Venezuela is facing a human rights and humanitarian crisis. The Maduro administration enjoys tremendous concentration of power, which it has used to gradually erode human rights guarantees and checks on its own power. Opponents including anti-government demonstrators, critics, and opposition politicians have been arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted. Venezuelan groups identify over 100 detainees as political prisoners. Security forces have committed egregious abuses, including torture. The Supreme Court routinely fails to demonstrate any independence, endorsing government abuses and stripping the National Assembly of its powers. Severe shortages of medicine and food seriously undermine Venezuelans’ ability to secure adequate nutrition or access to healthcare.
Police fire tear gas toward opposition supporters during clashes while rallying against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, April 20, 2017.
For a timeline of the most recent events in Venezuela, specifically related to Venezuela’s compliance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, please click here.
With President Maduro apparently determined to hold on to power at all costs, the likelihood of a peaceful transition could depend on how far the country’s security forces are willing to go to keep him in power, said José Miguel Vivanco and Daniel Wilkinson in an op-ed published by Foreign Policy.
The article was later re-published in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.
How to avoid a bloodbath in Venezuela - my piece in @ForeignPolicy with @JMVivancoHRW @hrw https://t.co/kCYwJDrWkl
— Daniel Wilkinson (@DWilkinsonNYC) June 15, 2017
On June 19 at 2 pm EST, the OAS will carry out a meeting of foreign ministers to continue their discussion of the situation in Venezuela that began in a previous meeting on May 31. The live webcast of the meeting is available here.
Given the relevance of Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega Díaz’s contribution since late March, and the degree of exposure she is facing, the regional community should recognize that Ortega is a credible interlocutor, José Miguel Vivanco and Tamara Taraciuk Broner said in an op-ed published today by the Caracas Chronicles. During the upcoming OAS General Assembly meeting in Mexico, OAS states should request an official report from the prosecutor general with information on actions by security forces and armed pro-government groups that may constitute human rights violations, the Supreme Tribunal’s lack of judicial independence, and her arguments against the Constituent Assembly promoted by the government, the op-ed says.
What the OAS should ask Venezuela's attorney general today by @TamaraTaraciuk and @JMVivancoHRW https://t.co/ZvIVWQuKCr via @CaracasChron
— HRW Venezuela (@HRW_Venezuela) June 19, 2017
High-level Venezuelan officials bear responsibility for pervasive, serious abuses being committed under their watch, Human Rights Watch said today. These officials have failed to take steps to prevent or punish human rights violations committed by their subordinates, Human Rights Watch said.
High-level officials in charge of security forces implicated in widespread abuses, and responsible for the prosecution of civilians by military courts, include Maj. Gen. Benavides Torres, the head of the Bolivarian National Guard; Chief General Padrino López, the defense minister and the strategic operational commander of the Armed Forces; Maj. Gen. Nestor Reverol, the interior minister, Gen. Carlos Alfredo Pérez Ampueda, director of the Bolivarian National Police; Maj. Gen. Gustavo González López, the national intelligence director, and Capt. Siria Venero de Guerrero, the military attorney general.
On June 12, 61 Venezuelan civil society groups published a statement asking their peers in the region to speak up about the Venezuelan government’s abuses and attempts to undermine democracy. The organizations say they support dialogue initiatives but call on civil society organizations in the region to “advocate for serious negotiations with deadlines, agenda, and guarantees, which serves to build a peaceful and democratic solution to the crisis, within the framework of the Bolivarian Constitution of 1999.” The Maduro administration’s proposal to adopt a new constitution poses a “threat of the republic’s dissolution,” the organizations say, and they ask for the publication of an electoral timetable and early presidential elections, release of political prisoners and end of political disqualifications, respect for the existing Constitution and the National Assembly, provision of humanitarian aid to mitigate the shortages of food and medicine, and disarmament of “paramilitary gangs acting under government orders.”
The full statement is available here:
Pope Francis waves as he arrives to lead his Wednesday general audience in Saint Peter's square at the Vatican, March 15, 2017.
