Many relatives of the 46 women murdered at the women’s prison in the Valley of Tamara blame the State for their deaths. The women killed at Tamara, near the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, were the bargaining chip for the military to regain control of the prisons in the government of Xiomara Castro. Here we tell you what led to the dismissal of Ramon Sabillon as Secretary of Security, the suspension of Julissa Villanueva as head of the prison control board and the sudden resignation of the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Elias Melgar
By Reportar sin Miedo and Reporteros de Investigacion
Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Foul smells and screams fill the air outside of the Forensic Medicine offices. Inside and outside the gray building the relatives of the 46 women murdered in the prison in Tamara, 30 kilometers from Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, have been huddling since Tuesday, June 20.
They come from various parts of the country, mostly with modest income. Many are women, mothers, aunts, sisters, foster mothers and fathers. There are also gang leaders in the crowd, waiting for nightfall so that no one will see them as the coffins are carried away.
Mourning families crowd under the cloudy skies of Tegucigalpa. They line up patiently waiting for someone to tell them where the bodies of their dead relatives are.
One idea seems to haunt the minds of many of these women wounded to the core by the tragedy. In interviews with Reporters de Investigación and Reportar sin Miedo, they claim that the Honduran State is responsible for the deaths of the 46 women deprived of their freedom in last Tuesday’s riot and fire at the Centro Femenino de Adaptacion Social (Cefas).
«We want them to give us an answer as to who killed our relatives,» says a woman who went to pick up the body of her sister. «They died in the hands of the State and it is not the first time this tragedy has happened.»
Their claim is just. So far, Forensic Medicine has delivered the bodies of 27 women murdered with guns, knives and fire–a little more than half of the murdered prisoners.
Meanwhile, forensic authorities continue the process of identifying the remaining 19 bodies. Sources told Reportar sin Miedo and Reporteros de Investigacion that independent forensic experts are needed in these cases to complete the process. Through them, they hope to find out what really happened in the women’s prison in Tamara.
Regarding the difficulties of identifying the bodies, our source compared the recent mass-murder at CEFAS with that of the 43 students killed in Ayotzinapa, Mexico.
Massacre survivor extradited 48 hours later
«I picked up my daughter because her mother has abandoned her since she was born,» said another woman who came to claim the body of her dead relative. «I worked and sold tortillas to put her to school and look where I came to find her.»
That daughter is one of the 46 who could not tell the story. However, there are many survivors of a riot announced weeks ago, according to sources consulted by Reportar sin Miedo and Reporteros de Investigación.
Among those who managed to save themselves is Maria Mendoza, 50, originally from Lepaera, Lempira, in western Honduras. Nicknamed La Patrona, Mendoza is an important witness in the drug trafficking case against former President Juan Orlando Hernandez in New York, United States.
The legal actions on U.S. soil also cover several current narco-politicians in President Xiomara Castro’s government, according to information consulted independently by both publications.
Not 48 hours had passed since the mass murder at CEFAS when Maria Mendoza boarded a commercial flight to the United States. In U.S. territory, the prisoner will face trial on charges of human trafficking and money laundering.
Maria Mendoza was in a separate module at CEFAS when the multiple murders of women occurred. On that day, a majority group from Barrio 18 demanded the keys to the premises where the extraditable woman was being held.
Likewise, Mendoza could have information about Xiomara Castro’s government officials and it is troublesome that they asked for the keys to the module where she was being held with three other women, warned a reliable source in the penitentiary system interviewed by Reportar sin Miedo and Reporteros de Investigacion.
According to the source, La Patrona‘s story could have been similar to that of Magdaleno Meza, who was murdered in October 2019 in the Ilama prison in western Honduras. His violent death was due to the fact that he allegedly had testimonial information against former President Juan Orlando Hernandez.
In addition, Magdaleno Meza’s case became more complicated today, when at least eight hitmen murdered his wife, Erika Julissa Bandy, in front of the «Extra» bakery in San Pedro Sula. The new crime comes just two days after the murder of the 46 women in the Tamara prison and a few hours after Maria Mendoza’s extradition.
Two men were also killed at the scene of Bandy’s murder. Erika had been released from prison in Tamara in April. In 2019, the Court of First Instance for the Deprivation of Domain of assets of illicit origin had ordered that seven companies, three of them under the name of Erika Julissa Bandy and one shared with her ex-husband, be seized by the Government of Honduras.
