Human rights in Venezuela
Encyclopedia
The Venezuelan Government has been the subject of criticism from human rights advocates. Human rights organizations have expressed concern about widespread attacks against journalists, harassment of human rights defenders and poor prison conditions. The 2008 Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index
rated Venezuela as a "Hybrid Regime", and as the least democratic state in South America.
included a range of human rights
. Venezuela ratified the American Convention on Human Rights
in 1977. This makes it part of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
. Between 1977 and 1998, "a time period marked by many human rights crimes including the murder, disappearance, and torture of leftist political dissidents", the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) brought six cases against Venezuela. Between 1998 and 2009 the IACHR brought around 150 cases.
Following the election of Hugo Chávez
, the 1961 constitution was replaced by a new constitution in 1999 which sought to secure a wider range of human rights, such as Health care as a human right. Of the 350 articles in the 1999 constitution, 116 are dedicated to duties, human rights, and guarantees, including a chapter on the rights of the indigenous peoples.
, Armed Forces of National Liberation (Venezuela), Communist Party of Venezuela
.
, which successive Venezuelan governments failed to investigate, despite requests from human rights groups such as Amnesty International
, and instructions from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
. (In July 2009, then-defence minister Italo del Valle Alliegro was charged in relation to the Caracazo.)
and the restoEleazar López Contreras
, drawn up twenty years before the transition to democracy. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled the courts unconstitutional, but not on the due process
grounds for which they were criticised, but on the grounds that the President had neglected to suspend the relevant constitutional rights (right to a defence, right to be tried by one's natural judge).
During the 1989–1993 Perez period the violent repression of protest was commonplace, with one of every three demonstrations repressed. During the Caldera administration it fell, and toward the middle of this the proportion of demonstrations repressed had fallen to one of every six.
2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt.
is mentioned by two key clauses in the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela
. The right to freedom of expression is set out in Article 57 and Article 58 of the Constitution. The right to express opinions freely without censorship (Article 57) and the right to reply (Article 58) are generally in line with international standards. However, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) expressed concern about Article 58 of the Constitution
, which provides that "Everyone has the right to timely, truthful, impartial and uncensored information." The Commission took issue with the right to "truthful and timely" information arguing that this is "a kind of prior censorship prohibited in the American Convention on Human Rights
."
Concerns about freedom of the press in Venezuela have been raised by Human Rights Watch
, Amnesty International
, the Inter American Press Association, the International Press Institute
, the United States Department of State
, Reporters without Borders
, representatives of the Catholic Church, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
, and others.
The issue of press freedom in Venezuela is complicated by the way in which the private media's strong opposition
to the Presidency and policies of Hugo Chávez
has extended to support for non-electoral means of removing him from office, including the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt. In May 2007 RCTV
's terrestrial broadcast licence was not renewed on the basis of its support for the coup; it continues to broadcast by satellite and cable. After RCTV
lost its terrestrial broadcast licence, private television media remained opposed to the Chavez government, but in most cases moderated that opposition by presenting more government spokesmen; Globovision
is now perhaps the most vocally and stridently anti-Chavez television station.
In March 2009 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
concluded two cases brought against Venezuela by the private Venezuelan TV stations Globovisión
and RCTV
. It concluded that the Venezuelan government had not violated the right to freedom of expression, equality before the law, or private property, but that the government had failed to do enough to prevent and punish acts of intimidation against journalists by third parties, as required by the American Convention on Human Rights
. In May 2009 Venezuela's Supreme Court denied a request for a restraining order brought by a charitable foundation against RCTV and Globovision. The foundation had argued that the TV stations had incited violence and encouraged a coup d'état against the government, and that this was a violation of Article 58 of the Constitution. The foundation also accused the stations of false reporting over alleged links between FARC and the Chavez government. The Court said a restraining order required an "immediate and executable" threat.
A 1993 Human Rights Watch
report declared that "the administration of justice is in crisis. [Civilian] courts are undermined by politicization, corruption, inefficiency and lack of resources." Part of the problem was identified as the "pivotal role" of the judge in criminal trials in managing investigations, including directing the Judicial Technical Police
. Complex cases can overwhelm even conscientious judges, and the system easily provides "plausible cover for judicial inaction". The report noted that "the perception is widespread - among lawyers, judges and fiscales as well as ordinary citizens - that corruption has tainted every level of the judicial system..." Prior to 1991, the appointment of judges (via the Judicial Council) was "frankly partisan"; subsequently, open competition and objective criteria mitigated the influence of politics somewhat.
A major long-term problem has been the failure of justice arising from structural delays in the justice system: in 1990 the average court received 675 new cases, and reached decisions on 120. In Caracas the average court took 286 days to complete the investigation phase of trials, against the legal maximum of 34; and 794 days to reach the sentencing phase, against the legal maximum of 68. As a result of the judicial backlog, many prisoners eventually convicted will have spent longer in detention at the time of sentencing than the maximum sentence permitted for their crimes. The backlog also contributes significantly to the overcrowding of Venezuela's prisons.
s. Human rights and legal policy groups say that there are more than 40 political prisoners in Venezuela, and that 2,000 Chávez opponents are under investigation. Venezuela's political opposition complains that the justice system is controlled by the government and is used as a political instrument against Chavez' opponents. The opposition cites corruption charges filed against a variety of opposition figures, including opposition leader Manuel Rosales
, former Defense Minister Raul Baduel
, and former Governors Eduardo Manuitt and Didalco Bolivar
.