On June 11, The Economist published this piece on the role of the Catholic Church in Venezuela’s crisis. The article says that Venezuelan bishops, some of whom met with Pope Francis on June 8, have consistently voiced concern about abuses and erosion of democratic guarantees in the country. However, the Pope’s stance has appeared to be softer to many Venezuelans, according to The Economist, which says as well that the Pope has now a unique opportunity to show the world that he can listen to the prelates and start sending tough messages to President Maduro.
On June 7, the influential Chavista politician Diosdado Cabello said in his weekly TV show that human rights defenders who traveled to Geneva for the ongoing UN Human Rights Council session were “payed to discredit the Revolution before the UN.” He specifically named respected human rights defenders, whom he called “ringleaders” of the MUD, the umbrella that groups opposition political parties. He accused them of participating in a “parallel session” to present “deceitful reports” criticizing President Maduro’s proposal to adopt a new constitution and the repression against demonstrators.
On June 6, three Venezuelan human rights defenders participated with Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, and Edison Lanza, the OAS Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, in a side event in Geneva to discuss Venezuela’s crisis. After the event, two members of the Venezuelan Mission to the UN threatened them, saying they could recommend that the Venezuelan government take away their passports when they return to Venezuela. In recent weeks, the government has confiscated the passport of an opposition leader and Venezuelan journalists as they were attempting to leave the country.
Below is a statement published by Venezuelan NGOs on this incident:
On April 28, at 5:30 p.m., a group of men without uniform but who identified themselves as members of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar, DGCIM) arrived at Dan Zambrano’s home in Cagua, state of Aragua, Belkys Martínez, Zambrano’s wife, told Human Rights Watch. The officers told Zambrano, 34, that they had an order to take him in for interrogation in Maracay, the state capital. Before being driven away, Zambrano managed to send his wife a Facebook message letting her know he was being taken for questioning, and tweeted that DGCIM officers were taking him to their headquarters in Aragua.
Dan Zambrano
Martínez visited every installation where she thought Zambrano could be held, including military headquarters, as well as offices of the intelligence services, the investigative police, and the Bolivarian National Police. Everywhere, officers told her that they had not detained anyone that day and Zambrano was not there, she said.
The following day, at 8 p.m., Zambrano called Martínez, said he was being held at DGCIM headquarters in Caracas, and asked her for clothes and personal items. Since then, Zambrano has been allowed to call his wife almost daily, and although he says he has not been mistreated, no family member nor lawyer has been allowed to see Zambrano since his detention, Martínez told Human Rights Watch.
In one of the calls, Zambrano told his wife that during his interrogation DGCIM officers said he had been detained for having tweeted against the government, and that “he should reflect on, and think very well, before writing.” The officers allegedly mentioned a reply Zambrano posted to a tweet by President Nicolás Maduro’s son, in which Zambrano said: “Unhappy bastard! Enjoy what you have left because what your shitty revolution stole from us, will be paid back!” They also allegedly referred to Zambrano’s retweets—which include, for example, cartoons making fun of a pro-government “digital militia,” videos of members of the Bolivarian National Police reportedly stealing from civilians, and tweets with videos accusing armed pro-government groups of using excessive force against demonstrators. At the time of his arrest, Zambrano had 300 followers; now, he has more than 3,400.
Since May 4, no one has questioned Zambrano, according to Martínez. He spends his days in a cell at DGCIM headquarters in Caracas, and has not been allowed to see the sun since his detention.
Martínez and representatives from Espacio Público, a Venezuelan non-profit group that works on freedom of expression issues and is providing legal support in this case, have said that Zambrano has never been brought before a prosecutor or judge, nor charged with any crime.
“They have him kidnapped,” Martínez told Human Rights Watch.
Yoiner Peña, 28, died on June 3 in Barquisimeto, Lara state. Peña had cerebral palsy, Yaneth Hernández, Peña’s mother, told Human Rights Watch. Although Peña could listen, he did not talk, and acted as “an innocent boy,” his mother said.
On April 10, Peña got off the public Metrobus close to a shopping mall on his way home, and found himself in the middle of an anti-government demonstration where he was shot in the side, according to his mother. The bullet damaged his back and colon, she said. Reports suggest that Peña may have been shot by an armed pro-government group but no determination has been made. A lawyer from Movimiento Vinotinto, a local human rights group, told Human Rights Watch that an armed pro-government group burst into the demonstration in plain sight of members of the Bolivarian National Guard right before Peña and another man, Keiner Adrián Díaz Medina, a demonstrator, were shot. Díaz Medina was shot in the shoulder and is now out of danger.
