E/CN.4/2005/18/Add.5 page 5 Introduction 1. The Special Rapporteur visited Honduras from 2 to 8 July 2004. In the capital, Tegucigalpa, he met with senior government officials, including Mr. Leonidas Rosa Bautista, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. German Leitzelar Vidaurreta, the Minister of Labour and Social Security, and Mr. Luis Suazo, the Deputy Minister of the Interior and Justice. He also met with the National Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Custodio Lopez, the Procurator General, Mr. Ovidio Navarro, the Human Rights Procurator, Ms. Aida Romero, and the President of the Supreme Court, Ms. Vilma Cecilia Morales Montalván. In addition, the Special Rapporteur sought out members of civil society and the communities concerned during a visit to the town of Puerto Lempira, in the far west of Honduras, a region inhabited mainly by the Miskito, hence the name Mosquitia (the Mosquito Coast); he also visited the town of La Ceiba, in the department of Atlántida, where the majority of the population is of African descent, including a sizeable Garifuna community. 2. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Honduran Government for its cooperation and for the diligence of its representatives, which helped make the visit a success. He would also like to express his gratitude to Ms. Kim Bolduc, the United Nations resident coordinator, for logistical support, and to the representatives of civil society who agreed to meet him and provided him with information. I. GENERAL OVERVIEW A. Ethnic and demographic situation 3. Honduran territory covers 112,492 km2 and is inhabited by an estimated population of 6,535,344.1 The population is made up of three main groups: an overwhelming majority of persons of mixed race (mestizos or Ladinos), who make up 90 per cent of the population; indigenous people, who are divided into seven communities (the Tawahka, Pech, Tolupan, Lenca, Miskito, Maya Chorti and Nahoa); and people of African descent, who form two communities, the Creoles, or “English-speaking islanders”, and the Garifuna. In all, there are 1,529,400 non-Ladino Hondurans, who account for 9 per cent of the population. B. Political and social context 4. The 1982 Constitution defines Honduras as a democratic and republican State governed by the rule of law, whose aim is to ensure that its inhabitants enjoy justice, freedom and economic and social well-being (art. 1). The Constitution reflects the desire of democratic forces to gradually distance themselves from the former regime, which was dominated by the armed forces and characterized by a series of military coups and police repression. Thanks to progressive and sometimes painful political reforms, democracy and the rule of law are gradually becoming established in Honduran politics. However, the present Government needs to continue with its efforts to consolidate democracy and provide more effective protection for human rights. In particular, it needs to ensure that all ethnic and social groups are involved in running the country and to change people’s attitude towards politics by using the political process to bring about justice and social equity,2 rather than to achieve personal or partisan goals.