee (01)23458956