In that same bakery nearly nine years ago, on March 27, 2014, authorities captured Carlos Arnaldo Lobo, who was extradited a month later to stand trial in the United States. Lobo is expected to be released in August 2023.
The murder of the 46 women in Támara, the bargaining chip
Xiomara Castro’s government announced national mourning for the 46 deaths in the Tamara prison. It also extended the country’s State of Exception that began more than six months ago, on December 6, 2022. The government also declared that the Military Police of Public Order, created by Juan Orlando Hernandez, will take control of Honduras’ prisons.
It also ordered the Armed Forces to set up the Isla del Cisne as a penal farm for crime bosses. At the same time, the government suspended the commemorations for the 2009 coup d’état scheduled for June 28.
After announcing «drastic» measures, the first thing President Castro did was to dismiss the Secretary of Security, Ramon Sabillon. She replaced him with the director of the National Police, Gustavo Sanchez.
Castro also dismissed all the members of the prison control board. The separations include its director Julissa Villanueva, who returns to her position as Deputy Secretary of State in the Office of Police Affairs.
On March 8, 2023, Reporteros de Investigacion published the report «72 hours and the tricks of the extraditables«. That story revealed how the change in the control of the Judicial Power, organized crime and narco-politics have entered a new phase of war for territorial control in the government of Xiomara Castro after the extradition of Juan Orlando Hernandez.
«The military with control of organized crime demands to control security; the political class that sees the current Public Security structure as a threat also makes sabotage attempts to prevent the government of President Xiomara Castro from promoting a comprehensive criminal policy for all the institutions involved in the process and to roll back the progress that has been made,» the report states.
In the same investigation, Reporteros indicates that former Security Secretary Ramon Sabillon, who captured Juan Orlando Hernández on February 14, 2022, put politicians from Xiomara Castro’s current administration in check when he imprisoned Midence Oqueli Martinez Turcios, a former Liberal Party deputy. Oqueli is the key witness who would provide information in New York and lead to the extradition of new political figures from Honduras.
On the other hand, Sabillon captured Herlinda Bobadilla (61), a native of Colon, on the Honduran Atlantic coast, in May 2022. The leader of the Montes Bobadilla clan is accused of controlling the Caribbean region. In that region, through her links with drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico, she has allegedly managed to ship thousands of kilos of cocaine to the United States.
For many analysts, Ramon Sabillon was key to the extradition processes of a series of narco-politicians to the United States. His team described him as an «honest» and «incorruptible» person. For many he was the hope of the new Castro administration. For others, he was simply a thorn in their side that prevented them from continuing to control drug trafficking routes.
Sabillon will go down in history for having served twice as Security Secretary, and for having been dismissed both times. The first time he was dismissed by Juan Orlando Hernandez after the capture of the Valle Valle brothers in Copan. Now the same thing is happening to him in Xiomara Castro’s government.
«Sabillon has key information on deputies and organized crime structures that have now been strengthened, such as the Olancho clans,» the investigation emphasizes.
Irrevocable resignation of the Undersecretary of Defense
The irrevocable resignation of Elias Antonio Melgar Urbina, Undersecretary of Defense, 24 hours after the multiple crime in the female prison in Tamara, has been added to the many surprises of this day.
Melgar’s retirement came during the administration of former President Juan Orlando Hernández for administrative reasons, it was explained at the time. Along with three other military personnel, Melgar appealed his discharge before the Supreme Court of Justice. Melgar returned to the institution in February 2022 along with Colonels Orlando Ayala Acosta and Mariano Mendoza.
In a press release, the Agrarian platform and COPA on June 9, 2023 declared themselves on high alert against the creation of the Commission for Agrarian Security and Access to Land. «They rejected the possibility of appointing before this commission Elias Melgar. As Agrarian Platform and COPA we have strongly pointed out that he is closely linked to the agro-industrial sector, specifically with the Dinant Corporation and the private security company at their service.»
On April 13, Pro Honduras Network published audios of Elias Melgar in a dialogue with a journalist from HCH where he offered confidential information about people deprived of their freedom.
«It was not the fire, it was the State. We demand that the State be held accountable for the murder of these 46 women, planned and carried out under the supervision of the authorities. It is their responsibility! Punitivism is not the solution!», published the Mexican organization Las Vanders.