The opposition also claims that government of Hugo Chávez is targeting university students. Some have been jailed under charges of "destabilizing the government," or "inciting civil war." Students have launched hunger strikes over the government's treatment of alleged political prisoners.
In 2007, Eligio Cedeno, then President of Bolivar-Banpro Financial Group, was arrested in a crackdown by Venezuelan officials on individuals circumventing government currency rules to gain U.S. dollars. On February 8, 2007, Cedeño was accused by the Venezuelan Attorney General of aiding Consorcio MicroStar with illegal dollar transactions. Over the next year prosecutors repeatedly failed to turn up for court dates, leading to accusations that the case was being strung out due to a lack of evidence. Partly as a result, the United Nations
' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
in September 2009 declared Cedeno's detention arbitrary.
Held in jail pending trial for 34 months, Cedeño was paroled on 10 December 2009. By the 19th Cedeño had fled to the United States, where he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement until 23 December 2009 when he was released on parole pending an immigration hearing.
Cedeño claims that he became a target of the Chávez government, as a consequence of his support for political
opponents of Chávez.
Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni was arrested after ordering the release of Eligio Cedeño on corruption charges.
In December 2009 three independent human rights experts of the United Nations
' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
called for her immediate and unconditional release.
Richard Blanco, a male local government official from Caracas, was arrested in Caracas in August 2009, charged with inciting violence and injuring a police officer during a demonstration. Amnesty International said that "his detention appears to be politically motivated", saying that the video evidence provided to support the charges did not show any evidence of violence or incitement by Blanco. Amnesty asked for his liberation. He was freed on bail in April 2010.
.
is characterized by inefficiency and low investment, with 70 percent of agricultural land owned by 3 percent of agricultural proprietors (one of the highest levels of land concentration in Latin America). According to the Land and Agricultural Reform Law of 2001 (see Mission Zamora
), public and private land deemed to be illegally held or unproductive is to be redistributed. From 1999 to 2006, 130 landless workers were assassinated by sicarios paid by opponents to the reform.
concluded that "Venezuelan prisons are catastrophic, one of the worst in the American hemisphere, violating the Venezuelan State international obligations on human rights." Key problems included violence (in 1994 there were nearly 500 deaths, including around 100 in a single riot), corruption, and (as the US State Department 1996 report put it) "overcrowding so severe as to constitute inhuman and degrading treatment".
"Venezuela's penitentiary system, considered one of the most violent in Latin America, has 29 prisons and 16 penitentiaries holding some 20,000 inmates".http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=349749&CategoryId=10717
In 2008 the Attorney General announced the creation of an investigative team to look into over 6000 reports of extrajudicial killings between 2000 and 2007.
, a two-party system led by "two hegemonic and highly centralized and clientelist political parties", Accion Democratica and COPEI
, in what was often called "partidocracia" (partyarchy). The two parties "penetrated and came to dominate so many of the other organisations in civil society, including trade unions, that they enjoyed a virtual monopoly over the political process." Party organisation was extensive, with, the Church and business associations aside, practically every civil society organisation run by leaders identifying with one or other of the parties. It was also intensive, with members risking expulsion, and thus exclusion from the party's patronage, for disobeying party decisions. "The Leninist principle of democratic centralism even received explicit endorsement in the AD's party statutes." Elected representatives of the parties strayed from the party line so infrequently that Congressional leaders did not tally votes, relying solely on the relative sizes of the parties. "Labor leaders usually refrained from calling strikes when their party was in power, and the politicized officers of professional associations, student governments, peasant federations, state enterprises, foundations, and most other organizations used their positions to further the interests of their party."
Key to the maintenance of the partyarchy was a system of "concertacion" (consultation), in which the two parties would consult with each other, and with other actors (notably business and the military), seeking consensus on controversial issues. Where consensus failed, the attempts to achieve it at least mollified the opposition. Concertacion also involved complicity with widespread corruption, with the parties acting as if the Punto Fijo Pact had prohibited prosections for corruption. "The courts - like the bureaucracy, the universities, and most other institutions - were thoroughly politicized along party lines and seemed never to find sufficient evidence to justify a trial or a conviction." Threats to the partyarchy - that is, organisations which sought to challenge it or at least remain outside its control - were largely co-opted by a variety of tactics, including, if necessary, "paralelismo" (the creation of a parallel organisation with a similar purpose and far greater political and economic support).
Only with the economic crisis, particularly in the late 80s and early 90s, did the system of partyarchy weaken substantially, as the resources available for patronage declined dramatically. The ability to co-opt new organisations, particular the neighbourhood associations protesting the failure of public services, was weakened. By the 1998 presidential elections the candidates put up by AD and COPEI won less than 6% of the vote combined.
Tascon List
In 2007 Venezuela passed a "Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence", and instituted a number of other measures against domestic violence
. In 2008 Amnesty International
called the law "an example for the rest of the region," but noted that effective implementation would require political will and adequate resources. In July 2009 a proposed "Organic Law for Gender Equality" included a controversial provision for same-sex civil union
s.
Abortion in Venezuela
is currently illegal except in cases of a threat to the life of the pregnant woman.
. Prior to the creation of the 1999 constitution, legal rights for indigenous peoples
were increasingly lagging behind other Latin American countries, which were progressively enshrining a common set of indigenous collective rights in their national constitutions. In the beginning of the 19th century the government of Venezuela did little for indigenous peoples, more so they were pushed away from the agricultural centre to the periphery. In 1913, during a rubber boom
, colonel Jordan Hess seized control of Amazonas’ San Fernando de Atabapo
, where 100 settlers were killed. In the following nine years, Funes destroyed dozens of Ye'kuana
villages and killed several thousands Ye'kuana. In 1961 a new constitution came, but instead of improving the rights of indigenous peoples, this constitution was actually a step backward from the previous 1947 constitution.
