UN Special Rapporteur Will Visit Honduras To Assess Independence Of Judiciary - OHCHR

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2019) UN Special Rapporteur Diego Garcia-Sayan will travel to Honduras this week to assess the independence of the country's judicial system, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a press release on Wednesday.

"UN Special Rapporteur Diego Garcia-Sayan will carry out an official visit to Honduras from 16-22 August 2019 to assess the status of the independence of judges and prosecutors, and of the free exercise of the legal profession, along with measures adopted by the government to guarantee judicial independence," the release said.

OHCHR said that Garcia-Sayan will meet with the Honduran officials, legislative authorities, judges, attorneys, prosecutors, members of UN agencies and the diplomatic community, among others.

Garcia-Sayan will examine forms of threats and challenges the criminal justice authorities face trying to exercise their duties, government-undertaken measures to protect legal professionals and their families as well as the effects that corruption may have on the independence of the judiciary in Honduras, the release said.

Violence in Honduras and neighboring Central American nations is cited as a key reason for a surge of migrants seeking political asylum in the United States, with officials estimating more than 1 million residents of Central American countries illegally will cross the US-Mexican border in 2019.