Sosvenezuela: Crimes Against Humanity in Venezuela
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#SOSVenezuela: Crimes Against Humanity in Venezuela Susana Mijares Pena* “Even in tragedy, Latin America can’t compete. the region’s poverty is not as grim as Africa’s, armed conflicts not as threatening as Asia’s, and terrorists not as suicidal as the Middle East’s. The problems in Latin America are often overshadowed by those in the rest of the world. .” [1] I. INTRODUCTION Hugo Chavez, and his socialism and revolutionary ideas, won the 1999 presidential elections in Venezuela with an overwhelming majority.[2] For some, this victory was the result of previous elected governments forgetting about the needs of the most popular sectors, and only a small part of society having real opportunities to progress and have a decent life. Chavez’s movement, so- called “Chavismo”, was said to give priority to the poorest sectors, giving them the opportunity to have better access to health, education and food sources.[3] This gave hope to thousands of Venezuelans, who, without suspecting how devastated their country would be fifteen years later, gave the charismatic leader, and his state policies, their unconditional support, including Chávez’s plan to form a political and economic alliance between Cuba and Venezuela.[4] To this aim, Chavez took control of the country’s legislative, executive, judicial and electoral branches.[5] Chavez died in March 2013 after fourteen years in power;[6] yet, Chavismo did not die with him. Chavez had publicly announced that it was Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s current president, who should continue as the head of the populist social movement in his absence.[7] Since Chavez’s administration, there have been reports of serious accusations of offenses against the vital basic interests of the dissenting population; however, this paper is limited to the alleged crimes against humanity (“CAH”) recently committed during the ongoing anti-government protests in the South American country. Even though the category of CAH under customary international law is said to be sufficiently well-defined today,[8] the argued crimes could also be governed by national criminal laws as human rights violations. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the set of common features that distinguish these offenses as CAH, having as the ultimate objective the protection of individuals from the abuses and misdeeds of their own governmental authorities. The argued murder, torture, and indiscriminate and mass arrests, as part of a state policy founded on political grounds and directed against a group of civilians, meet the ICC’s threshold on substance and gravity as to be considered international crimes, concerning the entire international community. Ironically though, an initial discouraging aspect of Venezuela’s current agony was its isolation;[9] this forced Venezuelan protestors to document all possible evidence, with the goal of being presented before international organizations, and the hope of future accountability for the perpetrators. The first part of this paper provides a brief background on Venezuela and the reasons behind the ongoing demonstrations. Then, Venezuela’s current legal framework in the area of human rights is presented, including national obligations, as well as international treaties and conventions ratified by the country. Part III of the paper discusses the elements of CAH in order to prove that the crimes being committed by the Venezuelan National Securities Forces and the armed groups Colectivos[10] are within the category of CAH. The last part of the paper analyzes the viability of the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) having jurisdiction to prosecute the denounced offenses, once it is established that Venezuela’s judiciary is unable or unwilling to prosecute these crimes. II. BRIEF POLITICAL BACKGROUND: To date, Venezuela is the first oil producer in Latin America and the country with the largest oil reserves in the world.[11] However, the results of fifteen years of Chavismo are all too visible. Undeniably, this South America nation is the world’s homicide capital,[12] as homicides within the country have quadrupled in the past fifteen years;[13] has a “sky-high inflation”[14] rate of over 50 percent;[15] suffers acute scarcities of food and indispensable products;[16] and, has a weak and artificial economy where citizens “pay up to four times as much as the market price.”[17] Furthermore, there is evident censorship of the news media, as the government attempts to silence any expressions of dissent. The government, through the Venezuelan National Telecommunications Commission, controls a majority of the television stations.[18] Similarly, independent radio is practically non-existent, and the government also has control over the sale of newsprint.[19] Finally, Maduro was said to win the presidential election with a meager 1.5 percent margin of victory over the opposition’s candidate;[20] however, his victory was, and still is, disputed by the Venezuelan opposition, as the result is suspected to be fraudulent[21] and the government subsequently denied a vote recount.[22] Since then, the opposition population has considered Maduro an illegitimate president.[23] For all the mentioned reasons, students started protesting in the western part of the country. The protests turned violent,[24] and as a result, several students were arrested. It was this latter event that led to demonstrations in Caracas on February 12, 2014, Venezuela’s National Youth Day.[25] Opposition leaders and students from across the country came together in a peaceful manifestation to express their discontent with Maduro’s regimen, and also to call for the release of the arrested students.[26] Clashes between anti-government protestors on one side, and the Colectivos and the security forces on the other resulted in the deaths of three people, dozens of injuries, and around another 100 arrested.[27] According to Venezuela’s Attorney General, more than one-third of those detained were students.[28] As a result, thousands of Venezuelans decided to enjoy the manifestations in different cities throughout the country; including at least nearly half of the population that voted against Maduro, meaning that the protestors included thousands living in poverty, a group which Maduro claims to represent.[29] For his part, Maduro condemned protestors as a group of “fascists” that form part of a subversive campaign hatched in the United States.[30] Hence, he has chosen to repress the dissenting demonstrations.[31] Even though the protests were initially peaceful, they often turned violent. Still, security forces have responded with “excessive and unlawful force against protestors on multiple occasions . including beating detainees and shooting at crowds of unarmed people.”[32] Additionally, national authorities have intentionally acted with a negligent attitude with respect to the participation of pro-government armed groups operating as paramilitary units and exercising acts of violence against civilians.[33] The media censorship in Venezuela, as well as photo manipulation by both sides in the conflict, made it difficult initially for other countries and international organizations to form a complete picture of what was truly happening in the protests.[34] This is especially true since the local TV channels are barely covering the massive anti-government manifestations; therefore, Venezuelans have been turning to social media to stay informed.[35] Nonetheless, media blackouts have obstructed the flow of information during some of the most violent clashes between anti-government protesters and national authorities.[36] More alarming, in some states, the internet was completely shut off for several days;[37] transmissions of TV channels that criticized the government were blocked;[38] and other media were threatened in case they decided to cover the events in the streets in their news reports.[39] For instance, when CNN reporters’ coverage of the protests favored the opposition,[40] Maduro publicly announced possible measures to take the channel off the airwaves in Venezuela.[41] Likewise, local and international journalists covering the protests, as well as human rights activists “have reported being subject to acts of violence and intimidation by government agents or supporters.”[42] For all these reasons, international organizations such as Amnesty International[43] and Human Rights Watch[44] have expressed concern about the situation in Venezuela. Similarly, a group of independent United Nations (“UN”) Human Rights Experts has prompted the Venezuelan government to clarify and investigate the allegations of arbitrary detention, with protesters reported having been tortured by security forces, kept isolated during detention, and denied access to legal assistance.[45] The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, has prompted the Venezuela government to “listen carefully to the aspirations”[46] of the opposition and engage in a peaceful dialogue. Meanwhile, local organizations engaging in the defense of human rights in Venezuela have documented, through witnesses, amateur videos, and pictures, the systematic violation of Venezuelan citizens’ human rights.[47] As a result, on March 10, 2014, Juan Mendez, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Convention against Torture, received new allegations of cases of torture by the security forces.[48] Mendez, consequently, has solicited an intense investigation into these allegations, since he found substantiated evidence to sustain cases of severe torture against protestors.[49] On April 8, 2014, a petition to