In 1999, a new constitution was formed, the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution. In this constitution Chávez, being mixed of indigenous descent himself, aimed for the improvement of human rights, mainly those of women and indigenous peoples. The constitution stated that three seats should be reserved for indigenous delegates in the 131-member constitutional assembly
and two additional indigenous delegates won unreserved seats in the assembly elections. Ultimately the constitutional process produced "the region's most progressive indigenous rights regime". Innovations included Article 125's guarantee of political representation at all levels of government, and Article 124's prohibition on "the registration of patents related to indigenous genetic resources or intellectual property associated with indigenous knowledge." The new constitution followed the example of Colombia in reserving parliamentary seats for indigenous delegates (three in Venezuela's National Assembly); and it was the first Latin American constitution to reserve indigenous seats in state assemblies and municipal councils in districts with indigenous population.
The Yukpa did receive 40,000 hectares of land from the government in 2009, but one of several Yukpa leaders, Sabino Romero, opposed the government land grant initiative, calling it a "divisive measure". In mid 2010, Sabino Romero participated in a protest outside of the Venezuelan Supreme Court demanding the indigenous justice system be respected. "We have our culture, our justice system. We can judge and punish those guilty of damage to the community without our chiefs having to be prisoners under the Creole law," said Romero in an interview. Now, in 2011, some 12 years after the constitution was formed no real improvements are visible. The indigenous peoples of Venezuela were given special rights
through the 1999 constitution, however, the vast majority of these people still live in very critical conditiones of poverty. The largest groups do receive education, but only some basic primary education in their languages.
Americas Director Jose Miguel Vivanco, over the publication of a report entitled "A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela", which discussed systematic violations to human, civil and political rights. HRW's report was the subject of debate in late 2008 – early 2009 after 118 scholars from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, México, the United States, the U.K., Venezuela, and other countries publicly criticized HRW for a perceived bias against the government of Venezuela
. On 17 December 2008 an open letter
was sent to the HRW Board of Directors in response to the HRW report. The open letter criticized the report by stating that it "does not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or credibility." The letter also criticized the lead author of the report, Jose Miguel Vivanco, for his "political agenda
" (he had declared that he wanted to show that Venezuela was "no model for anyone"), and called on Mr. Vivanco to discuss or debate his claims in "any public forum of his choosing".
. Amongst other issues raised (including failure to address unsolved murders and extrajudicial executions) the report declared Venezuela "a hostile environment for political dissent." Venezuela's Foreign Ministry responded that "The IACHR has abandoned its role as an international organism for the protection of human rights... and converted itself into a political instrument of the national and international sectors which, for ideological reasons, attack the progressive governments of the region", and noted that the IACHR had recognised the two-day interim government installed during the 2002 coup. IACHR President Luz Patricia Mejía acknowledged the report's heavy reliance on Venezuelan private media sources, and recommended an internal debate at the next OAS summit. Venezuela has said it will not accept an IACHR visit as long as Santiago Cantón remains its Executive Secretary, unless the IACHR apologises for its actions in relation to the 2002 coup.
A 2010 OAS report indicated "achievements with regard to the eradication of illiteracy, the set up of a primary health network, land distribution and the reduction of poverty", and "improvements in the areas of economic, social, and cultural rights". The report also found "blistering" concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism, press freedom, control of the judiciary, threats to democracy, political intimidation, and "the existence of a pattern of impunity in cases of violence, which particularly affects media workers, human rights defenders, trade unionists, participants in public demonstrations, people held in custody, 'campesinos' (small-scale and subsistence farmers), indigenous people, and women", as well as erosion of separation of powers and "severe economic, infrastructure, and social headaches", and "chronic problems including power blackouts, soaring crime, and a perceived lack of investment in crucial sectors". According to the National Public Radio, the report discusses decreasing rights of opposition to the government and "goes into heavy detail" about control of the judiciary. It says elections are free, but the state has increasing control over media and state resources used during election campaigns, and opposition elected officials have "been prevented from actually carrying out their duties afterward". CNN says the "lack of independence by Venezuela's judiciary and legislature in their dealings with leftist President Hugo Chávez often leads to the abuses", and the Wall Street Journal blames the government of Chavez.
Chávez rejected the 2010 OAS report, calling it "pure garbage", and said Venezuela should boycott the OAS; a spokesperson said, "We don't recognize the commission as an impartial institution". He disclaims any power to influence the judiciary. A Venezuelan official said the report distorts and takes statistics out of context, saying that "human rights violations in Venezuela have decreased".
passed a February 2010 resolution expressing "concern about the movement toward authoritarianism" by Chavez.
Democracy Index
The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that claims to measure the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are UN member states...
rated Venezuela as a "Hybrid Regime", and as the least democratic state in South America.
Legal framework
The 1961 Constitution of VenezuelaConstitution of Venezuela
||The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the current and twenty-sixth constitution of Venezuela. It was drafted in mid-1999 by a constitutional assembly that had been created by popular referendum. Adopted in December 1999, it replaced the 1961 Constitution - the longest...
included a range of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
. Venezuela ratified the American Convention on Human Rights
American Convention on Human Rights
The American Convention on Human Rights is an international human rights instrument.It was adopted by the nations of the Americas meeting in San José, Costa Rica, in 22 November 1969...
in 1977. This makes it part of the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
. Between 1977 and 1998, "a time period marked by many human rights crimes including the murder, disappearance, and torture of leftist political dissidents", the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...
