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Annual Report of Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea) Edition and distribution: Provea Legal deposit: DC2018001056 ISSN: 0798-2897 ISBN: 978-980-6544-49-9 Fiscal Information Number: J-00309122-7 Caracas, June 2018.

Cover illustration: Oscar Olivares Back cover illustration: Marcos Ramos

Internal photography: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Right to Food: Reuters; Patrocinios: Right to a Healthy Environment: AFP; Fundación Open Society Institute Alboan Right to Education: AP; Katholische Zentralstelle für Entwicklungshilfe e.V./ Labour Rights: AP; Misereor Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Meridith Kohut The New York Times; Programa Venezolano de Educación – Acción Right to Health: Miguel Gutiérrez, EFE; en Derechos Humanos Right to Social Security: AFP; Tienda Honda a Puente Trinidad, Bulevar Panteón, Right to Land: Reuters; Parroquia Altagracia, Edificio Centro Plaza Las Mercedes, P.B, Local 6, Caracas, Venezuela. Right to Housing: Miguel Gutiérrez, EFE; Apartado Postal 5156, Carmelitas 1010-A Civil and Political Rights Teléfonos (58) 0212-8606669 / 8625333 / 8621011 Sitio web: http://www.derechos.org.ve Right to Personal Integrity: AFP; Twitter: @_provea E-mail: investigació[email protected] Right to Justice: El Nacional; Right to Personal Freedom: EFE; Right to Participation: AFP; Right to Life: Miguel Gutiérrez, EFE; Actions before International Organisations: CIDH; National Human Rights Organisations: Sergio González, Provea;

Infographics: Ideográfiko Layout and assembly: Sergio González Printing: Impresos Marina León 2013, C.A. Research team:

Assessment: Marino Alvarado and Inti Rodríguez Context: Marino Alvarado, Rafael Uzcátegui, and Carlos Patiño

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Right to food: Susana Raffalli, researcher and expert in nutrition, food security and disaster risk management. Right to a healthy environment: Jorge Padrón, Chunikai Ecological and Social Civil Association. Right to education: Olga Villasmil and Marino Alvarado, human rights activists. Labour Rights: Oscar Murillo, Social Communicator, and Carlos Patiño, human rights activists. Right of Indigenous Peoples: Lexys Rendón, human rights activists, member of the NGO Peace Laboratory. Right to Health: Jo D’Elia, sociologist and human rights activist. Right to Social Security: Pilar Desirée González, sociologist, human rights activist. Right to Land: Rodolfo Montes de Oca, lawyer, human rights activist. Right to Housing: Rafael Uzcátegui, sociologist, human rights activist.

Civil and Political Rights Right to Personal Integrity: Inti Rodríguez, human rights activist. Right to Justice: Access to Justice Organisation. Right to Personal Freedom: Keymer Ávila, lawyer, and Thais López, research assistant. Right to Participation: Deborah Van Berkel, educator, human rights activist. Right to Life: Josbelk González, sociologist, and Raxzenit Hurtado, research assistant.

Organisational Responses Actions before international organisations: Juderkis Aguilar, human rights activist. National human rights organisations: Gabriela Buada Blondell, social communicator.

Editing team: Rafael Uzcátegui, Inti Rodríguez, Marino Alvarado, Carlos Patiño, Clara Linares, Juderkis Aguilar

Provea would like to thank every person, organisation and institution that made inputs and supported these investigations.

Provea agradece a todas las persona, organizaciones e instituciones que hicieron aportes a las investigaciones. Dedicated to every person deceased within the context of the April-June 2017 popular rebellion and their family members, who still demand for justice.

Dedicated to Lucio Segovia, social communicator and educator who spent his life fighting for quality education and a better Venezuela.

Dedicated to Ricardo Colmenares, lawyer and consulting member of Provea. He placed his knowledge at the service of human rights, mainly for the defence of environment and indigenous peoples. Foreword Índice I. Context Context...... 11 II Assessment of the Situation Assessment of the human rights situation...... 27

Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Right to food...... 30 Right to a healthy environment...... 33 Right to education...... 36 Labour Rights...... 39 Rights of indigenous peoples...... 42 Right to health...... 45 Right to social security...... 48 Right to land...... 51 Right to housing...... 54

Civil and Political Rights Right to personal integrity...... 58 Right to justice...... 61 Right to personal freedom...... 64 Right to participation...... 67 Right to life...... 69 Actions before international organisations...... 72 National organisations of human rights...... 73

III. Proposals and requirements...... 77

IV. Special Report...... 87

Foreword

2017 was a terrible year. The Living Conditions Survey (ENCOVI, acronym in Spanish), carried out by three of the most important universities in Venezuela, showed that poverty had risen from 48.4% in 2014 to 87% in August 2017. The research indicates that 80% of the interviewed said they had eaten less in the previous 3 months because they could not get food. 60% said they had gone to bed hungry for not getting food. As a result of this basic sustainability crisis, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have left Venezuela, causing a migration crisis in the region that generates a series of new challenges in terms of Human Rights (HR). These conditions are the result of deterioration, not only of a state control model on the economy that has brought distortions and corruption, but of democratic institutions, which has left the population without the power to change their course. In 2017, the widest and longest protest cycle, not only in the Cha- vism period but in Venezuela’s history, was lived. During four months, from April to July, there were more than 9,200 protests. In the context of these protests, the Public Ministry recorded 124 deaths, out of which 46 could be attributed to the security forces and 27 to armed civilian groups. During this cycle of protest, more than 5,000 people were arbitrarily arrested, including numerous mass arrests. Also, more than 101 complaints of torture were received during this period of protests. In its December 2017’s Special Report on Venezuela, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) criticises the reforms made to the regulatory framework of the protests in Venezuela, which restrict the right to social protest, forcing protesters to obtain prior permits and permanently banning demonstrations in certain areas - although such prohibitions are usually applied differentially depending on the political sector that protests. Likewise, the report of the IACHR criticises the militarisation of protest control and the official stigmatisation that calls all protests “terrorism.” These two circumstances facilitate and justify the excessive use of force. All this surge of repression coincides with the implementation of Plan Zamora, which seeks to involve civilians in security tasks along with the security forces, and with the reiterated and arbitrary declarations of states of exception. The trigger for the 2017 protest cycle was the ruling of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ, acronym in Spanish) granting itself powers of the National As- sembly (AN, acronym in Spanish). In a few days, street protests and repression spread throughout the country among the people whose efforts to express themselves electorally had reached an unworthy end in October 2016, when the National Electoral Council (CNE, acronym n Spanish) suspended the possibility of a referendum. This cycle of protests took more momentum when, at the end of April, Nicolás Maduro convened a constituent assembly without respect of Article 347 of the 1999 Constitution that grants that right exclusively to the people. The Electoral Council, controlled by the executive branch, immediately accepted the call and proposed extremely biased electoral bases, designed to ensure the overrepresentation of the official coalition. The Venezuelan opposition correctly refused to take part in an anti-constitutional electoral event and did not present candidates for the election on July 30. According to Smartmatic -the company that designed and made maintenance to the electronic electoral platform-, the CNE committed fraud in regard to the vote totals of that election. The electoral institution said that more than 8 million had voted, when in fact, according to the company, the total amount of voters was, at the very least, 1 million fewer voters. These abuses, along with other violations to the electoral law, such as having closed or moved electoral centers 48 hours before the governors’ elections in October, discouraged a good part of the citizenship and made it abstain. As a result, an unpopular government was able to win 17 of 23 governorates. In the election of Bolívar state -where the candidate Andrés Velásquez won by a narrow margin- the CNE committed pure and simple fraud, annulling acts and changing votes. The five elected candidates of the opposition were forced to take their oath before the illegitimate National Constituent Assembly (ANC, acronym in Spanish). One of the elected governors, Juan Pablo Guanipa, refused to take such an oath and his election was canceled. In December, the CNE repeated that election, resulting in a win for the official candidate. A terrible year could not have any other result but a terrible end, with the approval of the Constitutional Law Against Hate by the fraudulent ANC. This law punishes people who incite hatred or violence by means of communication with penalties of up to 20 years in prison and allows the registration of organisations that “promote fascism” to be revoked. The tragedy Venezuela is experiencing demonstrates once again the interdependence and comprehensiveness of human rights. The emergence of human rights discourse, legislation and movement in the 20th century, in the post-war period, coincided with the cold war between the western democracies and the socialist countries of the Soviet bloc. One of the effects of the Cold War was a dilemma toward human rights. While Western countries emphasised civic and political rights and criticised Eastern countries for not respecting them, Eastern countries spoke of their achievements in terms of economic, social and cultural rights and criticised the West for their levels of poverty and inequality. The tension between inequality and freedom is as old as the notion of rights. Likewise, the criticism of civic and political rights as bourgeois partialities has its origins in Karl Marx’s criticism to the Declaration of the Rights of the Men and to the Citizen of the French Revolution. But, although old, this tension persists in the current discussion on the defence of human rights. The most common criticism is that achieving the true enjoyment of civic and political rights requires the satisfaction of economic, social and cultural rights. A person can have freedom of expression, but if it lacks sustenance, health and education, freedom can hardly be advantageous. On the other hand, which can be seen in the period of the Chavism, the deterioration of civil and political rights can undermine achievements in economic, social and cultural rights. The 1999 Constitution guaranteed the full spectrum of civic, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and represented an important achievement. No- netheless, in practice and over time, the old dilemma began to emerge. In 2012, during the peak of Chavism, Provea published a special report titled “15 years in Human Rights: Social Inclusion, Political Exclusion.” This report compiled a series of statistics demonstrating the progress that the government of Hugo Chávez had made with respect to poverty, access to education, health and nutrition. But, on the other hand, it documented the rise of provisional judges, the attempt to build a communicational hegemonic state and the growing criminalisation of protest. This special report effectively revealed the classic human rights dilemma considered as a game of “zero sum:” achievements in social and economic rights correspond to a curtailing of civil and political rights. Shortly after, the interdependence of human rights became visible. In 2013, Provea began to warn about the increasing levels of food shortages and the lack of medical supplies. In 2014, the alarm rang when the Ministry of Health stopped publishing its epidemiological bulletin. In 2015, Provea denounced the dismantling of the Ministry of the Environment and the weakening of environmental controls that would later lead to the creation of the Mining Arc, which threatens the pristine ecosystems and fresh water sources, all with the objective of increasing the funds available to the government. In 2016, Provea warned that Nicolás Maduro’s government, not only had become authoritarian, it was also a factory of poverty. The same way neoliberal governments did in the 80s and 90s, the government has resorted to repression in order to try to control the social discontent produced by the impoverishment of the population. It is not necessary to be free of basic needs to exercise fundamental political and civic rights, as it has been said from the left wing; but also, the violation facilitates the non-fulfilment of basic needs. It is precisely because of the deterioration of democratic institutions that the Venezuelan population no longer has the power to change the one who governs. And it is because the corrupt regime of Nicolás Maduro cannot change that he can continue to seize the resources of Venezuelans. As the IACHR has said: “Through popular participation, those who are denied of their economic and social rights can take part in decisions related to the allocation of national resources and the establishment of social, educational and health programs. The popular participation, objective of representative democracy, guarantees that all social sectors participate in the formulation, application and revision of national programs.” As Provea’s 2012 Special Report showed, the social and economic achievements of the Chavism were undeniable. But for a progressive project to be sustainable, it must be accompanied by the recognition and respect of the full spectrum of human rights. It is through the feedback and pressure exerted by an empowered and fearless citizenry that public policies can be guided and trage- dies like the one Venezuela is experiencing today can be prevented.

David Smilde Profesor de sociología en la Universidad de Tulane, EEUU, asociado a la Oficina de Wash- ington para América Latina (WOLA), una or- ganización no-gubernamental de DDHH. Context Contexto

uring 2017, the consequences of the measures taken by the Nicolás Maduro government in 2016, which distanced their management from democracy, materialised. As developed by DPrograma Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea) in its Annual Report January-December 2016 - Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela, after losing by a two-million-vote margin the December 2015’s parliamentary elections, the government decided not to convene more electoral processes until it obtained the formula to obtain favorable results, despite not having the support of the majority of the population. The two milestones were the approval of a state of emergency and economic emergency decree in March 2016, and the sus- pension of pending electoral events, in October that same year. Previously, the judges of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ, acronym in Spanish) had been irregularly renewed, which tried to provide legal appearance to arbitrary decisions. The rupture of the constitutional thread, coupled with the critical economic situation, generated a cycle of protests from April to July 2017, due to its quantity and extension, the most important carried out in Venezuela since the beginning of the Bolivarian administration in 1998. In order to face them, the government systematically violated the human rights of the population, abolishing the 1999 Magna Carta by fraudulently imposing a National Constituent Assembly (ANC, acronym in Spanish). The mixture of physical, symbolic and political coercive measures, as well as the manipulation of electoral conditions in the 2017 elections, generated the conditions that the Executive sought: to win the elections as a minority. enero-diciembre 2017 11 During 2017, Provea registered the worst At the same time, political instability and human rights indicators since 1989, date on institutional deterioration have progressed, which we began the preparation of the annual making it increasingly difficult for victims of report. In Venezuela, there is no armed conflict human rights violations to go before instances or war formally, but there are as many victims where they can claim their rights and demand as if there were. The complex humanitarian justice. What we warned for the past two years emergency, institutional violence and insecu- was emphasised: In Nicolás Maduro’s gover- rity have turned the right to life into the most nment, there was a situation of social and po- violated right. People’s health deteriorates litical exclusion, strengthening inequalities, irreversibly due to hunger and lack of medi- increasing discrimination and reducing the cation, for not receiving timely and adequate participation in public affairs to its minimum medical attention, for institutional violence expression. under the modality of police or military executions, as well as for the excessive use of force The Venezuelan crisis reiterates and death by the action of crime. the link between democracy and human rights During the period covered by this report, the Venezuelan population continued to expe- The deterioration of democratic institu- rience the deterioration of their quality of life. tions in the country catalysed the poverty But, at the same time, it was the star of the first increase in Venezuela. The fact that both di- Venezuelan popular rebellion in the 21st cen- mensions were developed parallelly during tury. Nicolás Maduro’s response was to assume 2013 is not a coincidence, as it ratifies the link an indolent attitude toward suffering, ordering between the existence of a democratic society his military and police forces to resort to the ex- and the possibility of enjoying quality of life cessive use of force in face of social protest and for broad sectors of the population. strengthening his dictatorship by fraudulently According to the United Nations, demo- imposing a National Constituent Assembly, cracy provides the natural environment for the whose actions ignore the 1999 Constitution of protection and effective realisation of human the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. rights. The essential elements of a democracy In this context, a new phenomenon was would be the values of freedom, respect for the consolidated in the last semester of the year: entire set of human rights and the implementa- the mass emigration of Venezuelans, mainly tion of periodic and genuine elections through to the neighboring countries Colombia and universal suffrage. Dr. Rodolfo Cerdas, in his Brazil, but with varied destinations in other text Democracy and Human Rights publis- countries of the continent. A crisis that does hed by the Inter-American Institute of Human not capture the attention of the authorities, as Rights, states that, as minimum characteristics, reflected in the denial of the situation expres- a government that would like to qualify as de- sed by the Ombudsman’s Office itself: mocratic must have: 1) Free, periodic, compe- titive elections, in conditions of civic equality; “It is not true that Venezuela is a country of 2) Rule of law with distribution of powers inde- emigrants. Venezuela is still a receiving country pendent of operation and a system of balances, of immigration [...] the flow of people who enter checks and counterparts; 3) Public freedoms is greater than that of the people who leave.”1 that guarantee freedom of thought, information,

12 PROVEA Annual Report Context expression, mobilisation, organisation and peti- Although this policy had favorable short-term tion; 4) A social order oriented to justice, where results for the reduction of poverty rates, the citizens have access to fundamental rights such development of a personality cult for the pre- as education, culture, safe and well-paid work, sident quickly transformed the positive dis- housing, etc. In the 2017’s Venezuela, none of crimination into a growing discrimination for these dimensions existed, as it will be described political reasons. in this report. In this process, however, it could be affir- The installation of a fraudulent National med that the popular sectors had a level of Constituent Assembly (ANC) that exceeding its response from the institutions to their claims. original functions -discussion and approval of a That situation has changed drastically under new Magna Carta-, coupled with its illegitima- the Nicolás Maduro’s management. Political cy of origin, has become a power superior to the discrimination for the access to social benefits President and other public powers, calling elec- has become a state policy, publicly announ- tions, dictating laws and ordering arrests. It has ced without any disguise: “For democracy, for taken away from ordinary citizens the possibility freedom, it’s a two-way street: I receive my of demanding the enjoyment of their rights. As social right to work, to study, to pension, but we noted in previous reports, impunity has be- I give you my vote,” said Nicolás Maduro in come the norm for the functioning of the current his re-election campaign. On the other hand, system of justice administration. The erosion of institutions, including the system of justice ad- the mechanisms that balance, check and coun- ministration, have failed to respond to citizen terweight has allowed the abuses, irregularities demands, including the popular sectors identi- and omissions of public officials by not investi- fied with the ruling party. gating and sanctioning them. The accumulation Except for political disloyalty, Venezuelan of bad decisions in the state administration has officials are not sanctioned in any way, admi- caused a crisis in the provision of basic services, nistratively or punitively, for the omissions described in different chapters of this report. The or excesses in the exercise of their duties. An inability of the citizens to exercise their political example is the permanence of Iris Varela in rights, such as the social comptrollership or vote the position of Minister of People’s Power for freely to demand rectification in public policies, the Penitentiary Service of Venezuela, even has generated a favorable context for the sudden despite the different massacres that have oc- increase in the conditions of misery and exclu- curred under her management in the prisons sion that force more and more Venezuelans to of the country, among which we can mention leave the country. the massacre of Puente Ayala in Anzoátegui At the beginning of President Hugo state or the Judicial Detention Center in Ama- Chávez’s administration, especially at the zonas. The same can be said of General Gus- beginning of the social policies called “Mis- tavo González López, who has a wide range of sions” as of 2004, it was argued that given human rights violations because, as Minister the existence of limited resources, there was a of the Interior, he personally led the Operation need to focus assistance programs on the most of People’s Liberation (OLP, acronym in Spa- disadvantaged sectors of society, applying the nish), in which hundreds of illegal executions principle known as “positive discrimination”. and raids were carried out, and the housing of enero-diciembre 2017 13 more than a thousand families were destroyed, daily basis. At the same time, the deterioration leaving them on the street. of public health services and the shortage of medicines worsened. Millions of people were From the increase in poverty to the subjected to a deterioration of their health Complex Humanitarian Emergency conditions due to the impossibility of acqui- We have been warning in recent years ring medications for their treatment or being about the worrying poverty increase in the adequately treated in the public health system, country. According to the official figures, being particularly serious for patients with 33.1% of households were poor in 2015; it chronic diseases. means, a total of 2,434,035 households were The government denies the seriousness of in a situation of exclusion at a time in which the problems and, instead, its high spokesper- inflation was 180%. In 2017, Venezuela would sons affirm that Venezuelans have their health reach the highest level of inflation in the world, and food assured. Official indolence in the face according to the Parliament: 2,616%. Despite of the humanitarian crisis contributed to the the absence of official figures, it is possible worsening and the increasing of the death toll. to affirm that poverty continued to increase. The Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI, The human rights organisations and diver- acronym in Spanish) -a study conducted by se health personnel demanded the opening of the three main universities in the country- in- a humanitarian canal that would help social dicated that by 2017 a figure of 87% of the po- organisations, international institutions and pulation should be considered poor. According governments support the Venezuelan popula- to the study, extreme poverty was 61.2%. tion, especially in the delivery of medicines. The government rejected the request and gave A symptom of the exacerbation of mi- it a political turn, arguing it was a strategy led sery was media reports, almost every week, by the United States government to intervene about death of children by malnutrition. The in Venezuela. Thus, in a forceful way and fo- Maduro’s dictatorship has been consolidated as cusing on the nation security and not on the a factory of poverty. He incorporated social ex- humanitarian situation, it closed all possibility clusion to the political exclusion, which he in- of entering aid. herited from Hugo Chávez. In 2017, there were more poor people than in 1998, when the so- Due to the evolution of the Venezuelan si- called “Bolivarianism” -through the means of tuation, the NGOs have described the crisis as electoral route- assumed power. This indicates a Complex Humanitarian Emergency. Interna- the total failure of a political project that increa- tional standards of protection in human rights sed poverty on behalf of the poor. Vindicating describe Complex Humanitarian Emergencies equality, it increased inequality and in the name as situations in which the cause of the emergen- of social justice it extended the injustice. cy and assistance to those affected are largely linked to a political origin, and not to a war or The incessant increase in prices pulverised natural catastrophe. They are characterised by family incomes and condemned not only mi- their instability in a variable degree that can llions of families to see their living conditions reach, in extreme cases, the collapse of the na- deteriorate, but to coexist with hunger on a tional authority. This translates into a loss of

