| Country: | Honduras |
| Details of Formation: | The Reagan Administration created the battalion to catch Hondurans running guns to the guerrillas in neighboring El Salvador's civil war. But the Honduran human rights ombudsman, Leo Valladares, found that it became an anti-leftist death squad, responsible for the disappearance of at least 140 people. Some squad members are reported to have been trained with assistance from Argentina and the USA (CIA) (one report adds Chile to this list). Predecessor: the Directorate of Special Investigations |
| Details of Termination: | When a new Honduran military commander took office in 1984, he ordered an end to the practice, after which the activities of the squad appear to have virtually stopped (except for some violence reported in 1987 and the murders in 1988 of two witnesses in the courtcase, in which the Honduran government was accused of running the death squads in the early 1980s). |
| Purpose: | The Honduran military and the American CIA were involved in creating the militia to target leftist activists. |
| Organisation: | The 316 Battalion was a Honduran intelligence unit supported by the American CIA and Argentina. General Gustavo Álvarez Martínez was its commander. |
| Weapons and Training: | The group received training from the American CIA in 1979. One source reports on the shooting of civilians by Battalion 316 members. Hence, one can infer that the militia possessed firearms. |
| Size: | In 1979, 25 militiamen founded Battalion 316 and received 6 months of training by the American CIA. |
| Reason for Membership: | Members included former army personnel, but there is no information on the motivation of militia members. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | The militia kidnapped, tortured, and killed suspected leftists, including students, teachers, unionists, the Communist Party’s leader, and other left-wing political opponents. Battalion 316 used electric shocks, suffocation and submerging in water as torture. The squads usually led to an increase in widespread violence. |
| Other Information: | A case was brought forward to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights - against Honduras to determine if the government was responsible for the disappearance of civilians in Honduras in the early 1980s. Two witnesses in the case were murdered in 1988, army death squads are suspected. Alternative names for Battalion 316 are: Intelligence Battalion 3–16, Battallón 316, Group of 14 (1979–1981), Special Investigations Branch (DIES) (1982–1983), Intelligence Battalion 3–16 (from 1982 or 1984 to 1986), Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence Branch (since 1987) |
| References: | Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD and Wikipedia for alternative PGM names: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battalion_3-16_(Honduras)&oldid=975123226 |