(IACHR) brought six cases against Venezuela. Between 1998 and 2009 the IACHR brought around 150 cases.
- International Covenant on Civil and Political RightsInternational Covenant on Civil and Political RightsThe International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from March 23, 1976...
(Human Rights CommitteeHuman Rights CommitteeThe United Nations Human Rights Committee is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year for four-week sessions to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by 162 UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,...
) - International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsInternational Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsThe International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 16, 1966, and in force from January 3, 1976...
(Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsCommittee on Economic, Social and Cultural RightsThe Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is a United Nations body of 18 experts that meets three times a year to consider the five-yearly reports submitted by UN member states on their compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights...
)
Following the election of Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
, the 1961 constitution was replaced by a new constitution in 1999 which sought to secure a wider range of human rights, such as Health care as a human right. Of the 350 articles in the 1999 constitution, 116 are dedicated to duties, human rights, and guarantees, including a chapter on the rights of the indigenous peoples.
1958–1989
This was "a time period marked by many human rights crimes including the murder, disappearance, and torture of leftist political dissidents". cf Douglas BravoDouglas Bravo
Douglas Bravo is a former guerrilla fighter and Venezuelan politician.Bravo became a member of the Communist Party of Venezuela in 1946, only to be expelled from it in 1964....
, Armed Forces of National Liberation (Venezuela), Communist Party of Venezuela
Communist Party of Venezuela
The Communist Party of Venezuela is a Marxist-Leninist political party, and the oldest continuously existing party in Venezuela...
.
- Yumare MassacreYumare MassacreThe Yumare Massacre was an incident in which the DISIP executed nine unarmed members of the subversive group Punto Cero. It took place on 8 May 1986 in Yaracuy state, Venezuela...
(1986) - Massacre of El AmparoMassacre of El AmparoThe Massacre of El Amparo was a massacre of 14 fishermen which took place near the village of El Amparo, in Venezuela's western state of Apure, on 29 October 1988...
(1988)
Caracazo, 1989
One of the six cases brought against Venezuela by the IACHR between 1977 and 1998 related to the 1989 CaracazoCaracazo
The Caracazo or sacudón is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting and ensuing massacre that occurred on 27 February 1989 in the Venezuelan capital Caracas and surrounding towns. The riots — the worst in Venezuelan history — resulted in a death toll of anywhere between...
, which successive Venezuelan governments failed to investigate, despite requests from human rights groups such as Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, and instructions from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
. (In July 2009, then-defence minister Italo del Valle Alliegro was charged in relation to the Caracazo.)
1990s
With increasing instability of the political system in the face of economic crisis, Venezuela saw two coup attempts in 1992; one of which was led by current president Hugo Chávez. Both failed, and in the process of resisting the coup attempts, government agents were reported to have killed forty people, both civilians and surrendered rebels, either as extrajudicial executions, or through the use of disproportionate force. Arbitrary detentions numbered in the hundreds, and continued for some time after the events, and involved student leaders and other civic leaders not connected with the coup attempts. In addition, freedom of expression was suspended for two months in the February case, and three weeks in the November case, and involved censorship of the media. A series of demonstrations in March/April calling for the resignation of President Carlos Andrés PérezCarlos Andrés Pérez
Carlos Andrés Pérez Rodríguez , also known as CAP and often referred to as El Gocho , was a Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993. His first presidency was known as the Saudi Venezuela due to its economic and social prosperity thanks to...
and the resto
Eleazar López Contreras
José Eleazar López Contreras was President of Venezuela . López was a general and one of Juan Vicente Gómez's collaborators.Eleazar López was the only child of Col. Manuel Maria López and Catalina Contreras...
, drawn up twenty years before the transition to democracy. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled the courts unconstitutional, but not on the due process
Due process
Due process is the legal code that the state must venerate all of the legal rights that are owed to a person under the principle. Due process balances the power of the state law of the land and thus protects individual persons from it...
grounds for which they were criticised, but on the grounds that the President had neglected to suspend the relevant constitutional rights (right to a defence, right to be tried by one's natural judge).
During the 1989–1993 Perez period the violent repression of protest was commonplace, with one of every three demonstrations repressed. During the Caldera administration it fell, and toward the middle of this the proportion of demonstrations repressed had fallen to one of every six.
2000s
Under the Chavez government, "there has been greater recognition of the right to protest, and this has been institutionalized." The violent repression of demonstrations fell to 1 in 25 in 1998-99, and to 1 in 36 by 2002-3.2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt.
Press freedom
The freedom of the pressFreedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
is mentioned by two key clauses in the 1999 Constitution of Venezuela
Constitution of Venezuela
||The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is the current and twenty-sixth constitution of Venezuela. It was drafted in mid-1999 by a constitutional assembly that had been created by popular referendum. Adopted in December 1999, it replaced the 1961 Constitution - the longest...
. The right to freedom of expression is set out in Article 57 and Article 58 of the Constitution. The right to express opinions freely without censorship (Article 57) and the right to reply (Article 58) are generally in line with international standards. However, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...