14 PROVEA Annual Report Context administrative control and inability to provide flects the drastic fall in the purchasing power vital services and protection for the population. of their salary. A family would require 21.5 MW to cover only their basic expenses in All financial analysts coincide with the food, considering the MW of Bs. 177,507.44, deepening of the economic crisis in the cou- in force as of 01.11.17. ntry. The uncertainty and lack of prospects to reverse it have caused different officials and The desperate situation of families with militants of the same ruling party to choose fewer resources is reflected in the number of joining the wave of migration in the search for people who have died from ingesting bitter better living conditions abroad. cassava, a variant of the tuber that needs a long process to extract its toxic components. A deepening in the economic crisis is fore- According to the data compiled by Provea, seen. One of its indicators is a hyperinflation from 2015 to February 2018, 61 people have never lived in Venezuela. The hyperinflation, died due to bitter cassava poisoning. This figu- the scarcity, the unemployment and the pover- re would have decreased if the health centers ty are a consequence of the economic policies had had the necessary supplies to care for the- that Chávez adopted in times of high oil reve- se people. nues, and Maduro continued: “The main objective has been to interve- The Dictatorship crushed the ne and control the economic dynamics of the Popular Rebellion at a high country. Strategy that, in addition, included cost of lives and thousands of a message in the name of the people and in arbitrary arrests favor of those who need it the most. The ac- From April to July, the first Popular Rebe- tions were directed to control fundamental as- llion of the 21st century took place in Vene- pects of economic activities and dynamics, for zuela. In large, medium and small towns, the example: price controls, production control, anti-democratic policies of the government inventory control, distribution control, capital were rejected on the street and a change was market control, control of the financial sys- demanded. Diverse generations of people tem, exacerbated control in the exchange rate, found themselves in the same avenues, streets, control and monopoly in imports and exports, squares and urbanisations, raising their voice massive expropriations in all economic sec- peacefully. Traditional forms of protest were tors of the country, creation of parafiscal funds combined with creative ways of calling and (Chinese Fund, Fonden, Fondespa, etc.), ex- resisting repression. Young people from di- ponential growth of public indebtedness and fferent social sectors and professions led the even autonomy loss of the Central Bank of street actions, and there was a broad partici- Venezuela, jeopardising the monetary stability pation of women. According to data presented of the country”. by representatives of the Venezuelan State at The Food Basket of November 2017 cos- the hearings of the Inter-American Commis- ted Bs. 3,822,128.50. The regular worker can sion on Human Rights (IACHR) held in Oc- barely buy 4.6% of the food basket with the tober 2017 in Montevideo, from 1 April to 30 new minimum wage (MW) in force, which re- July there were more than 9,200 protests in the country: a surprising average of 77 manifesta-

enero-diciembre 2017 15 tions a day. and military officials, as well as other - civi lians, allegedly have also died as a result of The popular rebellion from April to July protesters’ actions. Provea has demanded the 2017 was a massive and widespread protest investigation and punishment for all the cases; movement that used the “Non-violent protest” However, impunity for the majority of the ca- as a fundamental strategy. The demonstra- ses prevails at the close of this report. tors developed strategies that gave the cycle of manifestation their particularities, genera- The dictatorship resorted to the excessive ting symbols of peaceful resistance that made use of force to contain the rising rebellion that headlines of media around the world. It had a added more and more people and challenged leadership shared between the people and the the repression. Samples of heroism and crea- political actors, mainly of the political par- tivity were experienced in the confrontation ties coalition Mesa de la Unidad Democrática with the police and military forces. Massive (MUD), represented in the younger members arrests of an arbitrary nature took place and of the National Assembly (AN). Unlike gene- the use of military justice to prosecute civi- rations of previous activists, whose models lians was unconstitutionally strengthened: in came mostly from the Marxist left, the present just four months, the government processed generation of activists had other references on the same number of civilians in military courts good and evil, which came from digital cul- as in the previous 39 years. ture, video games, graphic novels, television The popular rebellion demanded five re- series (for example, Game of Thrones) and quests: electoral calendar, release of political films, as well as more recent conflicts such as prisoners, respect for the National Assem- the Arab Spring and the local protests of 2014. bly and opening of the humanitarian canal. In the face of communicational hegemony and Although it was defeated, it achieved other un- censorship, the indignation of the crowds built foreseen objectives: it positioned Venezuela’s their own channels of information. crisis on the international agenda, unmasked The Maduro dictatorship responded to the the authoritarianism of the government and social protest with unprecedented repressive evidenced the dictatorial nature of Nicolás brutality, using the police, armed forces and Maduro’s management. paramilitary groups. According to the monito- After the withdrawal on the arbitrary im- ring done by Provea, 139 people died in the position of constituent fraud, there was confu- context of the protests and 3,802 people were sion, depression and disorganisation of the po- injured. Given the stalemate in the investiga- pular movement. This situation was exploited tions, it is presumed that the public force and by the government to selectively repress some especially paramilitary groups -at the service leaders of the protests and create, through the of the government- killed the majority of these constitutional dictatorship, a legal framework people. During the conflict, Provea gathered to intimidate and further persecute dissent. information on at least 69 cases throughout the According to the Criminal Forum: country in which paramilitary groups attacked against demonstrations. Investigative journa- “The number of arbitrary arrests closed lists have calculated that at least 83 people as of 31.12.17 in 5,517 arrested people, 760 would have been killed by state agents. Police civilians were accused by prosecutors and mi-

16 PROVEA Annual Report Context litary judges, 118 of these prosecuted people a National Constituent Assembly.” Unlike the remained behind bars by the end of December. constituent process of 1999, where a referen- 554 civilians were formally deprived of their dum was held so that people could agree or liberty because of decisions issued by military disagree with the call to an ANC, Maduro im- courts”. posed this mechanism as a strategy to end the protests and take the absence to a new level of The United Nations High Commissioner democracy in the country. Paradoxically, the for Human Rights (OHCHR), in its report on constituted power (the government) supplan- the violations of the protesters, denounced that ted the constituent power (the people) in the the government systematically resorted to mis- approval of the initiative. Maduro even defi- treatment and torture against persons deprived ned the issues to be debated in the instance. of liberty for participating in the protests: The objectives of an ANC are established “Detainees have often been subjected to in Article 347 of the Constitution: “Transform cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or pu- the State, create a new legal order and draft nishment and, in several documented cases, a new Constitution” (emphasis added). The ill-treatment has constituted forms of torture. government took the decision to termina- Among the documented ill-treatment are the te the validity of the 1999 Magna Carta, the use of electric shocks, heavy beatings, postu- main legacy of Hugo Chávez, to create a new res that cause stress, suffocation and threats legal framework that would end the popular of sexual violence and death; with the aim of rebellion. The elections to choose those who punishing, humiliating and terrorizing the de- would form the ANC were set for 30.07.17. tainees, as well as extracting confessions and information about alleged anti-government The election of the constituents had a activities.” response from the National Electoral Coun- cil (CNE) different from that of the elections The denomination of “systematic and ge- suspended in October 2016. The Venezuelan neralised” for human rights violations that Electoral Observatory (OEV) said: occurred in our country, by the body with the most authority in the matter worldwide, defi- “With unusual speed, the Electoral Power ned that the allegations of abuse of power were responded to the Executive’s proposal in four not individual actions of officials, but rather hours and established that executing it would that there was an order that allowed the events take only 60 days. A deep contrast with the to be repeated in different locations and dates. organisation of the presidential referendum - requested by the opposition in the first four The abolition of the 1999 months of 2016 - when it established that it Constitution to cool the street and would require more than 300 days, even though deepen the dictatorship it was a much simpler choice. Thus, the CNE On 01.05.17, in midst of the protests to for this election removed from the electoral reject his administration, Nicolás Maduro an- calendar 70 activities and called to run before nounced the summons to a fraudulent ANC: concluding the discussion of the text presented “According to article 347, I call on the origi- by President Nicolás Maduro and before forma- nal constituent power so that the working class lly publishing the call, as established in Article and the people in a popular process convene 42 of the Organic Law of Electoral Processes.” enero-diciembre 2017 17 According to the OEV, this process would tober 2017, which should have been held in be carried out with different irregularities: December 2016. The first irregularity was the decision of the TSJ that prevented the replace- “Eliminated 14 audits planned to generate ment of candidates, who had to register within confidence in the Automated Voting System, the deadline by the CNE before the primary reduced the number of polling stations to al- of the opposition parties. The postulates that most half, enabled contingency centers that do were not winners resigned to the candidacies, not ensure the principle of ‘one elector, one asking to be replaced by others. The TSJ de- vote’ and endorsed some exclusionary and dis- clared it “inadmissible because it was unti- criminatory electoral foundations, which were mely”, violating the provisions of Article 62 not submitted to a consultative referendum.” of the Organic Law of the Electoral Power. On the night of 07.30.17, the Head of the According to the opinion of the OEV, CNE Tibisay Lucena affirmed that 889,820 “It is a surprise decision, taken at the last voters had participated in the ANC elections, minute, after a prolonged suspense, conducive 41.53% of the electoral roll. On these results to generating doubts and bewilderment, and the OEV expressed: which obviously harms the free exercise of the “Estimates made with sophisticated statis- right to suffrage, by confusing the voter in the tical procedures, most of the national pollsters act of voting.” and the perception that could have any citizen This would be the first of a series of deci- who had seen different polling stations, seem sions whose objective was to discourage the to agree that the figures presented on Sunday exercise of the vote in an important sector of night by the CNE are bulky.” citizenship, critical of “Bolivarian” manage- The lack of confidence in the results an- ment. With three days left to vote, on 12.10.17, nounced was confirmed on 02.08.17, when the CNE announced the relocation of 205 cen- Smartmatic, the company that was traditiona- ters in 16 states of the country, where 300,000 lly in charge of the country’s electronic voting voters were registered. The OEV thought the system, said at a press conference in London decision was. that “the difference between the announced “One more element of the set of irregula- quantity and the one that the system shows is rities that has characterised the development of, at least, one million voters.” of these elections from the moment they were The management of the fraudulent ANC convened, highlighting a biased referee who, was constituted by Delcy Rodríguez in the far from encouraging and facilitating citizens’ presidency, Tania Díaz in the first vice presi- exercise of their constitutional right to mani- dency, Elvis Amoroso in the second vice pre- fest themselves, turns the act of voting into an sidency and Fidel Vásquez in the secretariat, obstacle course that ostensibly detracts from for a total of 545 constituents. the quality of the electoral process.” Elections to governors: a formula The results announced by the CNE reflec- for winning as a minority ted the participation of 11,035,898 people, 61% of the electoral roll. 55.07% of the votes After its installation, the fraudulent ANC went to the Grand Patriotic Pole (GPP), which proceeded to call regional elections for Oc- won 18 governorates, while the MUD would

18 PROVEA Annual Report Context get 44.31% of the votes, for 5 governorates. the opposition coalition. Finally, the OEV enumerated a series of 17 Despite the widespread rejection of his irregularities present in the electoral process administration, Nicolás Maduro had rightly that included the illegalisation of 42 political rehearsed a formula to win elections by being parties, disqualification of cards of political a minority, by outlawing candidates and par- parties in some states, delay in the publication ties, preventing and discouraging the exercise of the electoral chronogram, reduction to two of the vote, and finally altering and reversing days of the lapse to register candidacies, the results. After having suspended electoral pro- national and international independent electo- cesses, the Executive rushed to convene poli- ral observation was impeded, and the use of tical events. Once again, the ANC announces public resources for the promotion of official an election date, informing that 10.12.17 will candidacies. We must add that a week before be held for the 335 mayors of the country, as the voting ceremony, Nicolás Maduro annou- well as to repeat the selection of the governor nced that the winners in the regional elections of Zulia state. According to the data revealed should be sworn in before the fraudulent ANC, by the CNE, 9,139,564 people participated in an organisation that generated widespread the elections, with 71.31% of the votes for the rejection in the opposition base and would ruling coalition, which won 306 mayorships, discourage the exercise of the vote. Likewi- and 2,622,058 votes for the opposition, which se, there were different reports of acts of ha- would get 25. rassment, harassment and robbery by groups From that moment, different analysts pre- of motorcyclists affected by the government in dicted that the presidential elections of 2018 the vicinity of the polling stations, especially would be advanced for the first semester, those who had been relocated at the last minu- when they should be held legally in December te, which also contributed to an indeterminate 2018. The facts confirmed it. number of electoral potentials that could not exercise their right to vote. Sectors of the international Two cases showed that the conduct of the community understood that in CNE was different from that which it had Venezuela is going through a maintained in the electoral elections until dictatorship 10.12.15. On the one hand, it altered the re- One of the legacies of the Popular Re- sults in the Bolívar state, as evidenced by the bellion was to make known to the world the minutes presented by the candidate Andrés dictatorial character of Maduro’s govern- Velásquez, who was finally declared loser by a ment, and the grave and systematic violations margin of less than 1%. In addition, it reversed of human rights that it perpetrates. A greater the result in the Zulia state, the second most number of governments, international insti- important in the country, when the winning tutions and political and social organisations candidate Juan Pablo Guanipa refused to take in the world were sensitised to the situation an oath before the fraudulent ANC, an illegal in the country. Both the IACHR and OHCHR and unconstitutional requirement. It must be and several of the Rapporteurs of the Human recognised that the claims of Velásquez and Rights Council spoke out, condemning the re- Guanipa were not strongly accompanied by pression and demanding respect for the rights enero-diciembre 2017 19 of the population. The Organisation of Ameri- In its Third Report on the Situation of Ve- can States (OAS) and particularly its Secretary nezuela, presented on 07.07.17, the Secretary General Luis Almagro carefully monitored the General said: situation and condemned the government’s “That violence is not the result of chance. abuses. However, in spite of the Secretary The measures adopted by the Government General’s insistence on the application of the are deliberate. They apply a well thought-out Inter-American Democratic Charter, it did not and methodical strategy; a policy that every materialise, but there were interesting debates day takes one or two fatalities among the about the institutional violence of the govern- protesters. They are strategic and systematic ment against the Venezuelan people. actions directed against a disarmed civilian On 03.04.17 the Permanent Council of the population. The audacity of the regime and OAS issued Resolution 1078 (2108/17) by the ferocity of the tactics employed are ac- which it declared that in Venezuela the consti- centuated. Each day that passes, it does not tutional order had been violated: stop increasing the number of citizens injured or arrested. The death toll continues to grow “Expressing its deep concern over the un- [...] The calculated and tactical form of vio- constitutional alteration of the democratic or- lent repression has characteristics that could der in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela be classified as crimes under international and our continued support for dialogue and law. The systematic attack against the civi- negotiation to bring about a peaceful restora- lian population is the main defining element tion of the democratic order, it states that: of crimes against humanity.” 1. The decisions of the Supreme Court of In their greater knowledge of the serious hu- Venezuela to suspend the powers of the Na- man rights violations committed by the dicta- tional Assembly and to arrogate them to itself torship, international organisations condemned are incompatible with democratic practice and the government’s use of paramilitary groups to constitute a violation of the constitutional or- attack the population. Thus, OHCHR, in the der of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. aforementioned report on violations of rights in Despite the recent revision of some elements the context of protests, indicated: of these decisions, it is essential that the Go- vernment of Venezuela assure the full restora- “OHCHR received numerous consistent tion of the democratic order. testimonies indicating that the armed groups operate with the consent of the security forces Reolves to: and local authorities, and sometimes in coor- 1. Urge the Government of Venezuela to dination with them. The security forces have act to guarantee the separation and indepen- not protected people from the action of the dence of the constitutional powers and restore armed groups, and in fact, they have left the the full authority of the National Assembly. place when these groups arrived or have not done anything to stop them.” 2. Remain willing to support measures that allow the return to democratic order Within the OAS, a group called the Lima through the effective exercise of democracy Group was formed on 08.08.17, made up of and the rule of law in the constitutional fra- Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, mework of Venezuela.” Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico,