Peña was first taken to a hospital where he was denied treatment because he had been injured during “guarimbas,” a pejorative term used by government supporters to describe the opposition demonstrations, family members told the Movimiento Vinotinto. He was soon taken to another hospital, where he spent 54 days and doctors did everything they could to assist him, Peña’s mother told Human Rights Watch. Details of the exact cause of death are incomplete, but according to Peña’s mother, doctors told her he would have survived if they had had the medicines they needed to treat him, including basic antibiotics to treat an infection of his injury.
“I don’t know who shot him,” his mother said. “All I ask for is justice.”
Yoiner Peña
On June 6, Reuters reported that at least 14 army officers were arrested on suspicion of “rebellion” and “treason” in the first week of protests against the Maduro administration. Reuters says it had access to documents that said the cases were being “processed” and the soldiers, who include colonels and captains, are being held in the Ramo Verde military prison. Many more soldiers have been rounded up since April 8—the last date of the documents Reuters had access to—, according to opposition leaders and rights activists, Reuters said.
Fourteen Venezuelan army officers jailed in first week of protests - documents https://t.co/DOJLpNnfKX pic.twitter.com/hP0EIMUWY6
— Reuters Venezuela (@ReutersVzla) June 6, 2017
On June 2, the BBC published this video with strong images about children's malnutrition in Venezuela:
On May 30, members of the Bolivarian National Guard threw teargas canisters indiscriminately to disperse an anti-government demonstration in Mérida, the local human rights group Promedehum reported. Some canisters were fired directly towards residences, Promedehum and a family member of neighbors told Human Rights Watch. Residents told Promedehum that several apartment buildings of the “Parque Las Américas” housing complex were set on fire, including some in which residents were inside, and that members of the National Guard also fired pellets with glass marbles directly into the apartments. The residents claim the fire was caused by the canisters; the governor cited a firefighters’ report that said the cause of fire was “indeterminate.” Here are some photographs taken by Promedehum staff:
Other teargas canisters entered a pre-school in the area, Promedehum said. Although there were no children inside at the time, several staff members hid in the restrooms. Here’s a picture shared by a resident:
A few young men who were not participating in the protests were detained by security forces, including at least one who was beaten and held for two hours inside an official vehicle but eventually released in exchange of giving security agents his cell phone, a Promedehum lawyer told Human Rights Watch.
22 imágenes de las protestas del miércoles I https://t.co/tT9DbXcHcq pic.twitter.com/drekQjEMTg
— Reuters Venezuela (@ReutersVzla) June 1, 2017
On May 31, 2017, the Organization of American States will carry out a meeting of foreign affairs ministers to address the situation in Venezuela. At the meeting, the region must press the Maduro administration to end the repression, release political prisoners, carry out free and fair elections, restore the independence of the legislature and judiciary, and allow sufficient international humanitarian aid into the country.
The meeting will be broadcasted live via the OAS website, here, at 2 pm EST.
On January 10, 2017, Paulina Facchin, a representative of the Venezuelan opposition coalition Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD) in Peru, was interviewed by a Peruvian journalist while standing in line in front of the Venezuelan embassy in Lima. Facchin told Human Rights Watch she had received a standard notice from Venezuelan authorities in Caracas saying that her passport was ready for pick-up, and was waiting in line to get it. During the interview, Facchin spoke with the journalist about current Venezuelan political affairs and was very critical about the situation in Venezuela, specifically mentioning the existence of political prisoners, high inflation rates, insecurity, and the humanitarian crisis.
On January 16, the Venezuelan ambassador in Lima asked a prosecutor to open a criminal investigation into the journalist’s responsibility for “promoting and inciting a hostile and discrediting environment for the diplomatic representation of Venezuela,” citing the interview with Facchin, which was later broadcasted on TV. The document, reviewed by Human Rights Watch, accused Facchin of having “incited hatred.” The prosecutor’s office opened the investigation in February, but it was later closed without bringing charges, Facchin told Human Rights Watch.