(IACHR) expressed concern about Article 58 of the Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
, which provides that "Everyone has the right to timely, truthful, impartial and uncensored information." The Commission took issue with the right to "truthful and timely" information arguing that this is "a kind of prior censorship prohibited in the American Convention on Human Rights
American Convention on Human Rights
The American Convention on Human Rights is an international human rights instrument.It was adopted by the nations of the Americas meeting in San José, Costa Rica, in 22 November 1969...
."
Concerns about freedom of the press in Venezuela have been raised by Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, the Inter American Press Association, the International Press Institute
International Press Institute
International Press Institute is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. Founded in October 1950, the IPI has members in over 120 countries....
, the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, Reporters without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
, representatives of the Catholic Church, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is an autonomous organ of the Organization of American States .Along with the...
, and others.
The issue of press freedom in Venezuela is complicated by the way in which the private media's strong opposition
Media representation of Hugo Chávez
The media representation of Hugo Chávez involves the portrayal of the current President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, in both the Venezuelan and international media.-Overview:...
to the Presidency and policies of Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
has extended to support for non-electoral means of removing him from office, including the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt. In May 2007 RCTV
RCTV
Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional is a Venezuelan cable television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC, RCTV Internacional was inaugurated as Radio Caracas Televisión on 15 November...
's terrestrial broadcast licence was not renewed on the basis of its support for the coup; it continues to broadcast by satellite and cable. After RCTV
RCTV
Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional is a Venezuelan cable television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC, RCTV Internacional was inaugurated as Radio Caracas Televisión on 15 November...
lost its terrestrial broadcast licence, private television media remained opposed to the Chavez government, but in most cases moderated that opposition by presenting more government spokesmen; Globovision
Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
is now perhaps the most vocally and stridently anti-Chavez television station.
In March 2009 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights is an autonomous judicial institution based in the city of San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it makes up the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States , which serves to uphold and...
concluded two cases brought against Venezuela by the private Venezuelan TV stations Globovisión
Globovisión
Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network in Venezuela. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite and worldwide from their website...
and RCTV
RCTV
Radio Caracas Televisión Internacional is a Venezuelan cable television network headquartered in the Caracas neighborhood of Quinta Crespo. It was sometimes referred to as the Canal de Bárcenas. Owned by Empresas 1BC, RCTV Internacional was inaugurated as Radio Caracas Televisión on 15 November...
. It concluded that the Venezuelan government had not violated the right to freedom of expression, equality before the law, or private property, but that the government had failed to do enough to prevent and punish acts of intimidation against journalists by third parties, as required by the American Convention on Human Rights
American Convention on Human Rights
The American Convention on Human Rights is an international human rights instrument.It was adopted by the nations of the Americas meeting in San José, Costa Rica, in 22 November 1969...
. In May 2009 Venezuela's Supreme Court denied a request for a restraining order brought by a charitable foundation against RCTV and Globovision. The foundation had argued that the TV stations had incited violence and encouraged a coup d'état against the government, and that this was a violation of Article 58 of the Constitution. The foundation also accused the stations of false reporting over alleged links between FARC and the Chavez government. The Court said a restraining order required an "immediate and executable" threat.
Administration of justice
Venezuela's justice system has been institutionally weak throughout its democratic period (since 1958). In addition to weak legislative oversight, the Venezuelan military exercises more authority over the judicial process than in most other countries. Crimes against "the independence and security of the nation, against liberty and against the public order" may be sent to military judges, and the armed forces control most law enforcement relating to border areas, actions by military personnel or by civilians in military-controlled areas, and crimes covered by both military and civilian law. Venezuelan law gives the police more authority than it does in most countries, and they have a central role in initiating and operating judicial proceedings; "the police have gradually assumed many of the functions of both the [Justice Ministry] and investigating judges". "This power has allowed abuses to spread throughout the judicial process", including regular use of false witnesses, invented facts and destroyed evidence, and false charges, as well as defying court orders, protecting accused officials, and harassing political activists. It has also meant that the justice system has long been particularly bad at investigating alleged abuses by state agents.A 1993 Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
report declared that "the administration of justice is in crisis. [Civilian] courts are undermined by politicization, corruption, inefficiency and lack of resources." Part of the problem was identified as the "pivotal role" of the judge in criminal trials in managing investigations, including directing the Judicial Technical Police
Cuerpo Tecnico de Policia Judicial
The Cuerpo Técnico de Policía Judicial was Venezuela's largest national police agency. Created in 1958, it was responsible for criminal investigations and forensic services, as well as counter-narcotics...
. Complex cases can overwhelm even conscientious judges, and the system easily provides "plausible cover for judicial inaction". The report noted that "the perception is widespread - among lawyers, judges and fiscales as well as ordinary citizens - that corruption has tainted every level of the judicial system..." Prior to 1991, the appointment of judges (via the Judicial Council) was "frankly partisan"; subsequently, open competition and objective criteria mitigated the influence of politics somewhat.
A major long-term problem has been the failure of justice arising from structural delays in the justice system: in 1990 the average court received 675 new cases, and reached decisions on 120. In Caracas the average court took 286 days to complete the investigation phase of trials, against the legal maximum of 34; and 794 days to reach the sentencing phase, against the legal maximum of 68. As a result of the judicial backlog, many prisoners eventually convicted will have spent longer in detention at the time of sentencing than the maximum sentence permitted for their crimes. The backlog also contributes significantly to the overcrowding of Venezuela's prisons.
