Violence in Honduras remains "alarmingly high" by global standards, but it has subsided somewhat in recent years, a UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has said.
Cristof Heyns, a South African human rights professor, told a news conference yesterday that much of the violence and impunity in Honduras is rooted in regional drug trafficking.
Heyns did note that while three years ago there were 79 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, the homicide count for early 2016 suggested that rate had dropped to 60 killings.
He attributed the reduction in murders to reinforced state security measures, the capture of gang leaders, and the extradition of drug traffickers. Heyns said these successes mean the problem "is not insurmountable."
Honduras, along with its neighbours El Salvador and Guatemala, make up the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America, where feared gangs engage in murder, extortion, the drug trade and turf battles.
That risk of violence along with pervasive poverty and corruption have spurred waves of Central American emigration to the United States.
Under President Barack Obama, the US has recently upped deportations of Central Americans who have been refused asylum, and also backed Mexico to make border crossing increasingly difficult.