20 PROVEA Annual Report Context

Panama, Paraguay and Peru. In their first sta- global tendencies of expanding authoritaria- tement they expressed: nism, of which Donald Trump is one of his most recent symptoms. “1. Their condemnation toward the democratic order breakdown in Venezuela. The spread of progressive governments in Latin America coincided with the reaction 2. Their decision not to recognise the Na- of different countries on the continent to the tional Constituent Assembly, nor the acts ema- onslaught of neoliberalism against social con- nating from it, due to its illegitimate nature. quests during the 1990s. The triumph of Hugo 3. Their full support and solidarity with the Chávez in Venezuela in 1998, which over the National Assembly, democratically elected.” years he announced to be the vanguard of the “Socialism of the XXI Century”, was the first Venezuela, part of the new post-Cold War of a series of bureaucratic state exchanges that authoritarianisms generated broad expectations about a possible The weakening of the democratic institu- update of the revolutionary proposal of the tionalism, the absence of independence of the previous century. For many social and popular public powers, co-optation of the judicial and movements in the region, but also for human electoral power, the extreme personalisation rights organisations, their work agenda and of the exercise of power, the criminalisation of demands went on to prioritise the defense of protest and dissidence, as well as the erosion these governments in the hope that their con- of the autonomy of the movements popular, solidation would mean an increase in concrete are not exclusive phenomena of Venezuela. guarantees for human dignity. After the end of the Cold War these characte- The consequent polarisation of the conflict ristics, which would describe any government between progressivism and its critics had one as authoritarian, have been appearing and wor- of its most important holdings in the struggle sening in different countries of the world, with traditions with experience in the resistance different influences and ideological referents. to the neoliberal decade. However, the most Situations similar to the dimensions of the Ve- obvious contradictions of progressive autho- nezuelan crisis can be detected in countries of ritarianism could emerge and remain, preci- the region with a certain affinity with Chavez, sely because of the absence of criticism of the such as Nicaragua or Bolivia, but also in other popular field and, what should be evaluated latitudes with diametrically opposed regimes, at another time, of Latin American human such as Turkey and Cambodia. rights reference organisations. The left-right Although the Venezuelan crisis is the re- Manichaeism hindered the questioning and sult of the administration of a government was functional to a narrative that allowed the that claims the discourse and the way of doing violation of human rights by progressivism. It - and with it, the errors - of the previous ex- was also conceptually insufficient to characte- periences of the so-called “real socialism”, rise and understand the phenomenon. the weakening of the democratic fabric, and One of the most fruitful dialogues develo- with it the institutions that the company must ped by Provea has been with the Colombian supervise, is not exclusively adjudicable to a NGO Dejusticia, which has observed Ve- hyperideologised “left” management. Unders- nezuela from a different position. His work tanding this is a simplification that ignores the enero-diciembre 2017 21 experience in what they have called “the glo- not the traditional military coup. The work in bal south” has been systematised in the book more than a dozen countries has allowed De- “Responding to the populist challenge: A new justicia to conclude that: playbook for the human rights field,” by César “Contrary to the view that the populists are Rodríguez and Krizna Gómez: trying to demolish the constitutional and legal “What contemporary populists share [they ties, they invest significant time and energy to argue] is not a political or economic ideology. make constitutional and legislative reforms They come both from the right (Modi, Erdoğan, that constrain their opponents [...] On behalf Putin, Trump) and from the left (Maduro, Co- of the will of the people and in the name of rrea, Ortega). What distinguishes them is a the democracy, populists undermine human combination of two features: anti-elitism and rights, and thus promote a system of democra- anti-pluralism. All populists are anti-elitist, but cy without rights.” not all anti-elitists are populist. In other words, The containment of the dictatorship must be a reaction against the elites is necessary but it is democratic and use constitutional mechanisms not a sufficient condition for populism. The populists go further. They make a moral claim that The advanced presidential elections, with is as radical as it is exclusive: that the opposite the manipulation of the different conditions of the elite is ‘the real people’, to which they, for the exercise of the vote, ratified the trium- and they alone, represent.” ph formula of the dictatorship to win votes as a minority. The candidacy of Henri Falcón To be abstracted from the left versus right failed to regain confidence in the institutional duality allowed Dejusticia to take a decisive capacity of the vote or in the possibility that stand against the rupture of the democratic the government respected results that were thread in Venezuela. adverse, which had been warned in advance “That is the temptation and risk of popu- by various civil society organisations within lism [expressed by its director in an article for which Provea can be found. El Espectador]: using the majorities to under- At the closure of this report, a few hours mine the rules of the Rule of Law and, ultima- after the end of the elections, the measures that tely, those of the democratic game, understood Nicolás Maduro would implement in a second as the possibility of the alternation in power.” term of government imposed by means of The answer to decades of extinction of the electoral fraud were still unknown. Although possibility of otherness can create conditions there are a few expectations regarding respect for a transition, at any time, marked by reven- for political dissent and reasonable fears about ge and reverse discrimination. In our 2016 the increase in persecution, Civil Society Or- Annual Report, we defended the legitimacy ganisations will insist on their demand for of the Bolivarian political identity, in the un- restitution of the measures that have worsened derstanding that human rights violators are not the economic crisis, in order to alleviate the a franchise of any ideology. The Venezuelan Venezuelan families that are mostly in pover- situation cannot be decontextualized from a ty, as evidenced by this work. global perspective, where the patterns of the The re-election of Nicolás Maduro through new authoritarianisms are detected, whose illegal procedures for a period of six years legitimacy of origin is the popular vote and

22 PROVEA Annual Report Context means the closing of institutional mechanisms to promote changes in the country. However, we must stay on that path, reflecting on past mistakes without falling into the temptations of adventures and violence, developing strategies of social resilience. The country has entered into a deep lethargy, and the flow of migrants abroad will increase in the short term. There is no way to face a recession of the current magnitude with a divided country. Regional experience teaches us that authoritarianism simulates strength in its moments of greatest weakness. In 1999, Alberto Fuji- mori was re-elected for a third term with 80% of the votes. Less than a year later he was re- signing the presidency of Peru. Despite the propaganda, the recent fraud has undermined any hint of Nicolás Maduro’s international legitimacy. Anticipating this result, and to trace a path following constitutional possibilities, Provea has been promoting the invocation of Article 233 of the Magna Carta, which provides for the resignation of the President and conse- quently the call for free and credible elections. The Venezuelan people want to choose, and not simply pretend to participate in an act of voting. And especially, resolve their conflicts in a peaceful way, learning from the experience of the last two decades. Human rights organisations are committed to continuing within the country, accompan- ying victims and registering their testimonies. We have also understood that we must go a step further and agree with all sectors that aspire to the early return of democracy in the country.

enero-diciembre 2017 23 24 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment Assessment of the Human Rights Situation

elow, there is a summary of the analysis of the human rights situation in Venezuela, from January to December B2017. The purpose of this research is to provide a diagnosis that allows more and better public policies from a human rights perspective. However, this social comptroller work, present in the Constitution, is becoming more difficult every day due to the impossibility of accessing information on the government’s management, which should be public. Provea reiterates its commitment to share its research experience with the country’s new human rights organisations. Comments and contact to the following email: [email protected]

enero-diciembre 2017 27 28 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

enero-diciembre 2017 29 Right to Food

017 began with a situation in the Venezue- 2016 was sown; there was a fall of 45% in the lan food system characterised by a sustai- amount of hectares harvested in corn, going 2ned reduction of the national production, from 783 thousand hectares in the year 2008, imports and food consumption, which started to approximately 430 thousand in 2017. The to generate alarming levels of acute malnu- harvest of rice decreased 58% in 2017, compa- trition, social tension and an affectation in all red to the previous year; and the sowing area social and economic dimensions. of vegetables dropped 75%. Venezuela went from having about 14 million cattle heads in Behind the great ruptures in the constitu- 2007, to about 9.5 million at the beginning tional order occurred throughout the year, the of 2017. According to information from the social tension that this generated and the repres- National Federation of Poultry Farmers of Ve- sive deployment, the stateisation and the conso- nezuela (Fenavi, acronym in Spanish), there lidation of structures guaranteed with illegality was a reduction of 50.5% in the production progressed towards the State and the communal of chicken meat and 54% in the production of economy, using food as means of territorial and eggs. The national consumption of sugar is 1 political control. The movements of the State in million 200 thousand tons and the production 2017, from its role as guarantor of the right to estimates barely reached 300 thousand tons in food, were profuse, including the enactment of 2017. There was a 48% decrease in edible oil at least 12 regulations among provisions, laws, production; 40% decrease in the production decrees and resolutions, as well as a more than of the food industry since 2015 and 20% by 20 isolated programs, plans and missions that midst 2017. By August 2017, the food produc- were added to the usual system of missions to tion amassed 23 consecutive months of year- have an impact on the food. on-year contraction; and there was a 38% drop Some figures that reflect the dramatic si- in food imports, compared to 2016. At the end tuation of the Venezuelan food system in of 2017, the value of food imports per inhabi- 2017 were: only 42% of what was planted in tant fell by 72.2%, compared to 2013.

30 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

According to the estimations of the resear- to identity, to personal integrity. Such dama- chers of the Agroalimentary Research Cen- ge has been registered among Venezuelans in ter (CIAAL, acronym in Spanish), in 2017, at least these dimensions: 9 out of 10 Vene- Venezuela went through a critical failure of zuelans cannot afford to buy their daily food; food energy availability, ergo, the food supply 8 out of 10 Venezuelans said they had eaten - totaling production and imports - was not less because they did not have enough food enough to cover the minimum energy require- at home or because of shortages; approxima- ments for the entire population. It is estimated tely 8.2 million Venezuelans eat two or fewer that the possible food supply (availability for meals a day; the traditional diet continues to human consumption of food energy/person/ lose quality and quantity, focusing on rice, day) is less than 95% of the regulatory requi- corn, wheat flour and tubers. rements established by the National Institute At the end of 2017, Caritas Venezuela of Nutrition (INN, acronym in Spanish). For a reported a 100% increase in the numbers of nation to be considered in Food Security this acute malnutrition in children under 5 years sufficiency would have to be 110%. of age. The first records, in November 2016, For its part, the FAO Regional Office for which indicated severe acute malnutrition in Latin America marked a milestone by expo- 8% of the children, raised to 16.2% of chil- sing the situation in its 2017 annual report dren with severe acute malnutrition (moderate on the Food Security landscape in the region. and severe). 33% of children, even recovered, This work reports Venezuela as the country showed irreversible growth retardation. 52% that showed the greater increase in under- of these forms of malnutrition occur in chil- nourishment, an indicator that indicates the dren under 2 years of age. number of inhabitants in the nation that do not Studies of the Bengoa Foundation, carried meet their minimum nutritional requirements out in pre-school children from 3 to 5 years old from the national food supply. According to from Maracaibo, Mérida and Caracas, showed the calculations of the agency, 1.3 million that 11.7% of the evaluated pre-school children more hungry were added to the 2016 regis- had growth retardation expressed as short -and try in Venezuela, which sums up 1.8 million very short- height. In nutritional risk, 14.9% of Venezuelans in situation of hunger from the the children evaluated were registered. guaranteed food supply. The general decline of the region’s performance in its fight against The characteristic of the year was the seve- hunger, according to the analysis, is mostly rity of malnutrition and its associated deaths. explained by Venezuela’s situation. More than In 2016, complaints of children with malnu- half of the people who swelled the number of trition were more frequent, but, in 2017, it be- undernourished people in Latin America since comes evident that this malnutrition began to 2015 were Venezuelans. deepen into very severe charts and take more and more lives. The resulting damage from the violation of the Right to Food affected several dimensions that constitute in themselves other violations, among them the violation of the right to life,

enero-diciembre 2017 31 32 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

Right to a healthy environment

In 2017, the situation of the right to a the purpose of preparing, reviewing and up- healthy environment was not very different dating the competencies on the handling of from the previous year, only that in this period substances, materials and hazardous waste, the management of the governing body of the specifically: three resolutions referring to the environment was directly under military com- disposal of gravel and water-base mud, for the mand as several public entities, such as the environmental recovery of loans; the importa- Corporación Eléctrica Nacional (Corpoelec, tion of substances with high global warming the national energy company), Petróleos potential and the evaluation parameters of pe- de Venezuela SA (PDVSA, the national oil troleum pits. Likewise, the National Executi- company), the Ministry of Transport, among ve approved a Decree on the importation of others; fact that has not stopped the vertigi- substances that deplete the ozone layer, which nous fall of the service quality provided to the generated a positive advance in this area, population in recent years, such as drinking thanks to the synergy between the State and water and electricity. the companies in the refrigeration sector and other related industries. There are environmental issues that have a positive assessment in the period under re- The creation of a National Strategic De- view, as the right of citizens to have a clean air velopment Zone in February 2016, with the and not have to suffer from automotive traffic. purpose of ordering the mining activity in But this is not the result of actions planned by the towns of southern Bolívar state, has not the State, rather the outcome of the economic stopped the environmental damage. In a four- crisis and prevailing hyperinflation that has month period, from December 2016 to April been causing the paralysis of a high percenta- 2017, around 200 hectares were deforested in ge of the vehicle fleet. the territory assigned to the mixed company “Siembra Minera.” In addition, when the re- The MINEA’s 2017 Annual Report and searchers were evaluating this chapter with re- Account indicates that said entity promulga- mote sensors, the Bolívar state area by means ted and executed four legal instruments for the of satellite images available on the internet, management of environmental quality with enero-diciembre 2017 33 spots of anthropic intervention can be obser- of all substances that deplete the ozone layer ved in different spaces of the entity, including of 2016, whose unit is literally measured in the forest reserves of Imataca and La Paragua, tons of ozone depletion potential. Venezuela and even the National Park Canaima, where a has 26.6, which is relatively low, since there dense vegetation extension predominated until has been a shared effort between the State and recently. This suggests that deforestation and private companies in seeking to reduce the ga- other environmental impacts of mining have ses that impact ozone. As a reference, the va- been extended to the protected area, the only lues of other countries: Brazil 875.3, Mexico natural World Heritage Site in Venezuela. 557.6, Argentina 331.6, Colombia 136.2, Cos- ta Rica 10.9, Paraguay 13.0. In 2017, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emited to the atmosphere at a national In contrast to the official data, the problem level was known, thanks to the publication with the supply of drinking water was evident of the 2017 Yearbook of the Economic Com- and maintained during 2017, reflected in the mission for Latin America and the Caribbean press and in Venezuelan homes. The lack of (ECLAC). In that document, which records water affected different populations of the the year 2015, Venezuela’s CO2 emissions (in national territory with cuts that varied from thousands of tons) are 174,729.8. This figure 4 or 5 days a week -something very frequent gives it the fourth place as the most polluting in neighborhoods and urbanisations of Cara- in terms of this GHG gas among the countries cas-, to up to more than 6 months without the of Latin America and the Caribbean, right be- precious liquid, as it happened in Valle de la hind Brazil (514,864.9), Mexico (472,005.6) Pascua, Municipality Leonardo Infante in the and Argentina (193,458.5). They are followed Guárico State, according to what has been re- by Colombia (98,688.4), Chile (80,944.4), ported in written media, as well as on social Peru (60,356.9) and Trinidad and Tobago networks. (45,238.7). This is especially explained by The general dissatisfaction of citizens re- the number of outbreaks and volume of car- garding to the malfunctioning of the drinking bon dioxide emissions, along with other gases water service and -to a lesser degree- the sewa- such as sulfur dioxide, which are in the facili- ge service is observed throughout the territory ties of the oil industry. The index in Venezuela and it is reflected in the neighborhood, in the is 5.7 tons of CO2 per inhabitant. homes of different families living in dissimilar On the other hand, the 2017 ECLAC Year- cardinal points and in the denunciations and book provides another indicator related to the protests in the streets during the last years. management in the matter, the consumption

34 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

enero-diciembre 2017 35 Right to education

For the second year in a row, the non-pu- month. blication by the Ministry of People’s Power for In secondary education there was also a Education and the Ministry of People’s Power significant reduction in enrollment, according for Education, Science and Technology of their to official information. On 2 October 2017, the respective Report and Account prevents the Minister of Education reported that 2,200,000 continuity of the historical data, which took students began classes in secondary education. over 15 years to build in the Annual Reports A year earlier, the education ministry had re- that we made and allowed us to see progress, ported that the figure was 2,301,822. That is stagnation and setbacks over time. The efforts 101,822 students less. made to obtain the Report and Account, were in vain, they were not answered. According to the 2017 Living Conditions Survey (ENCOVI, acronym in Spanish), from The humanitarian emergency that Venezue- 2015 to 2017, access to education among the la is experiencing had a negative impact on the population aged 3 to 24 years, on average, de- whole of the educational community. Absence creased from 78% to 71%. According to EN- and desertions of students and teachers increa- COVI, 2,546,000 people between 3 and 24 sed. In basic education, the inefficiency in the years old do not attend any level of education. operation of the School Feeding Program con- It affirms that in the surveys of 2016 and 2017 tributes to student absenteeism. they have accounted for over a million children According to official data, there was a de- and adolescents aged 3 to 17 years old out of crease in basic education’s enrollment. In Ja- school, when the massive effort has peaked. nuary 2017, the Ministry indicated that the At the beginning of the year, the Ministry number of students in these three levels was of Education advanced a process of granting 7,446,515. In August, Minister Elias Jaua offe- permanent entitlement to a significant number red the figure of 7,195,335 students. Ergo, after of teachers, according to an official press relea- only seven months, the enrollment was reduced se. In total, 42,889 teachers would benefit. We by 251,180 students at a rate of 35,000 each