Political prisoners in Venezuela
Venezuela is a country where the political opposition alleges that there are political prisonerPolitical prisoner
According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’....
s. Human rights and legal policy groups say that there are more than 40 political prisoners in Venezuela, and that 2,000 Chávez opponents are under investigation. Venezuela's political opposition complains that the justice system is controlled by the government and is used as a political instrument against Chavez' opponents. The opposition cites corruption charges filed against a variety of opposition figures, including opposition leader Manuel Rosales
Manuel Rosales
Manuel Antonio Rosales Guerrero is a Venezuelan educator and politician and was the most prominent opposition candidate in the 2006 presidential election, losing to incumbent Hugo Chávez...
, former Defense Minister Raul Baduel
Raúl Baduel
Raúl Isaías Baduel is a Venezuelan politician, retired general, and former Defense Minister under President Hugo Chávez. He was a member of Chavez' MBR-200, joining in December 1982.-Military:...
, and former Governors Eduardo Manuitt and Didalco Bolivar
Didalco Bolívar
Didalco Bolívar is a Venezuelan politician, and was Governor of Aragua State from 1995 to 2008. His first three election victories were as a representative of the Movement for Socialism. In the 2004 elections he represented For Social Democracy, a party he co-founded in 2003...
.
The opposition also claims that government of Hugo Chávez is targeting university students. Some have been jailed under charges of "destabilizing the government," or "inciting civil war." Students have launched hunger strikes over the government's treatment of alleged political prisoners.
Eligio Cedeno case
In 2007, Eligio Cedeno, then President of Bolivar-Banpro Financial Group, was arrested in a crackdown by Venezuelan officials on individuals circumventing government currency rules to gain U.S. dollars. On February 8, 2007, Cedeño was accused by the Venezuelan Attorney General of aiding Consorcio MicroStar with illegal dollar transactions. Over the next year prosecutors repeatedly failed to turn up for court dates, leading to accusations that the case was being strung out due to a lack of evidence. Partly as a result, the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a UN-mandated body of independent human rights experts that investigates cases of arbitrary arrest and detention that may be in violation of international human rights law....
in September 2009 declared Cedeno's detention arbitrary.
Held in jail pending trial for 34 months, Cedeño was paroled on 10 December 2009. By the 19th Cedeño had fled to the United States, where he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement until 23 December 2009 when he was released on parole pending an immigration hearing.
Cedeño claims that he became a target of the Chávez government, as a consequence of his support for political
opponents of Chávez.
Judge María Lourdes Afiuni
Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni was arrested after ordering the release of Eligio Cedeño on corruption charges.
In December 2009 three independent human rights experts of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is a UN-mandated body of independent human rights experts that investigates cases of arbitrary arrest and detention that may be in violation of international human rights law....
called for her immediate and unconditional release.
Richard Blanco
Richard Blanco, a male local government official from Caracas, was arrested in Caracas in August 2009, charged with inciting violence and injuring a police officer during a demonstration. Amnesty International said that "his detention appears to be politically motivated", saying that the video evidence provided to support the charges did not show any evidence of violence or incitement by Blanco. Amnesty asked for his liberation. He was freed on bail in April 2010.
Human trafficking
Venezuela is a signatory (December 2000) to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and ChildrenProtocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children
The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children is a protocol to the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime...
.
Agrarian violence
Venezuela's present-day agricultureAgriculture in Venezuela
Agriculture in Venezuela has a much smaller share of the economy than in any other Latin American country. From the discovery of oil in Venezuela in the early twentieth century to the 1940s, the importance of agriculture declined rapidly, and with the beginning of large-scale industrial development...
is characterized by inefficiency and low investment, with 70 percent of agricultural land owned by 3 percent of agricultural proprietors (one of the highest levels of land concentration in Latin America). According to the Land and Agricultural Reform Law of 2001 (see Mission Zamora
Mission Zamora
Mission Zamora is an integrated land reform and land redistribution program in Venezuela, created in law by the Ley de Tierras , part of a package of 49 decrees made by Hugo Chávez in November 2001...
), public and private land deemed to be illegally held or unproductive is to be redistributed. From 1999 to 2006, 130 landless workers were assassinated by sicarios paid by opponents to the reform.
Prison system
In 1996 Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
concluded that "Venezuelan prisons are catastrophic, one of the worst in the American hemisphere, violating the Venezuelan State international obligations on human rights." Key problems included violence (in 1994 there were nearly 500 deaths, including around 100 in a single riot), corruption, and (as the US State Department 1996 report put it) "overcrowding so severe as to constitute inhuman and degrading treatment".
"Venezuela's penitentiary system, considered one of the most violent in Latin America, has 29 prisons and 16 penitentiaries holding some 20,000 inmates".http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=349749&CategoryId=10717
Police violence and extrajudicial killings
Extrajudicial killing - 187 in 1992/3. http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/democracy/1993_hrp_report/93hrp_report_ara/Venezuela.htmlIn 2008 the Attorney General announced the creation of an investigative team to look into over 6000 reports of extrajudicial killings between 2000 and 2007.
Partyarchy
Since the transition to and consolidation of democracy in 1958, Venezuela developed, initially with the Punto Fijo PactPunto Fijo Pact
Punto Fijo Pact was a formal arrangement arrived at between representatives of Venezuela's three main political parties in 1958: Acción Democrática, COPEI and Unión Republicana Democrática, for the acceptance of the 1958 presidential elections, and the preservation of the rising democratic regime.-...
, a two-party system led by "two hegemonic and highly centralized and clientelist political parties", Accion Democratica and COPEI
COPEI
Copei – Social Christian Party of Venezuela is a third way political party in Venezuela. The name stands for Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente...
