For information on the ranking system in the Honduran Army and recent changes that have taken place in the armed forces of Honduras, please consult the attached documents.

The information in this response was provided by a professor of political science at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, who specializes in the Honduran Armed Forces, and who recently returned from a field investigation in Honduras. One rank that of "general de división" (major general) was added in the 1980s to the ranking structure of the Army and Air Force (19 Apr. 1995). This rank is currently held by General Luis Alonso Discua Elvir, who is chief of the Honduran armed forces (ibid.). It is the highest rank of the Honduran armed forces and is represented by five star shoulder pads. The Honduran Supreme Military Council, formed by the highest military officers, can still overule General Discua if it judges such an action to be necessary, stated the professor. For the officer rank insignia and their United States equivalents for 1983, as well as for information on rank and grade structure, please consult pages 226 to 228 of the attachment Honduras: A Country Study.

According to the professor, officers have to maintain one rank for five years before becoming eligible for promotion to a higher rank. Officers are eligible for retirement at 55 years of age. Altough there is personal evaluation test to judge the competence of the officers, it is seldom used (ibid.). Promotion is still based on seniority, friendship and one's personal network over competence and merit. General Discua, reported the specialist, "recently passed a merit test to 60 officers and they all flunked it."

The professor added that, in the opinion of Honduran officers, penalties for desertion are considered very light. The military code makes provision for a 60-day prison sentence or a fine of up to 600 lempiras, around 10$ U.S., and a 90-day period of supplementary service for soldiers found guilty of desertion. Since forced recruitment was abandoned and replaced with a lottery recruitment system in November 1994, 6 000 draftees have been called to serve, out of whom 40 per cent did not report to their military bases, making them deserters. No detention order has been issued to capture them because the military fears a major public outcry in big cities such as Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, where forced recruitment was commonly practiced in the past and despised by the population in general, according to the professor.

The professor pointed out, however, that if a soldier deserted from a "special unit" of the armed forces, one known for its involvement in repressive activities, a death squad for example, his treatment could be much harsher than the one meted out to common deserters; such deserters could even be killed because of their knowledge of the people and activities of their former unit (s) (ibid.).

No information could be found on the command, purpose and location of the Company A of the 2nd Battalion among the sources consulted by the DIRB nor could the specialist provide information on this issue.

An El Periodico de Honduras article is attached that reports a late January 1995 announcement of a rotation of high-ranking military officers. As part of this rotation, Carlos Alberto Andino Benitez's term as head of the 2nd Battalion of the Honduran Army was extended; the article does not specify Benitez's rank.

For additional recent details on the Honduran armed forces, please consult Responses to Information Request HND19339.E of 13 January 1995, HND19525.E of 21 February 1995, HND19608.E of 31 January 1995 and HND19785.F of 9 March 1995 with their attachments. These documents are available at Regional Documentation Centres.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Professor of Political Science specializing in the Armed Forces of Honduras, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. 19 April 1995. Telephone interview.

ACAN [Panama City, in Spanish]. 6 November 1994. "Defense Minister: Army Smallest in Central America." (FBIS-LAT-94-216 8 Nov. 1994, pp. 27-28)

Honduras: A Country Study. 1984. Edited by James D. Rudolph. Washington, DC: Secretary of teh Army, pp. 209-247.

Latin America Regional Reports: Caribbean & Central America Report [London]. 28 July 1994. "Honduras: Infamous Secret Police Disbanded," p. 2.

Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico & Central America [London]. 26 March 1994. "Honduras: Discua Slammed by `Young Officers'." pp. 6-7.

El Periodico de Honduras [Tegucigalpa, in Spanish]. 26 January 1995. "Armed Forces Announce Rotation of High-Ranking Officers." (FBIS-LAT-95-019 30 Jan. 1995, pp. 19-20.)

_____. 23 November 1994. "Military Chief: Armed Forces Changing." (FBIS-LAT-94-229 29 Nov. 1994, p. 31.)

Tiempo [San Pedro Sula, in Spanish]. 3 March 1995. "President Defends Voluntary Military Service." (FBIS-LAT-95-043 6 Mar. 1995, pp. 24-25)

_____. 3 March 1995. "Discua Disagrees with Reina." (FBIS-LAT-95-043 6 Mar. 1995, pp. 25-26)

_____. 5 November 1994. "Armed Forces Chief: Budget Reduction No Solution." (FBIS-LAT-94-216 8 Nov. 1994, p. 28)

Oral sources.