36 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment value as positive that progress has been made emergency and especially by the high cost of in reducing the provisional nature of teachers. living- leave the classroom to go to the labor market or go abroad in the hope of achieving The working conditions of teachers have better living conditions. been affected by the high inflation and humanitarian emergency that the country is going The university community, but also high through. The devaluation of the salary is at such school students, actively participated in the Po- a level that there is a deficit of 90% of the salary pular Rebellion of April-July 2017. The young with respect to the value of the basic basket. people, many of them university students, pla- yed a leading role in the protests. But univer- No progress was observed in the imple- sities were not the main scenario as in other mentation of the National Consultation for student protest situations, university students Educational Quality process results carried out protested in neighborhoods, urbanisations, ave- in 2014. Minister Elia Jaua advanced a partial nues and highways with workers, neighbors, consultation process and a new study plan was and peasants in those places with rural charac- announced in August 2017, in which some of teristics. the contents that Minister Rodulfo Pérez tried to eliminate were taken over once again. Fourteen university students and a worker from Universidad de los Andes died. As it has been happening with other social rights, the government conditions the possibili- In educational institutions, teachers, ad- ty of studying in higher education with having ministrative staff and students continue to be the so-called fatherland’s card. Such method affected by the high levels of insecurity in the constitutes an act of right denial because of country. It must be added the theft of food for political discrimination, the imposition of the the School Alimentary Program and for the fatherland’s card as requirement, excluding all school canteens to the traditional thefts of equi- those students who, exercising their right to pment and materials perpetrated in the schools conscientious objection and disagreement with during the last two years. School violence, on the government, are not motivated or interested the other hand, continues to generate victims. in obtaining the aforementioned card that the The Ministry of Education has not developed government has insisted on associating with its policies to reduce bullying and violence, lea- partisan interests. ving that responsibility to educators. The official figures of people studying in higher education amount 2,850,000. The humanitarian emergency also affects young university students and teachers. There is a growing desertion of both teaching staff and students. The low salaries teachers receive force them to emigrate to other jobs or out of the country. On the other hand, students -overwhelmed by the

enero-diciembre 2017 37 38 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

Labour rights he situation of labour rights in 2017 was at 2,616% from January to December 2017, marked by government decisions that which places the country as the economy Tsharply increased the loss of the purcha- with the highest inflation in the world and sing power of workers’ wages, and increased the only one in hyperinflation. hardship as a result of the deterioration of their The decisions of the National Executi- quality of life. Formal salaried work lost spa- ve in political matters also aggravated the ce as the main source of income. The crisis generalised crisis suffered by the workers, forced Venezuelans to diversify their income hampering the possibility of the democra- sources, preferably in the informal sector. Effi- tic freedoms exercise and of the fights for ciency at work lost meaning and social value. salary demands and improvements. Nico- The loss of purchasing power forced the lás Maduro’s government continued under- National Executive to decree five unilateral mining the democratic institutionalism in increases in the minimum wage during the 2017, criminalising the labour protest and year. Insufficient increases and unfulfilled severely affecting the guarantees for the by the State itself in numerous companies exercise of the rights to freedom of asso- and public institutions nationwide. ciation, to strike and to the participation of Following the opacity of the government workers in public affairs. institutions, the Central Bank of Venezuela 2017 was a year of greater opacity in (BCV, acronym in Spanish) did not disclose official information, compared to the pre- the variation of the National Consumer Price vious period, in terms of freedom of asso- Index (INPC, acronym in Spanish) in 2017. ciation and collective bargaining. According The latest published national inflation figures to information published by the Ministry of correspond to 2015 (180.9%), while the statis- People’s Power for the Social Work Process tics according to cities date from May 2014. (MPPPST, acronym in Spanish), updated on However, the Finance Committee of its website until the period 2016, in that year the National Parliament released a study in 304 collective agreements were approved, which it estimated the variation of inflation benefiting 303,048 workers. The figures ra- enero-diciembre 2017 39 tified the abrupt decrease in the number of allegedly participated in the citizen mobi- approved collective agreements, since the lisations registered from April to August labor office reported in 2015 that it had ap- 2017. proved twice as many collective agreement In an 18-year period (1982-1999), the projects, for a total of 628. Venezuelan trade union leadership went According to the figures published by -through the mechanism of formal com- the Ministry, updated on its website until plaint- before the CLS-ILO, on 28 occasions, 2016, 6,333 trade union organisations were to denounce violations of the right to free- registered in the period from 2000 to 2016. dom of association by the Venezuelan Sta- Out of the total, 97 would have been forma- te. While in a 17-years period (2000-2017), lly constituted in 2016. This would indicate the union organisations filed 35 complaints a drastic fall of the last 17 years in average, before the CLS for violations of freedom of equivalent to 372 registered unions per year. association committed by the State. From 2000 until 2017, the largest number of com- The government has endeavoured to plaints were filed before the CLS-ILO by the consolidate an alternative “legality” to the Venezuelan trade union organisations. National Constitution that erodes democratic institutions and extinguishes the rule of There was a decrease in the number of law, and whose maximum expression was cases of trade unionists murdered in the pe- the unconstitutional call of a National Cons- riod covered by this Report. Provea accou- tituent Assembly (ANC) in May 2017. nted for the murder of 15 unionists during 2017, a 12% decrease, compared to the 17 The main threat to unions and the right cases registered in the previous period. Most to organise in Venezuela is that, in the ac- of these deaths occurred in Bolívar state (4 celerated process of dismantling the Social cases). State of Law and Justice, the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro, through the fraudulent At the closure of this report, the Ministry ANC, ends up abolishing the guarantees for and the National Institute of Statistics (INE, the rights to freedom of association, to pea- acronym in Spanish) had not published their ceful assembly and to strike. 2017 Annual Report and Accounts and statistics related to several socio-economic in- As of 17 July 2017, the organisation dicators, which prevents the exercise of the Provea registered an exponential increase social comptroller, as provided in the Natio- in complaints by workers and officials of nal Constitution, and prevents workers from 80 agencies of the national public adminis- the guarantee for the right to information. tration, victims of threats, harassment and dismissals, in the context of the candidate election to the ANC, promoted by the government of Nicolás Maduro, as well as persecution of public sector workers who

40 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

enero-diciembre 2017 41 Rights of indigenous peoples

n 2017, there were worrying setbacks in In 10 parishes of the Caroní Bolívar muni- terms of guaranteeing the rights of the cipality and in Delta Amacuro, Anzoátegui, Su- Icountry’s indigenous peoples and commu- cre, Monagas and Amazonas states; Diphtheria nities. The Ministry of People’s Power for resurfaced, which forced a first phase of vac- Indigenous Peoples (MPPPI, acronym in Spa- cination in Bolivar state -epicenter of the out- nish), unlike previous years, did not publish break, especially in Caroní municipality- and the Report and Account in its website, nor did the death of a minor in Roraima imported from it respond to requests for access to it. The in- Venezuela was verified, as well as in Colombia digenous budget is not publicly known either. imported from the Venezuelan Guajira, indigenous Wayúu territory. It is concerning the great political proselytising load, assigned to the subsidised In Venezuela, Malaria was declared in food sale events in communities and indige- “Complex Situation,” along with Nigería, nous peoples, as evidenced in the 15 over- South Sudan and Yemen after several years of views issued by the Ministry. In Provea, we epidemic. “Malaria in Venezuela is focal and have been able to verify, by direct denuncia- concentrated in Bolívar state (74% of the cations received from indigenous organisations ses), Guayana.” In the Guajira Municipality, and leaders, the pressuren exerted for politi- more than 30 cases of malaria were confirmed cal control and electoral use of the social pro- in the mountainous hamlets, according to data grams frominstitutions of the State, generating from the border observatory of Zulia (OFZ, -among the communities- fear of losing access acronym in Spanish), there are more than 290 to these subsidies. The same was evidenced in cases of confirmed malaria. the implementation of Plan Chamba Juvenil, The situation of abandonment and ina- in Misión Vivienda (the housing mission). dequate policies for the attention of the HIV- In terms of Health, in September 2017, AIDS and Malaria epidemics, coupled with PAHO/WHO issued a statement evidencing hunger continues to take the lives of Waraos an outbreak of measles in the regions with the indigenous people, forcing them to migrate in greatest indigenous presence. and out of the country. Despite the Humanita-

42 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment rian Emergency in health, affecting indigenous An unconstitutional Indigenous Constituent peoples and communities, the Ministry publis- Assembly was held, in spite of requests for hed 17 press releases of medical care days, changes to the election process, based on tra- held in some communities of the following lo- ditions and customs, which were not taken into cations: Zulia, Sucre, Carabobo. Apure, Delta account, resulting in the election of indigenous Amacuro, Yaracuy and Capital District. representatives of the governing party and not of base indigenous leaders. In 2017, the Right to Demarcation of Te- rritories and to the Collective Ownership of The Complex Humanitarian Emergency Lands were de facto suspended; no record of affects our indigenous peoples and communi- delivery or progress regarding to this constitu- ties. Malnutrition is evident not only in chil- tional obligation was found. The advance of the dren but in the Wayuu, Warao, Yukpa popula- Orinoco Mining Arc Project continues without tions. The reappearance of endemic diseases free and informed prior consent and without and emerging infections without proper care, environmental impact studies as reported by the forced migration due to the serious dete- indigenous communities in the area. Likewise, rioration in their living conditions, as well as without prior consultation or consent, Presiden- the abandonment of control of their territories tial Decree No. 2,767 was approved, creating taken by illegal mining, mafias, armed groups the Caura National Park in violation of indige- and the FANB is evident not only in the main nous territorial rights. Provea is very concerned cities of the country, but in the migrations about the threats, kidnappings, extortion and of indigenous Waraos to Roraima, Brazil, of murders that are beginning to take place aga- Yukpas and Wayúus to Northern Santander, inst indigenous leaders in mining areas with the Colombia. Their declarations confirm hunger inaction of the Venezuelan State. 2017 shows and state abandonment. how defenders of the land and the environment For Provea, a comprehensive Plan for In- in Venezuela begin to suffer from violations of digenous Food and Health is urgently needed their rights to defend culture, territory, environ- to address the complex humanitarian crisis in ment and lifestyles. the communities and indigenous peoples of Indigenous communities of Bolívar and the country, such as the immediate state ac- Amazonas continue to denounce the non- tion against groups of armed mafias and gue- compliance with the commitments acquired rrilla groups that operate in illegal mining and regarding to the distribution of oil, as well as smuggle in indigenous territories of Bolívar its discretionary use by military personnel; the and Amazonas; the activation of the Territory presence of armed groups in indigenous areas Demarcation Commission, and approval and with the consent of the security forces in tasks delivery of collective property titles of indige- of territorial control and illegal mining; the use nous peoples and communities, as established of the fatherland’s card -which is alien to the in the Constitution; the stoppage of the Orinoco uses and customs of indigenous peoples and Mining Arc Project; and the protection of indi- communities- was learned as a form of coer- genous leaders who exercise their rights to the cion, control and a clear proselytizing action for custody and protection of their territories. access to social benefits.

enero-diciembre 2017 43 44 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

Right to health

n 2017, the ravages of a complex humanita- sistance to those affected are linked, to a lar- rian emergency with broad and multiple im- ger extent, to political considerations (...) they Ipacts on human rights and a greater scale of are characterised by their instability in diverse damage to the lifestyle and welfare of the po- degrees, which can result, in extreme cases, pulation became evident. This emergency has in the collapse of the national authority. This been the result of institutional dismantling, the translates into a loss of administrative control denial of justice and the patterns of censors- and an inability to provide vital services and hip, violence and corruption in the exercise of protection for the civilian population.” government that led to the breakdown of the Producing situations of economic and so- democratic order and the brutal repression du- cial devastation due to structural or systemic ring the course of the year. causes that involve the disappearance of insti- Its consequences for the right to health tutions and the rule of law, complex emergen- were the collapse of the health capacities at cies generate contexts conducive to systematic the national level, much of which rested in and/or widespread violations of human rights, a public health system that was subjected to typified as serious crimes against mankind, a long and systematic destruction, in concu- which may entail individual responsibilities in rrence with the high levels of poverty, hunger, international law. malnutrition and collapse of basic services Due to the emergency, the deficit of medi- that exponentially increased health problems, cal and nursing personnel worsened, as did the causing irreparable damage to the physical service failures in public hospitals, compro- and mental integrity of people and the loss of mising 50% to 90% of their operating levels, human lives. which showed a fall behavior due to the deep According to the United Nations and hu- de-structuring of the sanitary system. In order manitarian experts, “complex emergencies to show part of this reality, Provea registered are situations in which the cause and the as- 9,662 complaints of violations to the right to

enero-diciembre 2017 45 health, which represents a 98% increase to and deaths, statistical mortality yearbooks and those registered in 2016 and the largest increa- other data of health were deleted from the offi- se occurred in the last five years. cial website. The emergency caused deaths due to the In January, Dr. Antonieta Caporale beca- prolonged and absolute deprivation of medici- me Minister of Health and she was dismis- nes; inability of services to treat a greater num- sed in May, after the publication of the latest ber of diseases associated with malnutrition Weekly Epidemiological Bulletins of 2015 and the appearance of new epidemics spread and 2016. In her place, it was named Luis Sa- throughout the country, with 1,040 cases of lerfi López Chejade, pharmacist and former Diphtheria and 773 Measles; and the largest health secretary of the Aragua governorship. expansion seen in Malaria with 400,000 ca- These were the sixth and seventh designation ses. In face of the emergency, the government of health ministers in five years of President refused to implement mechanisms of interna- Maduro’s administration. In November 2017, tional assistance and cooperation, and both the President of the Venezuelan Institute of health organisations and unions lost all com- Social Security (IVSS, acronym in Spanish), munication with the health authorities, forcing Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Rotondaro was them to go to the streets in peaceful protest to dismissed, who had been in charge of the ins- demand guarantees for their rights. titution for ten years, placing in his position the same Minister of Health. An ACAPS report on Venezuela noted that: “The humanitarian situation in Venezue- la has severely deteriorated in the last three years. The severe shortage of medicines, coupled with poor hospital services facilitates the spread of diseases such as malaria and diphtheria.” The 2017 ICASO-ACCSI Report affirmed that Venezuela is in the midst of an unprecedented complex humanitarian emergency with broad social consequences, pro- duct of the same State. This year, the health information was completely censored. Since the Supreme Court of Justice allowed the Executive to exempt itself from delivering the Report and Account and the Budget Laws to the National Assem- bly in 2016, there was no public information on the 2017 health running. The Ministry of People’s Power for Health (MPPS, acronym in Spanish) did not publish health or epidemiological statistics either, and all the historical archives of the bulletins on notifiable diseases

46 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

enero-diciembre 2017 47 Right to social security

he behavior of the right to Social Security pensioners, who are not discriminated against, had variations during 2017 in the econo- it is not known if they complied with the requi- Tmic sphere, since more resources were red contributions, if they obey to a decision of allocated to the additional credits than in 2017, the Executive or if they come from the income however, it reflects that it decreased 76.19% via Fatherland’s card. in real terms, which means that, taking ac- Regarding to the Great Mission Homes of count the inflation of the previous year, expenses could not be covered for this sector in the Fatherland (GMHP, acronym in Spanish), 2017. The Executive announced that “seven- 500,000 pensioners were added to the bene- ty percent of the 2017 budget goes to social fits of the Fatherland’s Socialist Households investment, both the social economic project Card, covering 1.5 million families. In this of the new economy and the missions, great term, the Fatherland’s Card has been used missions, education, housing, health, our El- as a measure to guarantee pensions through derly,” but this investment has not been trans- the missions Gran Amor Mayor Venezuela lated into improvements to the population, (GMAMV) and GMHP, which responds to a such as access to social insurance. The Social discretionary and regressive measure of hu- Security economic resources must be guaran- man rights and of the legislations in matter teed, as a human right and as social protection of Social Security, and shows that there is no to the unprotected populations. process of evaluation, selection of beneficiaries, monitoring and follow-up, and accoun- Given the difficulty in accessing official in- tability by the National Government. formation, it was not possible to determine the exact number of pensioners in the year. In revi- The special bonus of economic warfare sion of the 2017 Budget Decree, the inclusion created by the Executive, in substitution of the of 115,740 new citizens in the pension system Law of Bonuses for Feeding and Medicines to is established and the President of the Republic Pensioners and Retirees, approved by the Na- announced that 202,430 new pensions had been tional Assembly and declared unconstitutional granted, which leaves a differential of 86,990 by the Supreme Court of Justice, was imple-

48 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment mented. This measure does not represent an The National Government has not solved economic incentive, taking into account hype- the conditions of the 12,500 pensioners and rinflation and the high cost of living. retirees abroad, since mid-2015. Foreign governments, as Italian parliamentarians and the The population of elderly has been affec- Government of Spain, have questioned the ted, especially by several situations: The shor- government because of the Italian pensioners tage of cash is the most notorious one, since at who worked in the country and returned to the time of collecting the pension, banks make Italy, and for the 9,000 Venezuelan pensioners fractioned payments. Given this, government residing in Spain and Spanish residents in Ve- officials have implemented some actions in nezuela who do not receive a pension. the process of improving the situation, such as: opening of bank agencies, activation of The benefit regimes and contingencies, three ticket offices per entity, and delivery especifically, Health, Social Services for the of high denomination bills; nevertheless, the Elderly and Other Categories of People, Em- difficulties persist and it has been one of the ployment, Pension System and Other Financial causes of protest related to this human right. Allowances, Health and Safety at Work, and Other social actors exercised their right to pro- Housing and Habitat; are only contemplated test for the delivery of food tickets and health in the Organic Law of the Social Security Sys- bonuses and for labor improvements. tem because, in practice, the competent entities have not promoted effective actions to comply Another critical situation in 2017 was the with the contingencies. Two regimes deserve shortage of medicines and disregard for health special attention: The Benefit Health Regime, centers and nursing homes. Despite of the there is a vulnerable population without the medicine delivery to some health centers be- proper operating health centers -such as the me- longing to the Venezuelan Institute of Social dical assistance insurance of the IVSS-, and the Security (IVSS, acronym in Spanish), many Pension System and Other Financial Allowan- patients do not have medicines and supplies. ces. It is urgent to approach the provisions that On the other hand, it is still suspended the have to do with pensions and cash benefits, as IVSS beneficiaries’ admission to social care in the case of the GMAMV and GMHP that in homes receiving subsidy from the State. The the course of 2017 had economic allocations at contribution that the Government grants to discretion without effective accountability in each residence per insured person is 14,708.91 terms of financing and contributions. Bolivars and there are 76 geriatric and psycho- geriatric institutions in the country. In addition, the difficulty of public transport has im- pacted significantly in various regions of the country. The public transports are not making due compliance to the exemption of the partial payment of the ticket, as established in the Extraordinary Official Gazette number 6,221, which eliminated the exoneration of the urban transport to the elderly.

enero-diciembre 2017 49 50 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

Right to land

rovea recognises that the National Exe- Nevertheless, in the absence of official cutive maintains its interest to democra- figures, we went to the press archives of Ptise the use of the land. During 2016, the INTI to have an approximate number of the National Land Institute (INTI, acronym hectares recovered, which, according to the in Spanish) continued with the land recovery MAT, amounted 1,641,470 hectares delive- and regularisation process initiated in 2001. red, representing an increase of 89.78% of Notwithstanding, as the Ministry of People’s the consigned, compared to 2016; but that Power for Productive Agriculture and Land is still 21% lower, compared to 2015; in (MAT, acronym in Spanish) and the Minis- the states of Portuguesa, Monagas, Mérida, try of People’s Power for Urban Agriculture Bolívar, Guarico, Sucre, Vargas, Yaracuy, (MAU, acronym in Spanish) did not deliver Nueva Esparta, Zulia, Cojedes, Táchira, the Report and Account of its actions befo- Aragua, Trujillo; 14 of the 23 states that re the National Assembly, as provisioned in make up the Republic. Art. 244 of the Constitution of the Boliva- Regarding to the number of agricultu- rian Republic of Venezuela and Art. 14 of the ral instruments delivered, the study of the Organic Law of the Public Administration, INTI press releases showed 25,935 compa- neither published it, nor responded to the re- red to 27,205.69 in 2016, which means a quest for information delivered in the MAT 5% decrease; to which is added a 9% de- on 19 March 2018 and the National Federa- crease, compared to 2015, which allegedly tion of Cattle Ranchers of Venezuela (Fedea- benefited 82,000 producers compared to gro, acronym in Spanish) on 2 April 2018; it the 573 farmers benefited in 2016, which is difficult to obtain exact figures of hectares translates into a 99% increase, compared to and farms recovered, harvested area, agricul- 2016. However, Provea sees a considerable tural instruments delivered and exact number increase that can not be verified due to the of farmers benefited. lack of figures.

enero-diciembre 2017 51 In 2017, the MAT had an amount, assigned by the Budget Law of Bs. 65,578,461,588 which means an 83% increase, compared to 2016; when the agency’s budget was Bs. 11,101,927,385. Despite this, it is imperative to inform that for the first time the Execu- tive did not present this law before the AN for its discussion, nor was it published in the Official Gazette; it was obtained thanks to Transparencia Venezuela’s work and ratifies the opacity criterion in the official figures. The contribution of Bs. 410.409.596 is added through the Special Law of Annual Indebted- ness for the Financial Economic Year 2017 to develop agricultural projects in the states of Nueva Esparta, Sucre, Lara and Falcón in course since 2016 and which meant an increase in the budget allocated of 83%, compared to last year’s Bs. 71,175,900. On 29 April 2017, resolution DM/N° 062/2017 was published, which establishes the bases, conditions, terms and mandatory minimum percentage of the loan portfolio that each one of the universal banking entities, both public and private, should alloca- te to the agrarian sector during fiscal year 2016. The instrument contemplates that the total of the portfolio destined to finance strategic and non-strategic items be maintained in 63% for short-term plants and 2% for rural cash. This meant a decrease in the investment criteria of previous years that established the maximum in 75% and the minimum in 5%. At the date of this report, it is unknown if there was an advance or setback in the total area harvested, not even Fedeagro has the 2017 data on the value, volume and yield of production.