, in what was often called "partidocracia" (partyarchy). The two parties "penetrated and came to dominate so many of the other organisations in civil society, including trade unions, that they enjoyed a virtual monopoly over the political process." Party organisation was extensive, with, the Church and business associations aside, practically every civil society organisation run by leaders identifying with one or other of the parties. It was also intensive, with members risking expulsion, and thus exclusion from the party's patronage, for disobeying party decisions. "The Leninist principle of democratic centralism even received explicit endorsement in the AD's party statutes." Elected representatives of the parties strayed from the party line so infrequently that Congressional leaders did not tally votes, relying solely on the relative sizes of the parties. "Labor leaders usually refrained from calling strikes when their party was in power, and the politicized officers of professional associations, student governments, peasant federations, state enterprises, foundations, and most other organizations used their positions to further the interests of their party."
Key to the maintenance of the partyarchy was a system of "concertacion" (consultation), in which the two parties would consult with each other, and with other actors (notably business and the military), seeking consensus on controversial issues. Where consensus failed, the attempts to achieve it at least mollified the opposition. Concertacion also involved complicity with widespread corruption, with the parties acting as if the Punto Fijo Pact had prohibited prosections for corruption. "The courts - like the bureaucracy, the universities, and most other institutions - were thoroughly politicized along party lines and seemed never to find sufficient evidence to justify a trial or a conviction." Threats to the partyarchy - that is, organisations which sought to challenge it or at least remain outside its control - were largely co-opted by a variety of tactics, including, if necessary, "paralelismo" (the creation of a parallel organisation with a similar purpose and far greater political and economic support).
Only with the economic crisis, particularly in the late 80s and early 90s, did the system of partyarchy weaken substantially, as the resources available for patronage declined dramatically. The ability to co-opt new organisations, particular the neighbourhood associations protesting the failure of public services, was weakened. By the 1998 presidential elections the candidates put up by AD and COPEI won less than 6% of the vote combined.
Fifth Republic
Under the previous system of partyarchy, "jobs in the public sector were allocated with calculated discrimination through the political parties, forming an important element in the stream of patronage descending from the top of each party to its bases throughout the nation."Tascon List
Tascón List
The Tascón List is a list of the signatures of those who petitioned in 2003 and 2004 for the recall of the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, a petition which ultimately led to the Venezuelan recall referendum, 2004, in which the recall was defeated...
Gender and sexual orientation equality
Venezuela's 1999 constitution is the only one in Latin America that recognizes housework as an economically productive activity (Article 88). This entitles housewives to social security benefits. The National Institute for Women (INAMUJER) was created in 2000, and amongst other issues campaigns for greater representation of women in elected positions; the reversal of a 1997 law requiring 30% of candidates to be women left the percentage of female deputies in the National Assembly as low as 12% in 2005.In 2007 Venezuela passed a "Law on the Right of Women to a Life Free of Violence", and instituted a number of other measures against domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
. In 2008 Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
called the law "an example for the rest of the region," but noted that effective implementation would require political will and adequate resources. In July 2009 a proposed "Organic Law for Gender Equality" included a controversial provision for same-sex civil union
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
s.
Abortion in Venezuela
Abortion in Venezuela
Abortion in Venezuela is currently illegal except in cases of a threat to the life of the pregnant woman. The punishment for a woman who has an abortion otherwise is six months to 2 years in prison and the punishment for a doctor or other person who performs the procedure is 1 to 3 years. Harsher...
is currently illegal except in cases of a threat to the life of the pregnant woman.
Indigenous rights
The indigenous peoples of Venezuela make up only around 1.5% of the population nationwide, though the proportion is nearly 50% in Amazonas stateAmazonas (Venezuelan state)
Amazonas State is one of the 23 states into which Venezuela is divided.The state capital is Puerto Ayacucho. The capital until the early 1900s was San Fernando de Atabapo. Although named after the Amazon River, most of the state is drained by the Orinoco. Amazonas State covers a total surface...
. Prior to the creation of the 1999 constitution, legal rights for indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
were increasingly lagging behind other Latin American countries, which were progressively enshrining a common set of indigenous collective rights in their national constitutions. In the beginning of the 19th century the government of Venezuela did little for indigenous peoples, more so they were pushed away from the agricultural centre to the periphery. In 1913, during a rubber boom
Rubber boom
The rubber boom was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related with the extraction and commercialization of rubber...
, colonel Jordan Hess seized control of Amazonas’ San Fernando de Atabapo
San Fernando de Atabapo
San Fernando de Atabapo was the capital city of Venezuela's Amazonas state until the early 1900s. The population in 1997 was approximately 5,000....
, where 100 settlers were killed. In the following nine years, Funes destroyed dozens of Ye'kuana
Ye'kuana
The Ye'kuana, also called Ye'Kuana, Yekuana, Yequana, Yecuana, Dekuana, Maquiritare, Makiritare, So'to or Maiongong, are a Cariban-speaking tropical rain forest tribe who live in the Caura River and Orinoco River regions of Venezuela in Bolivar State and Amazonas State...
villages and killed several thousands Ye'kuana. In 1961 a new constitution came, but instead of improving the rights of indigenous peoples, this constitution was actually a step backward from the previous 1947 constitution.
