§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department have made to the Government of Honduras about the murder of Edy Ortega and Francisco Espinoza. [114842]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 16 March 2000]: Sadly these two cases are just an example of the abuses suffered by street children in Honduras. The majority of cases happen when a child is detained for a petty crime and tries to flee detention. Our Embassy in Tegucigalpa makes regular representations to the Honduran authorities on these and other issues on human rights abuses.
We are also in touch with several Human Rights NGOs working in Honduras and through these we lobby for progress on several cases including Edy Ortega's and Francisco Espinoza's tragic deaths. We continually reiterate our position on the treatment of minors by the authorities.
We remain committed to the continued improvement in the overall lot of children throughout Central America, and in particular in their treatment. We are supporting projects throughout the region bilaterally and through the EU and other multilaterals in areas such as constructing community centres and hostels, health, rural development, and training and education which involve the police.