52 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

enero-diciembre 2017 53 Right to housing

The situation of access to official statistics the states where most was built were Zulia -necessary to monitor the results of public hou- (2,934 homes), Anzoátegui (1,706 homes), sing policies- has seriously worsened after the Capital District (1,641), Miranda (1,434), and fraudulent installation of the ANC. The opacity Monagas (1,312 homes). in the sector is almost total, and both the bene- Other elements would contradict the offi- ficiaries and the researchers depend on the de- cial statements. The Economic Commission clarations of the authorities in the sector, which for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) do not correspond to the real running. The pu- estimated that Venezuela would be the cou- blic policy has been reduced to the quantitati- ntry with the highest negative growth rate in ve perspective, a large number of houses built the region, estimated at -7.2%. Second, the or benefited, in a context of severe economic difficulties to produce or import the materials crisis. The authorities’ violation to the principle necessary for construction. According to Trans- of truthful and timely information is so flagrant parencia Venezuela, the cement companies in that Provea has classified the ads in housing as hands of the State produce 41% less, with diffi- mythomania -the repetitive behavior of the act culty to establish corrective because the mana- of lying, which gives the mythomaniac a series gement is inauditable. Workers in the cement of immediate benefits, such as admiration or at- sector reported that there are companies that tention-, “State Mythomania.” have decreased their production up to 90%. The According to the official statements, during metallurgical union indicated that they operate 2017, the amount of 570,000 homes were built in 10% to 20% of their capacity. On the other in Venezuela, which brought the government hand, the private sector denounced that its con- closer to meeting its goal of building two mi- traction would be around 85%. llion homes with the Great Mission Housing In order to increase the number of homes, (GMVV, acronym in Spanish). Provea’s moni- the State performs several strategies. Since toring, based on the meticulous arching of three 2011, The Great Housing Mission (GMVV, state media outlets, throws in turn the amount acronym in Spanish) has included the houses of 14,996 homes. According to this database,

54 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment built by the private sector in the sum, as well as 2017 was not reported, nor the accumulated the homes benefited by the Mission Barrio Nue- since the beginning of the GMVV, we specu- vo, Barrio Tricolor and the families that receive late the reason is not to give data on the lag of any type of credit for their acquisition. Howe- this process. ver, as these strategies are insufficient to reach In the context of the cycle of protests that high numbers, the National Media System dis- occurred from April to July 2017, a series of closes large numbers in its news headlines that violations to the right to housing occurred. In are not detailed in the text of the information, its report “Human rights violations and abu- publishes different notes of the same award ses in the context of protests in the Bolivarian or record different and contradictory numbers Republic of Venezuela from 1 April to 31 July about the results. 2017,” the United Nations High Commissioner The housing deficit in Venezuela is estimated for Human Rights affirmed that the demons- in 2,442,987 homes, and the states that need it the trations were accompanied by illegal and vio- most are Zulia (557,583 homes), Lara (206,579 lent raids on residential complexes by security homes), Miranda (183,353 homes), Carabobo forces, with the alleged objective of arresting (168,862 homes) and Bolívar (147,387). the demonstrators. Security operations in residential areas have been characterised by the The State continues to emphasise the achie- excessive use of force and deliberate destruc- vement of international agreements for housing tion of property, theft and serious damage to the construction. Official declarations assure that, right to housing and private life. The members since 2005, 44,000 houses would have been of the security forces have operated without built by this mechanism and 18,000 would be identifying badges; covering their faces with in process at the present moment. ski masks, helmets; and equipped with long In addition to the “cheerful figures” in weapons. It also explains that members of the housing, the most serious violation during the so-called armed collectives have participated period was the institutionalisation of political in some raids. The magnitude of the violations discrimination be means of the allocation of was such that Amnesty International made a housing through the so-called “Fatherland’s special report entitled “Nights of terror: Ille- Card,” an identification document controlled gal attacks and raids on homes in Venezuela.” by the party organisation “We are Venezuela.” Members of Provea witnessed the policies of This type of discrimination in access to the territorial control carried out by groups related right is prohibited in all international standards to the government, who use the databases of on economic, social and cultural rights. social missions to locate and punish those who In contrast, the most positive housing poli- express their discontent with the government. cy during the studied period was the efforts to increase the amount of property titles held by the beneficiaries of the GMVV. However, the total amount of property titles delivered during

enero-diciembre 2017 55 56 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment Civil and Political Rights

enero-diciembre 2017 57 Right to personal integrity uring this period, Provea registered a total vea managed to identify 101 victims of this of 491 complaints, including 7,357 cases pattern of violation to the right to personal Dof violations of the right to personal inte- integrity, which, compared to the 18 victims grity and 4,819 identified victims. These data registered during 2016, represents a 561% are the result of information obtained from increase. Neither the Public Ministry, now complaints published in the press, the cases rai- under the management of the constituent sed by Provea through fieldwork, and the com- prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, nor the Om- plaints submitted by the victims themselves. budsman, under the management of the de- The data indicated, compared to the previous fender imposed by the fraudulent constituent, period when a total of 1,790 cases of violations Alfredo Ruíz; published information on cases of the right to personal integrity were registe- of torture corresponding to the year 2017. red, represent a 411% increase in the number of In the case of cruel, inhuman or degrading violations. This alarming increase is the result treatment or punishment, the number rose by of the repressive response that the Venezuelan 113.95%, having identified 539 victims, 66 State gave to the cycle of protests registered more than the previous study. Again, in this in most of the national territory from April to aspect, the occurrence of cases involving August 2017, to the open assumption of State groups of victims exceeding ten stands out, terrorism practices, and to the increase of mili- as well as the fact that it took place in pri- tary response to social demands. sons. Regarding to this pattern, the Public From the victims identified in the period Ministry did not offer detailed information covered by the investigation, the gender of in its Annual Report and the Ombudsman’s 596 people was known, which represents Office has not published any information. 12.36% of the identified victims. Out of In the case of the sub-pattern of inju- those victims, 92.78% are male (553) and red, Provea registered and identified a total 7.21% are female (43). of 3,811 wounded people, an increase of In the case of torture, the number of vic- 1,206% in comparison to the previous year, tims registered by Provea increased with in which a total of 316 injured people had respect to the previous period records. Pro- been registered. Out of the total number

58 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment of wounded people registered by Provea, trend is upward. The increase in social con- 99.76% (3,802) were injured in the context flict as a result of the country’s serious eco- of the demonstrations held during the popu- nomic and social crises has had as a response lar rebellion of April-August 2017. the disproportionate use of force of Maduro’s government to crush the protest. 347 people -counted in 30 complaints- were threatened or harassed, which implies The militarisation of citizen security and an increase of 156.3% in the figures collected the management of demonstrations, as well by Provea in contrast with 2016, when 222 as the situation of structural impunity, and victims were registered. In the case of raids, the open encouragement of repression have there were 2,559 cases, which, compared to led to an accelerated increase in cases of the previous period, when there were 763 ca- violations to personal integrity. 2017 closed ses, means a 335.3% increase. Out of the total with the second highest record of violations illegal raids carried out in 2017, 86.63% were to the right to integrity since Maduro took carried out within the context of the popular office in 2013. rebellion of April-August 2017, in residen- Maduro’s government is highly repressi- tial areas where protests were staged. They ve and violates human rights. Proof of this is were led by the Bolivarian National Guard, that, from 1997 to 2012 -a 14-year period-, paramilitary groups, the Bolivarian National Provea counted a total of 11,101 cases of Police, the Scientific and Criminal Investiga- violations to personal integrity; while the tions Corps and the Bolivarian National Inte- first five years of Nicolás Maduro’s adminis- lligence Service. tration (2013-2017) amount 30,584 cases of Finally, Provea registered a total of 245 violations to personal integrity, 275% more residential areas, university and school pre- violations than those recorded in the 14 years cincts, health centers and religious temples of management of his predecessor in power. that were attacked by agents of the public force and paramilitary groups in the context of the April-July protest cycle, aiming to curb popular protest, inhibit protesters from continuing to protest and punish urbanisations and communities who mobilised against the dictatorship. On average, attacks on each of these areas were repeated up to 10 times from April to August, which would account for more than 2,450 attacks on the civilian population. Since 2013, the records of cases of violations to personal integrity have been increasing. While some sub-patterns have increased or decreased in certain periods, the general

enero-diciembre 2017 59 60 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

Derecho a la Justicia

he right to justice was further eroded in ned and exacerbated in 2017, to the point of 2017 as a result of the sentences issued by declaring the “judicial coup d’etat,” especia- Tthe Supreme Court of Justice, which res- lly with two sentences of the Constitutional pond to structural policies implemented since Chamber -numbers 155 and 156-, which im- 2009, especially laws and planning adopted to plied the transfer of powers of the Legislative undermine the separation of powers and the ju- Power to Nicolás Maduro at the expense of dicial independence by progressively disappea- the National Assembly powers and the cons- ring the democratic veil and the rule of law in titutional guarantees. the country. One day after the sentence Nº 155, the In 2017, the procedural delay persisted and Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court an exponential increase in the use of military jus- issued the judgment Nº 156 of 29 March 2017 tice to judge civilians was found. It was learned on Article 33 of the Organic Law of Hydro- that hundreds of people were placed under that carbons, as the response of an appeal filed by jurisdiction for demonstrating, especially in the the Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation. The protests from April to July 2017. ruling granted the Executive Branch broad powers to set up joint ventures, and also decla- In this period, it was not possible to com- red the Parliament dissolved, concluding that pile all the required information due to the “as long as the situation of contempt and in- omission of the publication of the Annual validity of the National Assembly proceedings Report of the Supreme Court, the Public Mi- persists, this Constitutional Chamber will gua- nistry and the Ombudsman’s Office, as well rantee that the parliamentarian competences as the Report and Account of the Ministry of are exercised by this Chamber.” People’s Power for Penitentiary Services. In this regard, PROVEA issued a formal request Due to the political instability caused by the for this information, with no response until the aforementioned sentences and by exhort from closing date of this report. the National Defense Council, gathered by Nicolás Maduro at dawn on 1 April 2017 -as The decisions of the Supreme Court that a result of the crisis generated by the Attorney favor the government positions were maintai- enero-diciembre 2017 61 General and the international community-, the and journalists who are identified as critical of Supreme Court issued two clarifications on the the government. following day, 1 April, about judgment N° 155, The violation of the right to be judged by to revoke the waiver of the parliamentary im- a natural judge was a repeated pattern of the munities of the members of the Parliament and massive arrests of people participating in pro- what was related to the state of internal commo- tests, detained and accused in military head- tion and possibility of changing criminal and quarters for military crimes. Differently than military laws, although the nullity of the Na- 2016, when PROVEA counted “18 people tional Assembly agreement was maintained. In who were detained and prosecuted by the regard to judgment N° 156, the Supreme Court military jurisdiction,” 760 were identified in maintained the powers granted to the President, 2017, according to figures from Human Rights although it declared that the National Assembly Watch and the Venezuelan Criminal Forum. could continue to exercise its functions. Along with the installation of the ANC and However, as a result of 56 judgments of the dismissal of the Attorney General, Luis the Supreme Court prior to these two, issued Ortega, the president of the fraudulent ANC, since the election of the National Assembly Delcy Rodríguez, ordered the military justi- in December 2015, which affected and limi- ce to cease the proceedings against civilians ted their powers, it is reported that 42 of its 77 detained in demonstrations against President functions continue to be suspended. Nicolás Maduro and to transfer them to ordi- According to the statement of a significant nary justice. However, the complaint of non- number of human rights non-governmental compliance with the transfer of most of the organisations (NGOs), judgment N° 155 of cases to ordinary courts was maintained and 27 March 2017 of the Supreme Court’s Cons- new civilian detainees were brought before the titutional Chamber deepened the breakdown military courts. of the democratic order, declaring the nullity An emblematic case of more burdensome of the National Assembly agreement that ap- effects for the transfer from military to civil proved the activation of the Inter-American justice is the one of 27 students from the Uni- Democratic Charter of the OAS. In its deci- versidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador sion, the Chamber also ignored the parliamen- (UPEL), in Aragua state, who were detained tary immunity and tried to give extraordinary inside the campus and placed at the order of powers to the President of the Republic to justice military. decree a state of internal and external com- motion and change the criminal and military In regard to political prisoners, according legislation at will. to information from the Venezuelan Criminal Forum, 107 were counted in January 2017 and The judiciary continued to be used as a the number raised to 213 by December that means of repression toward opposition people same year. On the other hand, the imprison- or people considered to be opposition by the ment conditions of political prisoners are very mere fact of demonstrating or protesting to precarious. It is reported that they are held demand rights, as well as against public offi- together with detainees for common crimes; cials: members of the Parliament, governors, although some are in military jails like Ramo mayors, councilors, prosecutors, magistrates Verde or improvised ones like el Helicoide.

62 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

enero-diciembre 2017 63 Right to personal freedom

n the period covered by this report, Provea of these arrests with respect to the previous registered a total of 2,902 alleged viola- period. When this figure is contrasted with the Itions to the right to personal liberty, which general average of these cases during the last represents a decrease of 59% with respect to 21 years, a 58.4% decrease is observed. Howe- the 2016 figure; and 75% in contrast with the ver, collective detentions increased 54.3% in general annual average of the last 21 years comparison to the previous year, and 126.5% systematised in our reports. During 2017, a above the general average of the last 9 years. reorientation of the Operation People’s Libe- Likewise, the 191% increase in arrests oc- ration (OLP, acronym in Spanish) was carried curred in the context of demonstrations with out, resulting in fewer arbitrary mass arrests. respect to the previous year and 308.3% over It is noteworthy that at least 2,553 (88%) of the general average of the last 28 years. The these arrests are linked to the demonstrations year under study is the second with the hig- that took place from April to July 2017. hest figures of this type of detention, surpassed The reason of the indicated decrease in to- only by the year 2014. tal figures was the significant decrease in the In 2017, institutional violence continued number of people massively detained during to focus mainly on street demonstrations, with 2017. Provea registered a total of approxima- more intensity than last year. This explains tely 2,477 people massively detained, cons- the decrease (99%) of mass arrests -among tituting 85.4% of the total alleged violations others- in contexts of militarised police ope- to personal freedom in 2017. These figures rations, which, during the analysed year, was represent a 63.3% decrease with respect to the only 0.7% of mass arrests; as well as 1.17% of number of people massively detained during the total amount of illegal or arbitrary arrests 2016; and 78.3% on the general average of recorded. Similarly to last year, these mass mass arrests recorded since 1999. arrests are being replaced by more intense, se- Out of the 2,902 registered victims, only lective and deadly institutional interventions. 47 (1.6%) correspond to the pattern of indivi- This means that the victimisation by police dual arrests, representing a slight 8% decrease action has, at least, maintained its lethality in

64 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment humble neighborhoods. According to official the other, it could also be interpreted as a de- figures, 26% of the homicides that occurred in crease in media interest in these; since the few the country are a consequence of the direct in- figures, both official and unofficial, point to a tervention of the State security forces. clear increase in the rates of incarceration, in prisons and in police jails. In 2017, around 318 people suffered violations to their personal integrity in the context The previous comment warns that the of these arrests, representing a 90% increase main source of the present analysis are the over the previous year. This is another exam- media, both printed (national and regional) ple of the progressive intensification of insti- and digital, which constitute a more stable tutional violence. input of information on these phenomena, since the official sources detailed are scarce The majority of the legal age victims pro- and sometimes nonexistent. However, in ca- file that could be identified is male (88%) ses where official information existed, it was with an average age of 26 years old, student prioritised before any other source. Among the (28.3%), military (22.8%) or foreign (16.4%). official information, the public statements of The forced disappearances had a 68% de- authorities, communications, messages on so- crease with respect to the previous year (which cial networks and annual management reports presented a very high figure, 19 people), as well stand out. Also, the direct complaints received as a 46% decrease with respect to the average at Provea’s offices are included in this report. systematised by Provea during the last 18 years. Comparably to last year, the states that presented the most illegal or arbitrary arrests were the following: Carabobo 727 (25.1%), Aragua 446 (15.4%), Miranda 343 (11.8%), Lara 312 (10.8%), Capital District 225 (7.8%), Zulia 205 (7.1%) and Bolívar 201 (2.2%), these 7 states accumulate 86.1% of all registered cases. Finally, the number of violations registered in police cells and jails reached an approximate of 45,000 people affected, a figure that could not be compared with the previous years, since it refers to a total census of the population held in police jails, which suffers from overcrowding and precarious conditions of imprisonment. Out of these, it was possible to characterise the situation of approximately 522 victims, 70.7% less than the cases analysed last year, and 48% less than the average of the last 7 years systematised by Provea. This could mean, on the one hand, that there is greater opacity on this type of dat, and on enero-diciembre 2017 65 66 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