In February, the powerful Chavista politician Diosdado Cabello said on his weekly TV show that an anonymous patriotic informant, called “Patriot Pisco,” had provided him information regarding the whereabouts of opposition legislator Freddy Guevara during his visit to Lima that month. Guevara, who was elected to the National Assembly as a MUD representative in December 2015, had traveled to Lima to meet with Peruvian members of Congress. Cabello said that during Guevara’s visit to Lima Facchin had driven him around; Cabello also showed a picture of her car and its license plates on TV, and told the audience that she lived two blocks away from the hotel where Guevara had allegedly stayed. After the show, the Peruvian Foreign Affairs Ministry stated in a press release that following Guevara around during his visit to Peru was “unacceptable in a democratic system that respects the rule of law.”
As of May, Facchin had not been able to get her Venezuelan passport. She told Human Rights Watch that embassy staff said her passport is not there.
This report by Cáritas Venezuela, based on the evaluation of 2,267 children under 5 years old in Caracas and three states (Miranda, Vargas, and Zulia), concluded that 10.2 percent of children had moderate or severe malnutrition, 12 percent had mild malnutrition, 26 percent were at risk of malnutrition and were already showing symptoms, and 52 percent were receiving proper nutrition. Most children with severe malnutrition are under 2 years old, Cáritas found. Cases of severe malnutrition increased from 8.9 percent in the last trimester of 2016 to 10.2 percent in the first two months of 2017—putting Venezuela above the World Health Organization limit of what constitutes a crisis, according to Cáritas. The percentage of families who have modified their eating habits—by, for example, only feeding some members of the family, not eating for an entire day, or eating less—increased from 77 percent in 2016 to 82 percent in 2017, says the report.
For a good explanation on why Venezuelans can’t feed themselves adequately, read this piece by the Washington Post:
Animal Farm, Venezuela: Why a hungry nation blessed with resources can't feed itself https://t.co/ErltSKK077
— Nick Miroff (@NickMiroff) May 23, 2017
This piece by Time includes photographs by eight Venezuelan photographers who have described the story behind each image. They illustrate some of the most dramatic aspects of Venezuela’s crisis, including, for example, indiscriminate use of force by security forces, crowded lines to purchase basic foods, people eating from trash, and deaths as a consequence of illnesses that had been eradicated but can no longer be treated.
Venezuela is in free-fall. Local photographers chronicling their country's collapse share their tales. https://t.co/CT2BHcEpFE
— Andrew Katz (@katz) May 25, 2017
On May 24, members of the Bolivarian National Guard and the Bolivarian National Police used force to disperse an anti-government demonstration in the Bello Monte neighborhood in Caracas, Mildred Manrique, a Venezuelan journalist who was covering the protest, told Human Rights Watch. Incidents broke out when protesters started hurling back the teargas bombs that security agents had thrown towards them, Manrique said.
At approximately 4 pm, members of the National Guard arrived in motorcycles at the area where a group of journalists, including Manrique, were standing. There were at least five journalists standing behind a wall to protect themselves, and seven others across the street. They all had their journalist IDs on them and were wearing vests that said “press,” Manrique said. The security agents turned towards them and shot teargas bombs directly at the journalists, who were filming the incidents, and one of the bombs hit Manrique on her chest, she said. She was protected by the vest, so it bounced on to her arm, burning her elbow, according to Manrique. Another teargas bomb hit a journalist’s testicles, she said. Volunteers from the Green Cross who have been providing emergency care during the protests helped Manrique at the scene, and she continued working.
Soon after, Manrique saw a person standing among of the demonstrators start shooting into the air. When some demonstrators saw him, they started running after him, but the man ran towards the Bolivarian National Guard, and left the scene on an official motorcycle, Manrique told Human Rights Watch.
Here’s the video that Manrique was filming when she was hit:
fuerte represión en #Caracas #-24may #EnVivo https://t.co/0SSfJd6f6x
— Mildred Manrique (@milmanrique) May 24, 2017
On May 21, as part as an investigation into state actions to provide health services for children, IPYS Venezuela published a detailed report documenting that vaccines are not reaching children who need them. Based on official sources and on the ground research, IPYS concludes that the government did not have enough vehicles to transport available vaccines nor adequate refrigeration for them in several locations. A prior publication from the same series, available here, reports that 70 percent of medical equipment bought by the government from Argentina to provide obstetrics and neonatal care have not been adequately maintained, at a time when infant mortality and the deficit of doctors is increasing.
