When I talk about impunity and I tell you that I have been a member of the organization that I represent for 30 years, I think it demonstrates the very little interest that the representatives of the Honduras government have had when it comes to fighting impunity.
But I will tell you that throughout the eighties, we saw the worst barbaric forced disappearances and political assassinations. In the nineties, through certain public institutions of the government, new institutions that were created at the time, there was the beginning of a search to implement justice and create sanctions and punish those responsible. After the year 2000 there were some cases presented for prosecution against the perpetrators of human rights violations.
But after the coup, as before, there were violations of human rights. But before the coup it wasn't a state policy. There had not been punishment of those responsible. They were still there in the state institutions and they violated human rights freely because they could. Simply, they could. But it wasn't a policy. But what we have seen since the coup is a state policy that is very similar to the one that existed in the eighties, and that is what we want to stop, because it is a clear attack on political dissidence.
So if we do not come to forums such as this to talk about our concern, the situation in Honduras will be even worse than what it was in the eighties, because in the eighties there was not as much expertise and the level of impunity was not as severe as it is now for the perpetrators of human rights violations. Now the same perpetrators are more knowledgeable, have more expertise, and they know how to use the system to protect themselves and continue their violations.