1 THISTHIS ISIS NONO WAY TOTO LIVE PUBLICPUBLIC SECURITYSECURITY AND RIGHTRIGHT AMNESTYAMNESTY INTERNATIONALINTERNATIONAL TO LIFE IN VENEZUELAVENEZUELA Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. © Amnesty International 2018 Except where otherwise noted, content in this document is licensed under a Creative Commons (attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives, international 4.0) licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode For more information please visit the permissions page on our website: www.amnesty.org Where material is attributed to a copyright owner other than Amnesty International this material is not subject to the Creative Commons licence First published in 2018 by Amnesty International Ltd Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW, UK Cover photo: © 2018 © Amnesty International | Carlos Ramírez Index: AMR 53/8975/2018 Original language: Spanish amnesty.org Proyect Reengineering of Citizen Security © Amnesty International 2018 | Carlos Ramírez CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 METHODOLOGY 8 VENEZUELA'S HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS 9 1. ALWAYS THE WRONG TIME, WRONG PLACE: EVER-PRESENT VIOLENCE 11 1.1. RESPONSIBILITY FOR COMMON CRIMES 11 1.2. HOMICIDE RATES: THEN AND NOW 12 1.3. ARMED VIOLENCE 13 1.4. URBAN VIOLENCE 15 1.5. THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE: YOUNG MEN LIVING IN POVERTY 16 1.6. NO ONE IS SAFE FROM THE VIOLENCE 17 1.7. IMPUNITY FOR COMMON CRIMES 18 1.8. OFFICIALLY NON-EXISTENT: THE LACK OF OFFICIAL FIGURES 18 2. FIGHTING VIOLENCE WITH MORE VIOLENCE 21 2.1. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC SECURITY (2000-2017) 21 2.2. GUN CONTROL 24 2.3. OLD HABITS HINDER POLICE REFORMS 26 2.4. A MILITARY APPROACH TO PUBLIC ORDER POLICING 33 2.5. ABUSIVE AND EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE: USING EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS AS A RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE 35 2.6. WAITING FOR JUSTICE: THE STRUGGLE AGAINST IMPUNITY AND FOR REPARATION 44 3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 53 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS (Centros Comunitarios de Aprendizaje por los Derechos de la Niñez y Adolescencia) %'%1&#2 Community Learning Centres for Child and Adolescent Rights %WGTRQ FG +PXGUVKICEKQPGU %KGPVÉƂECU 2GPCNGU [ %TKOKPCNÉUVKECU (QTGPUKE %TKOKPCN CICPC +PXGUVKICVKQPU2QNKEG%QOKVÅFG(COKNKCTGUFGNCU8ÉEVKOCUFGNQUUWEGUQUFGHGDTGTQ[OCT\Q de 1989 (Comisión Presidencial para el Control de Armas, Municiones y Desarme) Presidential %1&'5#4/' Commission for the Control of Weapons, Ammunition and Disarmament %QOKVÅ FG (COKNKCTGU FG NCU 8ÉEVKOCU FG NQU UWEGUQU FG HGDTGTQ [ OCT\Q FG %1(#8+% %QOOKVVGGQH4GNCVKXGUQHVJG8KEVKOUQHVJGGXGPVUQH(GDTWCT[CPF/CTEJ &+$+5' (Dispositivo Bicentenario de Seguridad) Bicentenary Security Plan GNB (Guardia Nacional Bolivariana) Bolivarian National Guard MPPS (Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Salud) Ministry of People's Power for Health OLP (Operación Liberación y Protección del Pueblo) Operation Liberation and Protection of 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