In 1999, a new constitution was formed, the 1999 Venezuelan Constitution. In this constitution Chávez, being mixed of indigenous descent himself, aimed for the improvement of human rights, mainly those of women and indigenous peoples. The constitution stated that three seats should be reserved for indigenous delegates in the 131-member constitutional assembly
1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela
The 1999 Constituent Assembly of Venezuela was a constitutional convention held in Venezuela in 1999 to draft a new Constitution of Venezuela. The Assembly was endorsed by a referendum in April 1999 which enabled Constituent Assembly elections in July 1999...
and two additional indigenous delegates won unreserved seats in the assembly elections. Ultimately the constitutional process produced "the region's most progressive indigenous rights regime". Innovations included Article 125's guarantee of political representation at all levels of government, and Article 124's prohibition on "the registration of patents related to indigenous genetic resources or intellectual property associated with indigenous knowledge." The new constitution followed the example of Colombia in reserving parliamentary seats for indigenous delegates (three in Venezuela's National Assembly); and it was the first Latin American constitution to reserve indigenous seats in state assemblies and municipal councils in districts with indigenous population.
The Yukpa did receive 40,000 hectares of land from the government in 2009, but one of several Yukpa leaders, Sabino Romero, opposed the government land grant initiative, calling it a "divisive measure". In mid 2010, Sabino Romero participated in a protest outside of the Venezuelan Supreme Court demanding the indigenous justice system be respected. "We have our culture, our justice system. We can judge and punish those guilty of damage to the community without our chiefs having to be prisoners under the Creole law," said Romero in an interview. Now, in 2011, some 12 years after the constitution was formed no real improvements are visible. The indigenous peoples of Venezuela were given special rights
Special rights
Special rights is a term originally used by libertarians to refer to laws granting rights to one or more groups which are not extended to other groups...
through the 1999 constitution, however, the vast majority of these people still live in very critical conditiones of poverty. The largest groups do receive education, but only some basic primary education in their languages.
Human Rights Watch
In September 2008 the Venezuelan government expelled from the country Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
Americas Director Jose Miguel Vivanco, over the publication of a report entitled "A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela", which discussed systematic violations to human, civil and political rights. HRW's report was the subject of debate in late 2008 – early 2009 after 118 scholars from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, México, the United States, the U.K., Venezuela, and other countries publicly criticized HRW for a perceived bias against the government of Venezuela
Government of Venezuela
|Venezuela is a federal presidential republic governed by a constitution. There are five branches of government: Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Citizen, and Electoral....
. On 17 December 2008 an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
was sent to the HRW Board of Directors in response to the HRW report. The open letter criticized the report by stating that it "does not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or credibility." The letter also criticized the lead author of the report, Jose Miguel Vivanco, for his "political agenda
Political agenda
A political agenda is a set of issues and policies laid out by an executive or cabinet in government that tries to influence current and near-future political news and debate....
" (he had declared that he wanted to show that Venezuela was "no model for anyone"), and called on Mr. Vivanco to discuss or debate his claims in "any public forum of his choosing".
IACHR
In May 2009 Venezuela rejected the annual report of the IACHRIACHR
The abbreviation IACHR is commonly used to refer to either of the two bodies of the inter-American human rights protection system:* Inter-American Commission on Human Rights* Inter-American Court of Human Rights...
. Amongst other issues raised (including failure to address unsolved murders and extrajudicial executions) the report declared Venezuela "a hostile environment for political dissent." Venezuela's Foreign Ministry responded that "The IACHR has abandoned its role as an international organism for the protection of human rights... and converted itself into a political instrument of the national and international sectors which, for ideological reasons, attack the progressive governments of the region", and noted that the IACHR had recognised the two-day interim government installed during the 2002 coup. IACHR President Luz Patricia Mejía acknowledged the report's heavy reliance on Venezuelan private media sources, and recommended an internal debate at the next OAS summit. Venezuela has said it will not accept an IACHR visit as long as Santiago Cantón remains its Executive Secretary, unless the IACHR apologises for its actions in relation to the 2002 coup.
A 2010 OAS report indicated "achievements with regard to the eradication of illiteracy, the set up of a primary health network, land distribution and the reduction of poverty", and "improvements in the areas of economic, social, and cultural rights". The report also found "blistering" concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism, press freedom, control of the judiciary, threats to democracy, political intimidation, and "the existence of a pattern of impunity in cases of violence, which particularly affects media workers, human rights defenders, trade unionists, participants in public demonstrations, people held in custody, 'campesinos' (small-scale and subsistence farmers), indigenous people, and women", as well as erosion of separation of powers and "severe economic, infrastructure, and social headaches", and "chronic problems including power blackouts, soaring crime, and a perceived lack of investment in crucial sectors". According to the National Public Radio, the report discusses decreasing rights of opposition to the government and "goes into heavy detail" about control of the judiciary. It says elections are free, but the state has increasing control over media and state resources used during election campaigns, and opposition elected officials have "been prevented from actually carrying out their duties afterward". CNN says the "lack of independence by Venezuela's judiciary and legislature in their dealings with leftist President Hugo Chávez often leads to the abuses", and the Wall Street Journal blames the government of Chavez.
Chávez rejected the 2010 OAS report, calling it "pure garbage", and said Venezuela should boycott the OAS; a spokesperson said, "We don't recognize the commission as an impartial institution". He disclaims any power to influence the judiciary. A Venezuelan official said the report distorts and takes statistics out of context, saying that "human rights violations in Venezuela have decreased".
European Parliament
The European ParliamentEuropean Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
passed a February 2010 resolution expressing "concern about the movement toward authoritarianism" by Chavez.
External links
- Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, A Country Study: Venezuela - Human Rights Watch / Venezuela
- Amnesty International Venezuela page