Médicos pediatras afirman que el déficit de vacunas en Venezuela es grave #HuérfanosdelaSalud https://t.co/c7icAorMHK pic.twitter.com/ZjssVk6b7c
— IPYS Venezuela (@ipysvenezuela) May 21, 2017
On May 24, Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz gave a press conference in which she said that, since early April, 55 people were killed—52 civilians and 3 public officials—and 1,000 people—771 civilians and 229 public officials—were injured in Venezuela. The Attorney General’s Office is carrying out 1,479 investigations into incidents of violence, including 1,349 cases of crimes against people; it has charged 19 public officials for their alleged responsibility in the violation of human rights; and 18 arrest warrants have been issued but the suspects have not yet been detained, she said. Ortega stated that Juan Pernalete—a protester who died on April 26—was hit by a teargas bomb, contradicting the government’s account that he had been shot. Her office is also carrying out 16 investigations into the responsibility of civilian armed groups that “promote violence” and had received information about the participation of military officials in looting incidents, Ortega said. Finally, she made three important points: 1) In relation to military trials of civilians, she said “people have the right to be tried by their natural judges,” 2) “Peaceful demonstrations are a right and the State must guarantee it,” and 3) “There must be freedom to profess any political tendency.” Pretty clear.
Fiscal General @lortegadiaz: Las manifestaciones pacíficas son un derecho y el Estado debe garantizarlo
— Ministerio Público (@MPvenezolano) May 24, 2017
On May 18, María González, an indigenous woman from the Wayuu group who lives in Zulia state, told NTN24 that members of the National Guard had tied her 11-year-old son’s hands behind his back and placed a “bomb” on his back, which caused burns on his back, arms, and eyes. A video posted on YouTube the night before, filmed by neighbors who say they found the boy, shows him with his arms tied behind his back and includes images of his burnt back. In another video, aired by NTN, the neighbors show a teargas bomb that allegedly exploded on the boy’s back. A doctor who treated the boy told NTN24 and a local newspaper that the boy had suffered first and second degree burns that did not require hospitalization but needed to be treated, and were consistent with the boy’s description of what had happened to him.
The Attorney General’s Office issued a press release confirming it was investigating the case. The statement says the boy had been close to a bakery when an “irregular situation” took place, and that “several people” had tied, beat, and burnt the boy’s back with an unnamed “device.”
On May 16, The Associated Press published this piece explaining the difficult work carried out by nongovernmental organizations to bypass the Venezuelan government’s ban on humanitarian aid. While the Venezuelan people continue to suffer the consequences of severe shortages of medicine and medical supplies, and Venezuela’s foreign minister denies the humanitarian crisis that the country is facing, some groups such as Acción Solidaria have become “a lifeline for Venezuelans suffering from all kinds of illnesses,” reports the AP.
What matters is that it gets there, #backalley aid growing #VenezuelaCrisis #humanitarianaid @APjoshgoodman https://t.co/tQazhiJwx3
— Michael M. McCarthy (@MikeCaracasWire) May 17, 2017
Peruvian officials have confirmed to Human Rights Watch that more than 10,000 Venezuelans have requested permission to stay in Peru in 2017, taking advantage of Peru’s welcoming policies. These policies reflect the Peruvian government’s understanding of the severity of Venezuela’s ongoing crisis and build upon the government’s efforts to press Venezuela to respect human rights and the rule of law.
In January 2017, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski adopted a decree that lays out a special permission for Venezuelans to stay in the country. The decree states that those Venezuelans who arrived in Peru before February 2—the date it entered into force—who do not have a criminal record, and whose legal permission to stay in the country had expired, may request a temporary residency permit that lasts one year. Those who obtain the permit are allowed to work, enroll their children in school, and have access to health care.