Right to participation hroughout the government of Nicolás On 28 and 29 March, the Constitutional Maduro Moros, political sectarianism Chamber of the Supreme Court issued sen- Tand the co-optation of community mana- tences 155 and 156, which ratify the alleged gement models have deepened, and the insti- contempt incurred by the National Assembly tutional crisis and the democratic bases in the when incorporating the MPs of Amazonas sta- exercise of power have worsened. te, whose appointment had been questioned. Although the National Assembly revoked the On 7 January 2017, the National Assembly aforementioned incorporation, the rulings dic- -with an opposition majority- decided to decla- tated that the action should be carried out in a re the the President of the Republic’s abandon- session convened by the previous directive to ment of the office, claiming the direct responsi- the one installed on 5 January 2017, so all the bility in the serious economic problems of the acts of the Parliament were null. The Supreme country, characterised by high inflation and lack Court assumed the powers of the National As- of food and medicines. PROVEA expressed its sembly until the demand of the court was met. criticism when considering that the declaration “…it is a forced interpretation of the Constitu- The Attorney General of the Republic Lui- tion that will further aggravate the weakening sa Ortega Díaz spoke on 31 March, stating of democratic institutions in our country.” that these sentences meant the breaking of the constitutional order. The Executive reacted with Decree N° 2,667, which proclaimed the State of Emergen- On 29 March, the President summo- cy and Economic Emergency that was ratified ned the National Defense Council to resolve by the Supreme Court, stating that the provision what he considered an impasse between the had “the validity, force and legal-constitutional Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Court. In effectiveness” in accordance with the Constitu- Resolution of 1 April, this instance stated that tion of the Republic. In this sense, the Executive the Supreme Court should review both sen- could impose sanctions on other Public Powers tences. The Constitutional Chamber complied and take exceptional measures in the planning with the resolution and revoked the measures and finances of the Republic, thus ignoring the by means of judgments 157 and 158. However, competences of the National Assembly. the affectation of the right to citizen participa- enero-diciembre 2017 67 tion through parliamentary action continued, ted on 3 July by Julio Borges, president of the given the ignorance of the National Assembly’s AN back then, through which a national consul- acts by the other powers of the State. tation is called for on the 16 that same month. These political events, understood as a de- Although President Maduro declared that mocratic breakdown, did nothing but aggravate only the National Electoral Council (CNE) the unrest that the Venezuelan population accu- had the power to hold a referendum, on the mulated due to the deterioration of the econo- indicated day the citizenship was mobilised in mic situation, lack of food and medicines, pre- a large popular consultation that brought to- carisation of public services and violence. As of gether 7,535,259 people, 693,789 of them were 1 April 2017, protests took place throughout the abroad. The symbolic value of the consultation national territory for four months. was not enough to prevent the summoning of the ANC that followed its course despite the The Venezuelan Observatory of Social irregularities reported by several organisations. Conflictivity (OVCS) accounted for 9,787 protests throughout 2017, equivalent to 27 In 2017, the policy of strengthening the daily protests throughout the country. This fi- so-called “People’s Power” openly continued gure represented a 41% increase, compared to as the only way to recognise citizen action in 2016, when 6,917 demonstrations with a daily public affairs. The opacity and limits establis- average of 19 were documented. hed in the access to information did not allow to update the official figures on the number of Despite the government attempts to prevent instances that have been structured as organisa- mobilisations through repressive mechanisms, tional forms of People’s Power in the last year. different citizen protest initiatives emerged during those months, such as the Citizen Labora- Finally, on 8 November 2017, the ANC tory of Active Nonviolence, Piloneras, BusTV, approved the Constitutional Law against Hate Public Information Service, Dale Letra, Canta for the Peaceful Coexistence and Tolerance, pu- El Pueblo, “el Señor del Papagayo,” Billete blished in the Official Gazette N° 41.274. This Alzao and Humano Derecho Radio in Caracas; law establishes sentences of up to 20 years in Platos Vacíos, Versos de mi Tierra, Próceres en prison for anyone who incites hatred, discrimi- Desobediencia and Conversaciones Democráti- nation or violence against a person or group of cas in Barquisimeto, as well as Colectivo Artís- people by any means. It revokes the concession tico Hambrientos in Mérida. of the service provider of radio or television, penalties twitterers, legalises the blocking of On 1 May 2017, Nicolás Maduro announ- portals. It orders the Electoral Council to re- ced the call of a National Constituent Assem- voke the registration of political organisations bly (ANC) and a Presidential Commission for that promote fascism, intolerance or national, its formation, through decrees 2,830 and 2,831 racial, ethnic, religious, political, social, ideo- published in the Extraordinary Official Gazet- logical, gender, sexual orientation, gender iden- te Nº 6,295, in what was considered a political tity, gender expression hatred and of any other move to break the Popular Rebellion. nature. In this way, the crime of opinion is ins- Democratic factors of society immediately talled and full discretion is opened to apply this rejected this call and signed a document under law, especially to political dissidence, under the the name of Great National Agreement, presen- diffuse interpretation of the meaning of hatred.

68 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

Right to life

n 2017, Provea managed to identify a total represents 0.75% of the total of victimised of 397 people victims of violation to the people. Therefore, it is the deliberate action of Iright to life, figure that, according to our state security officials what is increasing vio- records, represents a 17.80% increase over lations to the right to life and stands as a clear the previous period, maintaining an ascending indicator of the raise in deadly state violence. behavior for the sixth consecutive year, which Along with the Execution pattern, the consolidates the increase tendency since 2012. others that increase their presence with respect This data marks a new record in the total num- to the previous period are “negligence,” which ber of deaths caused by the action of state se- increases by 71.43% with respect to what is curity bodies since 1989, however -as we have known in 2016, and the indiscriminate use of warned in other reports-, it has an important force with a 10% increase. sub-registry that we have not been able to obtain, because there is no public information We emphasise that the past 16 November available, which is raised by State institutions 2017, during the filing of the complaint aga- such as the Attorney General’s Office or the inst Nicolás Maduro, Vladimir Padrino López, Ombudsman’s Office. Néstor Reverol, Gustavo González López and Antonio Benavides Torres before the Interna- In relation to the pattern of violation to tional Criminal Court for their alleged respon- which the death responds, it is evident that it sibility in the commission of Crimes against is the “executions” (359 victims) the one that Humanity, the Attorney General of the Repu- holds a greater number of deaths, accounting blic unconstitutionally dismissed by the ANC, for 90.42% of the deaths; followed by “negli- Luisa Ortega Díaz, affirmed that 8,291 people gence” (14) which brings together 3.52% of would have been killed by agents of the public the total deaths; “Excessive use of force” (11) force from January 2015 to June 2017, accor- and “indiscriminate use of force” (10) that ding to the data released by the Venezuelan sum 2.77% and 2.51% of deaths respectively; Public Ministry. and finally we found 3 victims of violation to the right to life for “torture, cruel, inhuman or The Prosecutor explained that, 1,777 degrading treatment or punishment,” which people had been killed by military and poli- enero-diciembre 2017 69 ce officers in 2015, the number of murders among the inhabitants of the humble areas in 2016 would have amounted 4,667 people, and political dissidents, to consolidate con- and around 1,847 people would have been trol and containment mechanisms against the killed by agents of the security forces from growing social discontent. The government, January to June 2017, as said by the Prosecu- transformed into a dictatorship, continues to tor in the context of “a social cleansing plan extend the vision of the external and internal that the government pursues.” Ortega Díaz enemy and to reinforce the warmongering lo- also reiterated the information provided in the gic and the stigmatisation and criminalisation 2016 Annual Report of the Public Ministry, in of different social actors in order to justify the which it was pointed out that since the begin- excessive use of force by police and military ning of the Operation People’s Liberation in officials. The militarisation of citizen security June 2015, until December 2016, 512 people and the militarisation of police action, protec- were killed by police and military officials. ted by the doctrine of national security, entails Most of these deaths would have occurred un- serious risks for personal guarantees, as it im- der the description of extrajudicial executions plies the military occupation of the national that were subsequently presented to the public territory for the “defense” against an “inter- as “deaths by confrontation.” nal enemy,” which turns out to be the citizen, whether peasants, alleged criminals, workers, According to these figures, 9 people were political leaders, human rights activists, or any murdered on a daily basis by the Venezuelan other. State security forces during approximately 912 days. The Venezuelan Public Ministry re- Out of the total of victims identified, a total ported in 2015 that a total of 17,778 people of 7 female victims were registered, represen- were victims of homicides, which placed the ting 1.7% of the total, and 390 male victims, rate at 58 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants; which make up 98.23% of the total, eviden- by the end of 2016, the Prosecutor’s Office re- cing once again the male vulnerability. In this ported that 21,752 people had been victims of sense, young men are more victimised in the homicides, which raised the rate to 70.1 ho- context of violations to the right to life. The micides per 100 inhabitants. According to this age range ranges from 2 years old (extreme data, the Venezuelan State was responsible for data) to 70 years old. With a positive asymme- a number of homicides that represented 10% tric distribution, the concentration of victims of the total violent deaths recorded in the 2015 is observed between the earliest ages. In fact, period; while in 2016, the responsibility of the most are 20-year-olds and the average age is State rose to the alarming rate of 21.45% of 25 years old. the total. We had already warned in our 2015 Annual Report: the government began a real war against citizens, especially against the poorest. The adoption of hard-line strategies and warmongering logic in the control of citizen security and the management of demonstrations are aimed at intimidating and generating fear

70 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment

enero-diciembre 2017 71 Actions before International Organisations

Throughout the government of Nicolás On 28 and 29 March, the Constitutional Maduro Moros, political sectarianism and the Chamber of the Supreme Court issued sen- cooptation of community management models tences 155 and 156, which ratify the alleged have deepened, and the institutional crisis and contempt incurred by the National Assembly the democratic bases in the exercise of power when incorporating the MPs of Amazonas sta- have worsened. te, whose appointment had been questioned. Although the National Assembly revoked the On 7 January 2017, the National Assembly aforementioned incorporation, the rulings dic- -with an opposition majority- decided to decla- tated that the action should be carried out in a re the President’s abandonment of the office, session convened by the previous directive to claiming its direct responsibility in the serious the one installed on 5 January 2017, so all the economic problems of the country, characte- acts of the Parliament were null. The Supreme rised by high inflation and lack of food and Court assumed the powers of the National As- medicines. PROVEA expressed its criticism sembly until the demand of the court was met. when considering that the declaration “…it is a forced interpretation of the Constitution that The Attorney General of the Republic Lui- will further aggravate the weakening of demo- sa Ortega Díaz spoke on 31 March, stating cratic institutions in our country.” that these sentences meant the breaking of the constitutional order. The Executive reacted with Decree No. 2,667, which proclaimed the State of Emergen- On 29 March, the President summo- cy and Economic Emergency that was ratified ned the National Defense Council to resolve by the Supreme Court, stating that the provision what he considered an impasse between the had “the validity, force and legal-constitutional Prosecutor’s Office and the Supreme Court. In effectiveness” in accordance with the Constitu- Resolution of 1 April, this instance stated that tion. In this sense, the Executive could impose the Supreme Court should review both sen- sanctions on other Public Powers and take ex- tences. The Constitutional Chamber complied ceptional measures in the planning and finances with the resolution and revoked the measures of the Republic, thus ingnoring the competen- by means of judgments 157 and 158. However, ces of the National Assembly. the affectation of the right to citizen participa-

72 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment tion through parliamentary action continued, ted on 3 July by Julio Borges, president of the given the ignorance of the National Assembly’s AN back then, through which a national consul- acts by the other powers of the State. tation is called for on the 16 that same month. These political events, understood as a de- Although President Maduro declared that mocratic breakdown, did nothing but aggravate only the National Electoral Council (CNE) the unrest that the Venezuelan population accu- had the power to hold a referendum, on the mulated due to the deterioration of the econo- indicated day the citizenship was mobilised in mic situation, lack of food and medicines, pre- a large popular consultation that brought to- carisation of public services and violence. As of gether 7,535,259 people, 693,789 of them were 1 April 2017, protests took place throughout the abroad. The symbolic value of the consultation national territory for four months. was not enough to prevent the summoning of the ANC that followed its course despite the The Venezuelan Observatory of Social irregularities reported by several organisations. Conflictivity (OVCS) accounted for 9,787 protests throughout 2017, equivalent to 27 In 2017, the policy of strengthening the daily protests throughout the country. This fi- so-called “People’s Power” openly continued gure represented a 41% increase, compared to as the only way to recognise citizen action in 2016, when 6,917 demonstrations with a daily public affairs. The opacity and limits establis- average of 19 were documented. hed in the access to information did not allow to update the official figures on the number of Despite the government attempts to prevent instances that have been structured as organisa- mobilisations through repressive mechanisms, tional forms of People’s Power in the last year. different citizen protest initiatives emerged during those months, such as the Citizen Labora- Finally, on 8 November 2017, the ANC tory of Active Nonviolence, Piloneras, BusTV, approved the Constitutional Law against Hate Public Information Service, Dale Letra, Canta for the Peaceful Coexistence and Tolerance, pu- El Pueblo, “el Señor del Papagayo,” Billete blished in the Official Gazette N° 41.274. This Alzao and Humano Derecho Radio in Caracas; law establishes sentences of up to 20 years in Platos Vacíos, Versos de mi Tierra, Próceres en prison for anyone who incites hatred, discrimi- Desobediencia and Conversaciones Democráti- nation or violence against a person or group of cas in Barquisimeto, as well as Colectivo Artís- people by any means. It revokes the concession tico Hambrientos in Mérida. of the service provider of radio or television, penalties twitterers, legalises the blocking of On 1 May 2017, Nicolás Maduro announ- portals. It orders the Electoral Council to re- ced the call of a National Constituent Assem- voke the registration of political organisations bly (ANC) and a Presidential Commission for that promote fascism, intolerance or national, its formation, through decrees 2,830 and 2,831 racial, ethnic, religious, political, social, ideo- published in the Extraordinary Official Gazet- logical, gender, sexual orientation, gender iden- te Nº 6,295, in what was considered a political tity, gender expression hatred and of any other move to break the Popular Rebellion. nature. In this way, the crime of opinion is ins- Democratic factors of society immediately talled and full discretion is opened to apply this rejected this call and signed a document under law, especially to political dissidence, under the the name of Great National Agreement, presen- diffuse interpretation of the meaning of hatred. enero-diciembre 2017 73 National Human Rights Organisations

Since the beginning of 2017, the raise in rights and, what began as a protest for the dis- the human rights crisis has been observed in respect to the Constitution with the judgments Venezuela. Abruptly, the humanitarian emer- 157 and 158 issued by the Supreme Court of gency became complex and the innumerable Justice, which attributed the functions of the protests in all the states of the country an- National Assembly to the National Executive nounced the arrival of the citizens’ quality of through special powers; was transformed, ac- life deterioration. At the end of January, com- cording to reports by the Venezuelan Obser- plaints from the Venezuelan Pharmaceutical vatory of Social Conflict (OVCS), into 4,182 Federation linked to the absence of medicines demonstrations until 9 July, equivalent to 42 and medical supplies indicated that the shorta- daily protests. ge was around 85% and, at the same time, civil On 4 April 2017, more than 100 human society organisations were working to broaden rights organisations in the country demanded their scope of action, in order to face the ob- the resignation of the Ombudsman in charge, vious violations to the right to access to health Tarek William Saab, for supporting the coup and food that became recurrent day after day. d’etat to the parliament, criminalising interna- On 1 April 2017, discontent was unleashed tional organisations and defending the senten- due to the lack of the State’s response to the ces issued by the Supreme Court. Representa- institutional crisis that currently places speci- tives of the NGOs reiterated that such actions fic facts of massive and systematic violations did not comply with the principles of the Paris to human rights. Also, due to the absence of Protocol and also recalled the statements of the conclusive arguments regarding to the dete- Attorney General of the Republic, Luisa Orte- rioration of the Venezuelans’ quality of life, ga Díaz who denounced the Venezuela’s break international organisations strongly demand in constitutional order on 31 March 2017. to verify on-site visits to the country. Programa Venezolano de Educación- For over four months, the streets were fi- Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea, Ve- lled with concerned people, who mostly raised nezuelan Program in Education-Action in their voices to demand the guarantee of their Human Rights), along with the NGOs Centro

74 PROVEA Annual Report Assessment de Derechos Humanos of Universidad Cató- seriousness of the threats that exist against the lica Andrés Bello, Civilis Derechos Humanos rule of law and the democratic system within and Espacio Público issued a report on 5 No- a context of severe setbacks and institutional vember 2017 under the title “De aquella im- fragility, causing the humanitarian crisis, wi- punidad vienen estas torturas” (These tortures despread poverty and irreparable damage due come from that impunity in English) for the to the difficulty of access to food, medicines Committee Against Torture (CAT), in order to and health services. update and evaluate the aspects on which the Civil society organisations presented an country should implement and report signifi- urgent human rights agenda to the country cant advances in the prevention and sanction on 15 September 2017 by means of a docu- of torture 18 months after analysing the comment that offers diagnosis and proposals for bined third and fourth periodic report Vene- specific actions on five crisis situation issues zuela. The purpose of the document also focu- that violate the human rights of a large part sed on two areas in which the State committed of the Venezuelan population and that require to show progress and report within 12 months: the immediate implementation of correcti- (a) carry out investigations into all allegations ve measures. These recommendations were of torture and ill-treatment and of excessive the result of consensus among 296 national use of force by agents of public order and pro- NGOs with different areas of specialisation government armed groups; and (b) prosecute and 549 activists. suspects and punish those guilty of torture and ill-treatment. The document develops and denounces the deterioration and regression that demo- The NGOs also indicated in the report cracy has suffered in the last 18 years, empha- that the State has not taken sufficient action sising the months when the Government to resolve the situation of torture, and in attacked democratic freedoms with the aim some areas the problem has even worsened, of establishing the National Constituent As- as is the case of Operation Liberation of the sembly that brought as a consequence a non- People and arbitrary arrests politically moti- democratic period and ending in the need to vated in the context of the request for activa- demand the accompaniment and positioning tion of the referendum. of international community actors to help and On 7 July 2017, more than 80 organisa- support the restoration of constitutional and tions working for human rights in the coun- democratic order. try asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights for a new country report on human rights and democracy in Venezue- la, given the seriousness of the situation, as a prolonged period of time had passed since the last report published by the entity, during which it was not possible to make field visits due to the State’s denials. During this period, the Commission learned and warned of the human rights deterioration magnitude and the enero-diciembre 2017 75 76 PROVEA Annual Report Proposals and requirements

