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VENEZUELA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Venezuela Is a Multiparty Constitutional Republic. in 2006 Voters Reelected President Hugo Chavez F

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VENEZUELA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Venezuela Is a Multiparty Constitutional Republic. in 2006 Voters Reelected President Hugo Chavez F VENEZUELA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Venezuela is a multiparty constitutional republic. In 2006 voters reelected President Hugo Chavez Frias of the Fifth Republic Movement party. International observer missions deemed the elections generally free and fair but noted some irregularities. In September 2010 voters elected 165 deputies to the National Assembly. Voting on election day was generally free and fair with scattered reports of irregularities. However, domestic election observers and opposition political parties criticized both the electoral law, claiming it violated the constitutional principle of proportionality, and the government’s partisan use of state-owned media. There were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of civilian control. Concentration of power in the executive branch continued to increase significantly. An Enabling Law enacted by the outgoing National Assembly in December 2010 (less than three weeks before newly elected members took office) gave the president broad authority to decree laws for a period of 18 months without consultation or approval by the elected National Assembly. The law responded to the president’s request for authorities necessary to deal with the emergency created by floods in late 2010. Using this authority President Chavez decreed 26 laws, including a number of provisions restricting fundamental economic and property rights. The principal human rights abuses reported during the year included government actions to impede freedom of expression and criminalize dissent. The government harassed and intimidated privately owned television stations, other media outlets, and journalists throughout the year, using threats, fines, property seizures, targeted regulations, and criminal investigations and prosecutions. The government did not respect judicial independence or permit judges to act according to the law without fear of retaliation. The government used the judiciary to intimidate and selectively prosecute political, union, business, and civil society leaders who were critical of government policies or actions. Failure to provide for the due process rights, physical safety, and humane conditions for inmates contributed to widespread violence, riots, injuries, and deaths in the country’s prisons. In addition, the following human rights problems were reported by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the media, and in some cases the government itself: unlawful killings, including summary executions of criminal Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor VENEZUELA 2 suspects; torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; prison violence and harsh prison conditions; inadequate juvenile detention centers; arbitrary arrests and detentions; corruption and impunity in police forces; corruption, inefficiency, and politicization in a judicial system characterized by trial delays and violations of due process; political prisoners; interference with privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of expression; corruption at all levels of government; threats against domestic NGOs; violence against women; anti-Semitism in the official media; trafficking in persons; violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity; and restrictions on workers’ right of association. The government sometimes took steps to punish lower-ranking officials who committed abuses, but there were no investigations or prosecutions of senior officials for alleged corruption or abuses. Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life The government or its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings, but security forces were accused of committing unlawful killings, including summary executions of criminal suspects. There were several reports that security forces committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. The human rights NGO Venezuelan Program of Action and Education in Human Rights (PROVEA) reported 173 deaths due to security force actions between October 2010 and September 2011, a 27 percent decrease compared with the preceding 12 months. The causes of death were categorized as 129 killings, seven cases of excessive use of force, 15 cases of indiscriminate use of force, 12 cases of torture or cruel treatment, and two cases of negligence. Prosecutors occasionally brought cases against such perpetrators. Sentences frequently were light, and convictions often were overturned on appeal. According to PROVEA, 37 national, state, and municipal police entities as well as the armed forces were involved in extrajudicial killings between October 2010 and September 2011, with the Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigative Corps (CICPC) and the National Guard associated with the most violations. There was no information available on the numbers of public officials who were prosecuted or received prison sentences for involvement in extrajudicial killings. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor VENEZUELA 3 On May 28, two hooded assailants killed Juan Jose Barrios, making him the seventh member of his family to be killed allegedly by Aragua State police agents since the Barrios family publicly complained of police abuse in Aragua in 1998. On June 2, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) issued a statement deploring the killing and stating that “the Venezuelan state has not adopted the necessary measures to protect the life of the members of this family, who continue to be targets of assassination, detention, raids, threats and harassment” (see section 1.e.). The Barrios family has been under IACHR protection orders since 2004. On May 26, three detainees, Pedro Rivero, William Perez, and Ruben Arnal, died in a detention facility in the El Rosal section of Caracas. The CICPC initially claimed the deaths resulted from asphyxiation related to drug abuse, but a Public Ministry investigation showed that the bodies exhibited signs of torture. According to press reports, other inmates claimed the guards had beaten the men, subjected them to electric shock, and covered their heads with pesticide-filled bags. The Public Ministry accused six CICPC officers, Evert Rondon, Miguel Hernandez, Edgard Humbria, Michael Borges, Jepzon Diaz, and Alfredo Suarez, of intentional homicide, cruel treatment, and violation of international treaties and pacts. The Public Ministry also accused the original pathologist, Franklin Perez, with attempted cover-up, falsifying documents, and violation of international treaties and pacts. On October 13, the six CICPC officers were indicted on all charges, and at year’s end they remained in detention awaiting trial. On June 21, a court composed of one professional judge and two jurors acquitted the 10 Lara state police officers charged in the 2008 torture and killing of six persons in Chabasquen, Portuguesa State. The judge abstained in the decision. The government continued to prosecute individuals connected with the 1989 killings in Caracas known as the “Caracazo,” in which the Public Ministry estimated 331 individuals died; the 1988 El Amparo massacre, in which government security forces allegedly killed 14 persons; the 1986 Yumare massacre, in which nine persons were killed; and the 1982 Cantaura massacre, in which armed forces and intelligence service members allegedly killed 25 persons. For example: • Caracazo: On May 6, the Public Ministry charged the former governor of the Federal District (now Capital District), Virgilio Avila Vivas, with intentional homicide and violation of international pacts and treaties. On October 1, the court ordered to trial former defense minister Italo del Valle Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor VENEZUELA 4 Alliegro; the former Metropolitan Police commandant, retired general Jose Rafael Leon Orsoni; former second commandant of the Metropolitan Police Luis Guillermo Fuentes Serra; and retired general Freddy Maya Cardona for their actions during the Caracazo massacre. Fuentes Serra and Maya Cardona had been indicted on February 9 for premeditated murder and violation of international agreements in connection with the deaths of 21 and 10 victims, respectively. • El Amparo: In April PROVEA requested a meeting with representatives of the Prosecutor General’s Office, survivors of the massacre, and families of the victims to obtain information on the government’s actions to investigate the massacre. PROVEA also requested that, pursuant to a 2010 resolution of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the government present a timeline with planned actions to investigate and prosecute those responsible. The government did not respond to PROVEA’s request. • Yumare: In May the court sentenced retired general Alexis Ramon Sanchez Paz to 13 years in prison for his involvement in the massacre. Sanchez admitted responsibility. • Cantaura: Neither the National Assembly nor the government took action on petitions submitted by PROVEA requesting the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of newly elected Deputy Roger Cordero Lara and his investigation for alleged involvement (as pilot of one of the airplanes) in the bombardment of the Cantaura guerrilla camp. On October 18, the National Assembly enacted the Law to Punish Crimes, Disappearances, Torture, and Other Human Rights Violations for Political Reasons
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