Propuestas y Exigencias

enero-diciembre 2017 77 78 PROVEA Annual Report Proposals and requirements

Right to food • Review, in general, of existing files in the Ministry of People’s Power for Ecosocia- • Resort to international humanitarian aid me- lism and Water, by the Attorney General of chanisms for the short-term mitigation of the the Republic, regarding to works and acti- serious food crisis affecting the country. vities carried out in the country, in order to • Design and execute public policies that examine compliance with environmental guarantee the adequate stimulation of regulations, especially in terms of autho- the internal production, the sufficient risations for the occupation of the territory supplying, the economic accessibility and and the affectation of natural resources. the quality of the food. • Reverse the implementation, development • Guarantee an information system of public and expansion of the National Strategic access on the conditions of food and nutri- Development Area. Orinoco Mining Arc, tion security in the country, with updated until the necessary environmental impact and disaggregated indicators on obesity, studies are made and a prior, free and in- malnutrition and hidden hunger in the po- formed consultation with the indigenous pulation. communities, affected by small, medium and large-scale mining activities; is carried • Disassemble, in a gradual manner, the plan out. Adopt appropriate measures to pre- Comité Local de Abastecimiento y Pro- vent National Park Canaima from being ducción (Local Committee of Supplying intervened for illegal activities, such as and Production) and redirect the assistan- mining, within its boundaries. ce to the most vulnerable sectors, guaranteeing frequency and stability of the food • Create mechanisms for liaison and perio- supply, the ability to choose what to buy dic communication between the Ministry, and at affordable prices throughout the na- hydrological companies and city halls to tional territory, adopting policies against find permanent diagnoses of problems the crisis of food shortage and the high with drinking water service, agreeing on cost of products. joint solutions. • Promote and exhaust all mechanisms avai- • Elaborate a Plan of Regulation of Use for lable to foster dialogue between the public Bolívar State, making the necessary public and private agro-productive sector, aiming consultations, with the purpose of harmo- to boost national production and to reduce nising uses and activities that respect the dependence on food imports, while increa- indigenous communities and the Areas sing national production. Under Special Administration Regime, especially in protected areas and internatio- Right to healthy environment nal agreements. • Provide a larger budget to the Ministry of Right to education People’s Power for Ecosocialism and Wa- ter with the purpose of increasing technical • Take necessary measures to stop the pro- resources and equipment to do more and gressive deterioration of the quality of better surveillance, supervision and envi- education, adopting -comprehensively- the ronmental monitoring, especially in the recommendations issued by the educational states of Bolivar and Amazonas. consultation process, carried out in 2014. enero-diciembre 2017 79 • Improve the working conditions and profes- • Implement the mechanism of tripartite so- sionalisation of the teaching staff. Comply cial dialogue between workers, public and with collective agreements and refrain from private sector employers and the State, esta- forcing the teaching staff to carry out politi- blished by the International Labor Organi- cal proselytising, respecting academic free- sation, on issues such as minimum wage fi- dom. Encourage and prioritise the teaching xing and the design of public labor policies. career, mainly in those disciplines where Mitigate the loss of the real wage’s purcha- deficits are diagnosed. sing power, adopting effective measures to control inflation, ceasing the policy that • Promote a plan for the construction and damages the right to a sufficient salary that maintenance of physical and environmental gives a greater proportion to the food bonus, infrastructure, and refrain from transferring without incidents, than to the real wage. the cost of building maintenance to the educational community. Guarantee an effecti- • Cease immediately acts that promote dis- ve and lasting safety plan for educational crimination against workers and emplo- institutions, addressing the phenomenon of yees of the public administration and state school violence. enterprises because of their political opi- nions, and investigate and punish officials • Address urgently the process of basic edu- who have engaged in this type of activities cation enrolment’s decrease, ensuring the that are harmful to the rights of workers, in effective functioning of the School Fee- accordance with current labor legislation. ding Program. • Investigate in a prompt, efficient and • Respect university autonomy, allocating transparent manner the murders of trade sufficient budget for the universities, ade- unionists and workers, in cases of contract quate salaries for the university teacher and killings or as a result of violent acts asso- administrative and labor personnel, as well ciated with trade union activity; determi- as urgently address the process of teacher ning the perpetrators and imposing sanc- downturn and student desertion. tions on those responsible. Labor rights Rights of indigenous peoples • Respect the right to collective negotiation • Implement a comprehensive urgent food through the activation, discussion and and health plan to address the indigenous signing of expired collective agreements, humanitarian crisis, with special attention mainly in State institutions and companies. to the Warao and Yukpa peoples. • Respect, in full, the right to freedom of • Establish adequate measures to prevent association, ending the administrative and groups of armed mafias and armed irregu- judicial measures that impede and crimi- lar groups from continuing to develop ille- nalise it. Guarantee the exercise of the gal mining and contraband work in indige- constitutional right to strike, to peaceful nous territories of Bolívar and Amazonas. demonstration, to freedom of association and assembly as well as to investigate and • Paralyse immediately the Orinoco Mi- sanction dismissals for political reasons. ning Arc Project and the artisanal and

80 PROVEA Annual Report Proposals and requirements

illegal extractive activities in indigenous public health functions; the performance areas carried out within its context, until of health care centers; and the behavior of a free, prior and informed consultation diseases and health risks. process and the environmental impact • Make maximum use of the mechanisms studies are completed. and resources of international assistance • Guarantee protection for indigenous lea- and cooperation available to intergovern- ders who exercise their rights to the cus- mental agencies and specialised agencies tody and protection of their lands and en- in the field of humanitarian aid -of which vironment in their territories, protecting Venezuela is party and to which the po- them from being victims of the mining pulation is entitled-, in order to deliver mafias action. immediately, transparently and without discrimination for any reason; medicines, • Activation of the Territory Demarcation supplies and services to all people, in the Commission and activation of the appro- necessary and adequate amount, frequen- val and delivery of the collective property cy and characteristics, to avoid the loss of titles of the indigenous peoples and com- more human lives, the increase of effects munities, as established in the Constitution on the people’s health and the continuous of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. expansion of epidemics inside and outside Right to health the borders of the country. • Desist from taking measures that try to use • Undertake immediately a national plan to access to goods and services to recover restore the governing, administrative and health as a means of persuasion, coercion operational capacities of the public health or political coercion, depriving of medi- system, as an international and constitutio- cines, vaccines and care services to those nal obligation, with sufficient resources, who do not have the Fatherland’s card or technical and financial assistance from do not militate in political movements in international organisations and the par- favor of the government. ticipation of all public and private health institutions, the National Assembly, the • Raise the censorship to the publication of governorates and mayorships, the unions the weekly epidemiological bulletins, re- of professionals and health workers, the cords and statistics of the health system; organisations of affected people, the aca- morbidity and mortality yearbooks; and demy and universities of the country. official documents on policies, budgets and health programs; which violate the right • Improve the working and professionali- of access to public information, increases sation conditions of the different associa- the dangers for the health of the populations that make up the health sector, gua- tion and health personnel, and prevents the ranteeing a decent salary and other social application of educational and precautio- benefits to health professionals and techni- nary measures, impeding the evaluation of cians without discrimination of any kind, the relevance, efficacy and effectiveness of starting with the discussion of their expi-

enero-diciembre 2017 81 red collective agreements and compliance • Evaluate the impact and possible derogation with current ones of the effects of Regional Decree N° 3203 in the state of Yaracuy, which promotes the Right to social security demobilisation and eviction of producers, • Develop and execute the Organic Law of reported in 2015 and 2016 by Provea. the Social Security System. • Ensure transparency and compliance with • Increase the benefit schemes in its exten- due process in the cases of land recovery sion, diversifying the number of public and regularisation, as well as the timely institutions to relieve the burden of the Ve- compensation of expropriated lands. nezuelan Institute of Social Security. • Recognition of the separation of powers • Promote the Law on Pensions and other principle and of the National Assembly’s Financial Benefits as a component of the legitimacy by the Ombudsman’s Office Pension and Other Financial Benefit Re- and the Public Ministry. Therefore, legisla- gime, defining a comprehensive policy tive initiatives such as the Special Law for that encompasses Gran Misión Hogares the protection of peasants, family mem- de la Patria (Great Mission Homes of the bers and victims of hired killers and se- Fatherland) and Gran Misión Amor Mayor rious violence are required to be presented Venezuela (Great Mission Greater Love before the National Assembly for debate Venezuela), specifying the financing and and promulgation. the contributions. • Accelerate the investigations of the mur- • Promote the design of social policies, mi- ders, forced disappearances and human nimum conditions of social protection that rights violations reported by the peasant guarantee the necessary conditions of de- organisations, sanctioning their material cent living standards for the most vulnera- and intellectual leaders. ble populations. Right to housing • Develop an evaluation and monitoring • Eliminate the allocation of social inter- system with indicators of social programs est housing through the so-called “Carnet that addresses crucial aspects such as se- de la Patria” (Fatherland’s Card) and any lection criteria, social diagnosis of the beneficiaries and a follow-up mechanism other mechanism of access to housing and that include the socioeconomic needs of habitat policies that mean discrimination these beneficiaries. for political reasons. • Make public the Report and Account of Right to land the Ministry of Housing and Habitat, and • The entities related to agriculture and ac- publish once again the quarterly reports of cess to land must publish their respective the Central Bank of Venezuela. Report and Accounts, indexes and statis- • Restore the powers of the National Assem- tics, in accordance with Article 244 of the bly for the approval of budgets and the hi- Constitution and Article 14 of the Organic ring of the Republic to international third Law of the Public Administration.

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parties, thus supervising the execution of • Ensure strict compliance with the Spe- international housing agreements. cial Law to Prevent and Punish Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading • Continue granting title deeds to allocated Treatment, sanctioning officials who com- homes through Gran Misión Vivienda Ve- mit the offenses established therein, which nezuela (Great Mission Housing Venezue- contributes to reducing the high degree of la) until reaching 100% of its beneficiaries. impunity for acts of torture. • Investigate and sanction the human rights violations reported in the April-July 2017 Right to justice demonstrations, which include illegal • Comply with a constitutional mandate to raids, inhuman treatment, arbitrary deten- guarantee an impartial and independent ad- tion and theft of housing by police and mi- ministration of justice, demanding magis- litary officials. trates, judges, prosecutors and public defen- Right to personal integrity ders to act in the exercise of their functions, free of partisan interference or any other • Investigate and promote sanctions before that affects their independence. the Judicial Power, against all officials and • Cease the instrumentalization of the justice members of pro-government armed groups system to persecute the political dissidence, involved in cases of violations to personal criminalise those who exercise the right to integrity during the 2017 protests. protest and strike and refrain from using • Ensure that the work of citizen security military justice to judge civilians, as well and control of public order are strictly exe- as respecting the due process by complying, cuted by bodies of a civil nature, in accor- among others, with release orders and cri- dance with the provisions of the National minal benefits. Constitution. • Develop policies and implement urgent • Allow the visit of the IACHR and UN Spe- measures to guarantee the access to justice, cial Rapporteurs against Torture; and Rati- to adopt mechanisms to reduce procedural fy the Optional Protocol to the Convention delays and to administrate justice promptly against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and timely. or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. • Eradicate impunity, especially in cases that • The National Assembly must reform the link members of the State armed bodies Special Law to Prevent Torture and other to human rights violations, and guarantee Cruel Treatment and harmonise the con- comprehensive reparation to the victims. cept of torture contained in the legal ins- • Implement urgent measures to resolve pri- trument with article 17 of the Convention son overcrowding, health care and feeding against Torture and other cruel, inhuman of all detainees, both in the National Peni- or degrading treatment or punishment. tentiary System and in all police stations Likewise, the State must create a decen- and military jails in the country. tralised national program for the integral rehabilitation of victims of torture.

enero-diciembre 2017 83 Right to personal freedom • Refrain from obstructing citizen initiatives that are aimed at demanding accountability • Comply with and enforce articles 44 (per- from officials and ensure that complaints sonal freedom) and 47 (inviolability of the and petitions are properly carried out. domestic household) of the Constitution, as well as 9, 234, 127, 196 and 197 of the • Guarantee the autonomy of social organi- Organic Code of Criminal Procedure. No sations and abstain, therefore, from impo- authority should practice, nor tolerate, the sing norms and measures that force organi- arrest of a person who is not in flagrante sations to submit themselves, its programs delicto or who does not hold a prior arrest and projects to the protection of the State. order issued by a court. Right to life • Develop an official, consolidated general record of the number of people detained • Ensure that the work of citizen security annually. This information must be public and control of public order are strictly exe- and presented in detail by months, states, cuted by bodies of a civil nature, in accor- sex, age, legal reasons, institutional body that dance with the provisions of the National practiced the detention, detention center, pro- Constitution. cedural status of the detainee, among others. • Open an inquiry on the cases of death in • Prohibit the intervention of military for- confrontations and face impunity on viola- ces in the control of demonstrations, the tions to the right to life with joint initiatives practice of arrests in processes of a civil of the Judiciary, Public Prosecutor’s Office nature and other tasks of citizen security. and Ombudsman’s Office, which will accelerate investigations and the development • Effectively prosecute, both criminally of trials to punish those responsible. and administratively, military and police officers involved in unlawful deprivation • Maintain a strict surveillance on the ac- of liberty and other related crimes. Carry tions of police, security officers and Bo- out the respective statistics on these cases livarian National Armed Forces, raising and make them public. awareness of the absolute respect for the right to life and the magnitude of the exe- Right to participation cutions that have taken place in the country in the recent past. • Investigate and punish the officials responsible for the deaths, torture, arbitrary • Investigate and sanction police and mi- arrests and application of military justice litary officials involved in human rights to civilian demonstrators in the protests violations, specifically violations to the identified as the 2017 Popular Rebellion. right to life, in the context of protests, and refrain from encouraging the commission • Respect the right to elect and be elected of human rights abuses through the stig- and abstain from adopting measures of matisation and criminalisation of human any nature that imply sanction for exer- rights. expression of social discontent and cising the right to vote for the political political dissent. option of preference.

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• Allow the exercise of the citizen comptroller through the timely publication of data and figures related to the performance of State security bodies in operations of citizen security, management of demonstrations and prison surveillance, in order to identify the circumstances in which the deaths of citizens occur in these contexts and request investigations and corresponding sanctions in cases of human rights violations.

enero-diciembre 2017 85 86 PROVEA Annual Report Special Report

Special Report

Protests, Human Rights and Repression (1989-2017) Elements to understand the culture of protest in Venezuela

Nelson Freitez Amaro

enero-diciembre 2017 87 The street protest, as an expression of hu- On the constituent elements of a man rights demand, is long-standing in Vene- Protest Culture in Venezuela zuela. In different moments of the republican For the study that concerns us, the disrupti- life, it has broken into public spaces to influen- ve, confrontational and -in some cases- violent ce decision-makers of the State, especially at street protests in the Venezuela of the end of crises of our society, due to the severe deterio- the century and up to the present, the funda- ration of the population’s living conditions, in mental question is the identification of possible the midst of struggles for political hegemony, factors that explain such collective behaviors, or the search for recognition of certain social during “El Caracazo” and - very relevant for groups. Since the events of February 1989, this essay-, in the following decades. known as “El Caracazo”, the volume, intensity and diversity of public protest means have The hypothesis on the existence of cultural increased steadily, becoming a distinctive and matrices of conflict resolution is formulated daily feature of Venezuelan urban life. on the basis of the notion of culture as a memory -”the long-standing memory of the co- Since the 90s of the twentieth century, a llective-” that have been historically shaped in massive practice of demanding human rights Venezuelan society (Hernández, 1994: 104), expressed in several street protest means has with special emphasis among the popular sec- developed intensely in the country. Different tors traditionally excluded in access to centers social and political actors of different social of power and the distribution of oil revenues. groups exercised a varied repertoire of collective actions aimed at putting pressure on In the memory of the excluded sectors of state entities, demanding answers to unmet our society, among others, three constitutive needs and expressing aspirations for socio- elements on what could be integrated into a economic and political change. A large part cultural matrix can be identified: of them were generated apart from the me- 1. The idea of living in a country endowed chanisms and institutional channels of the with enormous wealth, broadly disse- socio-political system and were carried out minated by its elites at various times in by social groups traditionally excluded from the development of the petro-state; the state’s attention. Since 1998, within the context of the so-called “Bolivarian Pro- 2. The recurring promise that this wealth cess,” the street protest has gone through would be redistributed in a broad way, different levels of intensity, staged by popu- creating opportunities and well-being lar actors, media and business sectors. The for all, which is intensely reiterated actions were stimulated by multiple socio- above all by messianic leaders of turn economic and political motivations, diver- in each electoral event and; sifying in their forms of expression and re- 3. The progressive social inclusion of the aching “peaks” of mobilisation with broad popular sectors in the benefits of the social and territorial coverage. At the same national income redistribution by the time, it has been subjected to different and elites in power through partisan and growing modalities of co-optation, crimina- state clientelist mechanisms. lisation and state repression.

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These notions, which we could find in the tial election, and with the demands predominant imaginary of popular sectors, made on the street to the new govern- set a negotiated, institutional, channelled ment after its election. dispute resolution matrix, which worked for In this way, a culture of protest is set on the a few decades under the political system of basis of the substrate of a conflict resolution’s conciliation of the elites, in which the proces- cultural matrix, containing a recorded memory sing of popular demands was made through of prescriptions and prohibitions, which can be state agencies, parties and unions, forming altered and questioned in prolonged situations that sort of “illusion of harmony” of society of deprivation and deterioration of basic life with low street conflict level that was refe- conditions and absence of institutional channels rred to in Venezuela until the 1980s. This sys- for the recognition of and response to social ne- tem was the one that “broke out” socially and eds (whether state, partisan and union). This politically through “El Caracazo,” opening happened in the years in reference. the stage to the modification of this “cultural matrix” by another one that tends to the The protest cycles and State controversy and demand resolution through policies in face of the right to public conflicts and street protests. demonstration in the “Bolivarian It was generated in the decade of the 90s, Process” (1999-2017). expressed in the multiple protests already refe- 1st Phase: Beginning of the rred to as, “...a change of consciousness among Bolivarian project implementation: the popular sectors, a collective perception of Polarisation/socio-political the present that was different from the one pre- confrontation and intensification vailing until then” (López-Maya, 1999: 16-17). of protests. Somewhat low military This change, according to this author, contains repression. Beginning of paramilitary fundamental aspects to understand: repression (1999-2004) » » The change in the nature of the protests This initial phase of execution of the Boliva- (from “conventional” to “confronta- rian project is characterised, in terms of the right tional”, from sporadic or punctual to to public demonstration, by explicit recognition recurrent and growing). of it and the guarantees that its full exercise re- »» The massive questioning of the quires in the constituent process and in the cons- growing and severe deterioration in the titutional text (Article 68 of the Constitution of living conditions of the popular sectors the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela). expressed angrily and massively. Given the enormous expectations with the »» The disbelief and delegitimization election of President Chávez and the “empower- of the elites in power that these pro- ment” reached by sectors traditionally excluded tests entail. due to their intense social mobilisation since “El Caracazo,” the level of street protests keeps in- »» The new disposition that emerges in creasing “...gradually... with few variations”, these sectors to star and influence the although sustained of about 1,357 annual pro- general changes of the country, within tests on average (Provea, 2010: cxcvi) in a total the context of the upcoming presiden- of 6,786 on the period (Chart N° 1). enero-diciembre 2017 89 Chart No. 1 Venezuela Pacific and violent demonstrations in years 1999/2000-2009/2010 Period Peaceful demonstrations Violent demonstrations 1999/2000 1.263 151 2000/2001 1.169 143 2001/2002 1.141 121 2002/2003 1.243 300 2003/2004 1.037 218 2004/2005 1.417 117 2005/2006 1.280 103 2006/2007 1.521 55 2007/2008 1.680 83 2008/2009 2.822 71 2009/2010 3.266 46 Source: Espacio Público and PROVEA’s database

Chart No. 2 Venezuela Protest motivations Oct. 1999 – Sep. 2004 Economic, Social and Cultu- Civil and Political Rights Period ral Rights demands demands 1999/2000 1120 143 2000/2001 1180 132 2001/2002 882 380 2002/2003 755 703 2003/2004 675 536 Sourrce: Espacio Público and PROVEA’s database

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The demonstrations demanding social their intense protest mobilisation demanding rights were predominant (70.8%), although answers to their unmet needs (e.g. access to the protests for civil and political rights re- housing) and in support of the presidential ached greater public visibility in the media management. It is also a time of accelerated (Chart N° 2), especially due to the acute poli- and massive initiative of popular organisation, tical polarisation that has been growing since oriented to equip the popular sectors with the the beginning of the administration. means to demand and concretise aspirations for the long-desired improvements and social This is a period intensely marked by a he- inclusion. It is striking in the characteristics of gemonic fight between the political, economic the protests that, in spite of their political con- and social actors from the very beginning of the tent associated to the questioning of the gover- presidential administration, given the decisions nment and the requirement of their resignation taken, its severe and confrontational discourse “...at this stage, there is no significant increase and the insurrectional strategy of certain sectors in repression by State security agencies... nor is of the political opposition toward the President. Once the 49 decree-laws were approved in No- the administration of justice used to carry out vember 2001, a series of increasingly disruptive criminal proceedings against those who protest and violent events were unleashed, in the midst in a peaceful manner” (Provea, 2010: cxcxi). of an intense street mobilisation by media and From 2001 to 2004, the repressed, peaceful de- business sectors, which was counterbalanced monstrations diminish annually, despite the fact by demonstrations in support to the President that during this period events of a high political of the Republic. In the context of this protest conflict take place, such as the Coup d’État and cycle, protests for social rights and for civil and the Oil Strike (Graph No1). political rights (see chart N° 2) are almost equal This aspect is a highlight feature because in intensity and amount, aimed at putting pres- the largest proportion of protests from 2000 sure on the eviction of the President’s power to 2005 constitute the “street closure” with its (from 2002 to 2004). The Cycle of Protest in- evident disruptive characteristic and its con- volves the intensity, territorial and social cove- sequent impact on free transit (Chart N° 3). rage reached by the protests and the sequential This phase is closing with the imple- interaction between sectors of opposition and support for the government, which ranged from mentation and dissemination of the Presi- the end of 2001 to the results of the Presiden- dential Referendum’s results, which were tial Referendum, “leading” to the ratification of significantly favorable to the ratification of President Chávez. President Chávez’s power. In the process of pressure to obtain the approval of the imple- Among the popular sectors there are clear mentation of such a consultation, political expectations of inclusion and social impro- protests self-proclaimed “Guarimbas” were vement due to the accumulation of electoral held at the beginning, closing streets, rallies promises made by the President-in-Office and and “cacerolazos”, which were heavily re- the recent approval of a new National Consti- pressed with firearms by State officials and tution containing a very broad and universal associated armed civilians, ending in inju- framework of social rights. This is reflected in ries and deaths.

enero-diciembre 2017 91 Chart No. 3 Venezuela Protest array 2000 – 2005 Toma estableci- Period Street closure Rally March Work stoppage miento 2000/2001 381 178 112 121 221 2001/2002 332 252 122 132 161 2002/2003 399 323 178 104 128 2003/2004 370 347 108 86 79 2004/2005 526 442 88 80 129 Source: PROVEA’s database

This period was the scene of intense the successive political and electoral defeats of social and political protest processes, in a the opposition leadership and population. The context of increasing political polarisation, demonstrations for social rights increased in which, despite the fact that most demonstra- almost 40%, in contrast with the two previous tions were treated with a low level of mili- years (2003-2004), which is associated with the tary or armed-civilian repression, generated high expectations generated, on the one hand, significant lethality by the use of firearms in by the re-election of the President and, on the demonstrations as an instrument of confron- other, by the massive and highly promoted im- tation between rival groups. plementation of Social Missions since 2004, in the context of a very high increase in oil prices 2nd Phase: “Radicalisation” of the from 2003 to 2008 (Chart N° 4). Bolivarian Project: Increase of social protests, discursive disqualification and re- In the first years of government of this se- pression from power. Imposition of legal cond Phase, the priorities of attention to the so- restrictions and judicialization of the Right cial subjects that the government selects as its to Manifestation (2005-2012) foundation of political support are evident: the most excluded popular sectors in the socioeco- This long phase begins in the context of the nomic and the political landscape “...the popula- ruling party’s electoral victories in the governors tion is served from the condition of citizens, and elections (2004), parliamentary elections (2005) do not have the place of work as an anchorage, and the re-election of President Chávez (2006), but rather spaces of life and community... socio- after the leader of the “Bolivarian Process” was labor policies aimed at the poorest...” (Lucena, triumphant in the Presidential Referendum (Au- 2007:71). However, the magnitude of the ex- gust 2004). Such results create the political con- pectations, the accumulated “social debt” as a ditions to “accelerate and radicalise” the imple- component of predominant protest culture in the mentation of the “Bolivarian Project.” popular sectors, influences the high level of de- As of 2005, the protests for civil and poli- monstrations for social rights, against which “... tical rights present an evident decrease, given as of that time, the government begins to despair

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Graph No. 1 Venezuela. Peaceful demonstrations repressed. Period 1999-2005

Fuente: Base de datos PROVEA with social protest... before 2005 there were no This criminalisation of social protest was imprisonments or judicialization for social pro- expressed in the massive detention of de- tests.” (Alvarado, M. Interview 6.4.2018) monstrators, many of which were presented in courts of justice. In this long phase, which Although the President himself, in a Sun- aimed to “accelerate and radicalise” the Boli- day program “Alo Presidente,” promoted the varian process, restrictive and sanctioning re- protest of communities if the public bodies did gulations were enacted to limit or impede the not respond appropriately or opportunely, from right to public demonstration, decisions were those years (2005 onwards) several instances of taken by state bodies to criminalise, arrest the State adopted a set of decisions and legal and Incarcerate protesters, repressive actions and administrative measures aimed at imposing over peaceful demonstrations by state security restrictions and sanctions on the right to public agencies increased and, also, the operation of demonstration, strike and expression, including groups of armed civilians to repress demons- the opening of legal proceedings against pro- trators increased. However, social and even testers (Modifications to the Organic Code of political protests significantly increased with Criminal Procedure, Organic Law on the Se- the deterioration in living conditions, the in- curity of the Nation, Law for the Defence of crease in poverty, the reductions in the covera- Persons in the Access to Goods and Services, ge and quality of public services and the loss Special Law of Popular Consumer Defence of the population’s purchasing power. against Hoarding and Speculation and the Law of Transit and Land Transportation).

enero-diciembre 2017 93 3rd Phase: Towards the “Military- in 2016 at 550%. In 2017, the Finance Communal State”: De-legitimisation, Committee of the National Assembly impoverishment, humanitarian estimated an annual inflation of 2.616%, emergency and militarisation/ which places the country’s economy in intensification of protests and the context of a hyperinflationary situa- military and paramilitary repression tion, with serious repercussions on the (2013-2017) wages and purchasing power of households, especially of the poorest. From the beginning of this Phase, the limited legitimacy of civil leadership at the head This serious economic imbalance directly of the State was evident. The questioned 2013 influences the sustained increase in - pover presidential elections revealed not only the ty levels of the population, which increased already well-known expressions of advanta- from 48% of households in 2014, to 73% in geous electoral processes, but serious illegali- 2015, 81.8% in 2016, until reaching 87 % of ties in the presidential substitution procedure, the total Venezuelan households in 2017 “...an as well as very closed results that left margins accelerated growth in just 4 years, mainly due of reasonable doubt about them. Since then to the fall in income as a result of the econo- (April 2013), political protests have intensified mic crisis.” In addition, the serious shortage and, also, motivations to demand for econo- of medicines and food constitute a Complex mic, social and cultural rights, up to the point Humanitarian Emergency. that statistics reached more than 30 thousand »» In the country’s political and institu- protests from 2012 to 2016, with an average tional sphere, from 2012 to 2013, an of more than 6 thousand protests a year, being increasing substitution of the existing 2014 and 2016 the most acute years, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Con- institutionality has been shaped by the flict, with the following annual sequence: progressive assembly of a parallel Sta- te, very distant from that established »» 5483 protests in 2012 in the Constitution of the Bolivarian »» 4410 protests in 2013 Republic of Venezuela. »» 9286 protests in 2014 (25 daily) This cluster of actions, completely deta- ched from the Constitution, set a systematic »» 5851 protests in 2015 policy of violation to the constitutional or- »» 6917 protests in 2016 der that led Provea and other human rights organisations to describe the current Vene- Such high intensity and magnitude of pu- zuelan government as a “Dictatorship.” In blic demonstrations from several sectors of the midst of this scenario, there was an in- the population can find an explanation consi- tense practice of social and political protests dering the following factors: that, spurred by the institutional deteriora- »» Exponential growth of the inflation in- tion and the aggravation of the socio-econo- dex from 2014 to 2015, which, accor- mic situation briefly described, has promo- ding to the Central Bank of Venezuela, ted the public demonstrations in the country, goes from 180.9% per year to a consu- until reaching 6,729 in the period April- July mer price level unofficially calculated 2017, equivalent to 56 daily protests, with

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Chart No. 4 Venezuela Protest motivations Oct. 2004 – Sep.2010 Economic, Social and Cultu- Civil and Political Rights Period ral Rights demands demands 2004/2005 1147 325 2005/2006 1104 344 2006/2007 1063 488 2007/2008 1334 411 2008/2009 1947 932 2009/2010 2591 686 Source: Espacio Público and PROVEA’s database an unfortunate number of 143 deaths in the tions, which, according to relatives and de- context of demonstrations and 5,300 people monstrators, were expressed in a significant arrested, out of whom about 3,500 are still number of people killed by such actions. being processed in freedom under filing regime and approximately 1,000 of them are Proposals to promote and defend imprisoned, according to the Venezuelan the right to public demonstration Criminal Forum. today in Venezuela The set of proposals presented below are From the set of repressive practices of the based on three (3) central considerations: current government, the design and execution of the Zamora Plan should be highlighted as of »» The location in the current Venezuelan April 2017, particularly because of the expli- context with its restrictions and possi- cit incorporation of civilians in the repression bilities, in order to establish feasibility of demonstrators. This reinforced the provi- criteria for the proposals formulated. sions of the Decree of Emergency and Econo- »» The incorporation of our experience mic Emergency of the bodies of the People’s on the promotion and defence of the Power in guaranteeing the security of the state right to manifestation and other hu- and endorses what has been expressed by Pre- man rights that have been effective in sident Maduro since 2014 on the role of these initiatives and purposes. instances of “the People’s Power” “...in the »» The need to have a body of strategies defense of the nation.” on behalf of the national movement In fact, the participation of civilians in se- of human rights defenders to act with curity and defense work resulted in paramili- certain degrees of alignment and coor- tary civilian groups openly moving through dination in order to achieve a greater areas of street protests to perform armed ac- impact on the actions.

enero-diciembre 2017 95 Context elements of the From the Resilience approach, it is promoter action possible to raise the levels of awareness of the affected populations by In the national context, several elements that promoting reflection on causes and require responses from human rights NGOs pre- consequences of the affectations and dominate. On the one hand, the Humanitarian those responsible. Then, build the re- Emergency with its requirement of urgency and action to guarantee survival; on the other hand, levant and viable action proposals in the metastasis of the Rule of Law with its dicta- each local, regional or sectorial con- torial drift, which demands actions in defence of text with relevant groups of affected civil and political rights and mass mobilisation of people and/or their families. the population, and the increase of military and »» Size the magnitude, characteristics paramilitary repression in the midst of a severe and consequences of the multiple military fracture, which demands a speech and impacts to the human rights implicit an assertive message to members of the FANB in this emergency situation, establis- about their role and responsibilities in this crisis. hing in which phase of the emergen- Proposals to face the Humanitarian cy we are, what are the implicit risks Emergency with a human rights and the measures that must be adop- perspective ted to alleviate, contain or reverse the identified situation charts, deter- A Complex Humanitarian Emergency is mining the roles of different instan- characterised by the massification of the ba- ces of international cooperation, of sic affectations to the health and life of the the State bodies with competence population, in a context of serious lack of in each case, of the family members resources of all kinds to attend, contain and and of the persons affected. In parti- revert them. Even if the main responsible cular, in the defence of their human for the affectations is the State itself, which rights through varied repertoires of should guarantee and propitiate the genera- the “Creative Protest”. tion of the goods and services required by »» The starring of those affected, and constitutional mandate and thus prevent to the extent of the possibilities of such affectations from occurring. In this the same people and their families, sense, the confrontation of the Humanitarian in public activities demanding their Emergency cannot ignore the decisive role rights can become a “therapeutic” of the State in overcoming it. Therefore, it is public action, especially when mee- proposed that human rights NGOs consider ting people in similar situations and alternatives for action such as the following: with the individual and collective »» Refine criteria and methodologies willingness to assert themselves to combine the solidarity actions as citizens, beyond being obvious toward the confrontation of the Hu- “victims”. manitarian Emergency with the stra- »» Promote the establishment associa- tegies of enforceability of rights, tions for relatives of the victims of which requires establishing how.

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the repression exerted in the 2014 Proposals to combine the demand and 2017 protest cycles, supported of social rights with political rights and accompanied by human rights under social and culturally unitary NGOs and the country’s psycholo- platforms gy and social sciences professionals. One of the fundamental requirements to Under the foundation and the mul- increase the incidence in the promotion and tiple Latin American experience of defence of human rights is the articulation of mobilising family members who de- actions in pursuit of respect for both types of mand justice for the memory of their rights, both for what it implies in a combi- relatives, sustain the struggle for jus- nation of demands (salary, compliance with tice and against impunity at the most the collective contract, the products of the intense level possible as an emblem Local Committee for Supply and Production of the defence of human rights with ‘CLAP’ and access to medicines) with the vi- the participation of affected indivi- sion and the political requirement of respect duals, who guarantee the steadiness for the right to citizen participation, justice in the pursuit of restorative justice. and social comptroller of the State actions. »» Link groups of artists and creators in It is about promoting rights among groups general to design and implement at se- of the population to achieve an increase in veral forms of creative protest that can their understanding level of the origins and raise awareness, move and stimulate ways of exercising them, so that they are the identification of diverse groups self-perceived as a “Subject of Rights” rather of the population with situations that than a “Subject of Need,” which paternally affect those who suffer the Humanita- demands a clientelist attention of the State rian Emergency. In this way, they can through a government party.. contribute to “break the siege” that the »» Set and promote an articulated Agen- communicational hegemony of the da of Determined Objectives that government is imposing among spe- allow to combine the defence of cific groups of the population. Also, specific affected populations with a identify and select audiences to which local, regional or national Minimum promote such creative protests, to pro- Plan, integrating a diversity of sectors gressively join them to sensitise, moti- equally affected by the devastation of vate and mobilise other groups of the the Humanitarian Emergency asso- population. The most general purpose ciated with the hyperinflation within would be to create a local, regional the context of the severe metastasis or national reference of a growing re- of the rule of law that affects almost pertoire of diverse, different and mo- the entire population. The initial pro- tivating protests that are inspired by motion of this articulated Agenda of formats, stimuli and inputs from the Specific Objectives is proposed to be arts and creativity of the subjects that promoted by the National Movement design and share them. of Human Rights Defenders with vi-

enero-diciembre 2017 97 sible faces and an assertive and en- rations and common identities under couraging public presence. construction. »» Promote, at the local, regional or na- »» Consider in the integration of such tional level, the progressive constitu- “Platforms” the participation of par- tion of “Platform for the defence of tisan actors with which coincidences Human Rights” that allow the inter- in the defence of human rights are ests, motivations and aspirations of identified, being able to be state or a diversity of social, economic and national MPs, local or regional lea- cultural sectors to be integrated into ders, base party leaders in popular a minimum program of shared action. or middle class sector communities. The progressive conformation of the- The aim is to begin to re-establish se instances requires the initial pro- the lost dialogue between dissimilar motion by actors with credibility and social and political sectors, in order respect among the different social to identify common coincidences and subjects, all affected by the humani- aspirations. tarian emergency and the metastasis of the State apparatus. In this sense, Proposals for the defence of the human rights NGOs can play a pro- Rule of Law and democratic motional role, especially in the initial freedoms phases, until the same dynamic of the A purpose as global as this one - “defence interrelation of the subjects generates of the Rule of Law and democratic freedoms” the leadership of such processes. - will only be able to anchor among different »» Incorporate into such “Platforms” groups of the population insofar as it is possi- (with the most appropriate denomi- ble to articulate specific demands for civil and nation that the group of subjects that political rights -campaigns for the defence of initially constitute them considers) suffrage, public demonstration or access to members of sectors of the so-called justice- with the defence of social rights, such “critical Chavism” -preferably mili- as wage increases, price freezes, reduction of tants of grassroots organisations or military spending and increase in social spen- social leaders- and heterogeneous ding, etc. Such proposals can be possible in the social groups in its social constitu- Human Rights Defence Platforms and in the ar- tion -popular groups of neighborhood ticulated Agendas of determined Objectives, on communities that demand services which reference has been made before. with associations of middle class sec- On the Role of Human Rights tors that equally advocate for equal Defenders in the promotion of basic services. The aim is to integrate proposals for the defence of the social, political and cultural diversi- right to public demonstration ties into unitary platforms that allow the reintegration of “social fabrics” Campaigns for the defence of human fractured with the political polarisa- rights require faces, trajectories, initiatives, tion encouraged by power, articulated prestige, narratives. In the national move- on the basis of shared needs and aspi- ment of defenders, there are such attributes

98 PROVEA Annual Report Special Report and characteristics. Given the obvious lack of promotion, credibility and confidence in a motivating and inspiring leadership, it is proposed that, from this movement that has been building in recent years, it is widely and intensely reflected on the roles and functions that, at the local, regional or national level, can be assumed to stimulate, help and inspire the development of articulated local, regional and national movements that achieve greater impacts and incidence in the defence of the human rights of the population.

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Diktator 3000

Durante el año 2017 Provea realizó diferentes esfuerzos para comunicar contenido sobre democracia y derechos humanos a diferentes audiencias, utilizando diversidad de lenguajes. Promovimos el uso del comic, difundido en redes sociales y en una publicación impresa, llamada “Comics por la democracia”, de la que la siguiente pieza es un ejemplo. Para consultar el resto de los comics divulgados, visitar www.derechos.org.ve

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