As of April 30, 5,834 Venezuelans had obtained their temporary residency permits, according to official data. The superintendent of immigration, who reports to the Interior Ministry, told Human Rights Watch that an additional 4,300 Venezuelans had requested an appointment online to obtain their permit by August. Venezuelans who entered Peru since February 3 are entitled to legally stay in the country for 183 days, and the government is evaluating measures to deal with that influx of Venezuelan immigration when that period expires, the superintendent said.
Most arrive by plane, although approximately 30 percent spend days traveling by bus to reach Peru, authorities told us. Here are some accounts relayed to Human Rights Watch by Venezuelans who fled the crisis and are now living in Lima:
Ludiskel Mass, 32, is a schoolteacher and was a student activist with the opposition party Un Nuevo Tiempo (A New Time). After spending a few months abroad in 2013, she returned to Maracaibo, Zulia state, where she was living in 2015 when she started having repeated instances of vaginal bleeding. Doctors told her they believed she had a cyst but that they lacked the medical supplies to provide a proper diagnosis, she said. Mass told Human Rights Watch she experienced regular bleeding and anemia over the next three months. She unsuccessfully tried to buy Vitamin K and contraceptive pills, which doctors had told her might help control the bleeding. In August 2015, two friends paid for her bus ticket to Lima, where she arrived after a six-day road trip, she said. In Peru, doctors diagnosed her with uterine cancer for which she underwent a successful operation, she told Human Rights Watch. At the time of the interview, she was cancer free. In September 2016, she was able to take her then 11- and 12-year old children to Lima. Mass has obtained her temporary residency permit.
Carlos Márquez (pseydonym), 59, an economist, arrived in Lima in April 2017. Márquez’s 24-year-old son was arrested during anti-government protests in 2014, beaten, and subsequently released on conditional liberty, Márquez told Human Rights Watch. The prosecutor eventually dropped the charges, he said. Members of the National Guard detained his son again in 2015 as he was walking in a public area, with no judicial order, he told us. One of the lawyers who worked on the case also affirmed that Márquez’s son was subject to arbitrary prosecution based on what he called planted evidence. Márquez said he spent all his savings to bribe the judge in charge of his son’s case so his son would be transferred out of a regular prison where he had suffered scabies and gastrointestinal problems. Márquez, whose son remains detained, arrived in Lima with plans to work in gastronomy. “I’m starting a new life at 59 to be able to help my family from here,” he said.
Kerwin Duarte, 26, left Barquisimeto, Lara state, in October 2016. A psychology student who worked at a store selling cooking utensils, Duarte told Human Rights Watch he had spent hours standing in line to buy food and left Venezuela due to high levels of insecurity and because “there is no future.” He took a bus to Colombia, and flew to Lima from there, he said. Duarte said he relied on the hospitality of a Peruvian man for a month, eating only bread. Now, in Lima, he rents a small apartment, sells arepas—the typical Venezuelan corn-flour dish—on the street, and says he makes enough for a living and to send between 20-30 dollars a week back home to help his family, including his grandmother who has hypertension and cannot afford the medicines she needs, when she finds them. Duarte obtained his temporary residency permit in March.
Leomar Rodríguez, 28, left Caracas in January 2017, soon after graduating from the university with a business major. Rodríguez told Human Rights Watch that in Venezuela, he ran his own business stamping t-shirts but, due to the economic crisis, he was no longer able to purchase the materials he needed to stamp the t-shirts, and his earnings were barely enough to afford food, which he bought after hours standing in line. Rodríguez arrived in Lima after a five-day road trip. He now sells arepas and tizana, a Venezuelan drink made of fruit juice with fruit salad in it, on the street. Rodríguez told Human Rights Watch he’s better off in Lima, where he can eat, there’s more security, and he can earn some money to send back home to help his parents and brothers who still live in Caracas.
On May 18, the Spanish newspaper ABC published the audio of a taped conversation allegedly between a group of Venezuelan generals who discussed the use of military snipers in Venezuela. In the tape, one general reportedly said, “the moment will arrive in which we will have to employ [snipers] and I want to be prepared for that moment, because the president will not stay in a ´green phase,’ sirs, he’s already signed a series of operations.” He added, “we are at the beginning of an urban subversive war” and “the Armed Forces will have to solve this problem. So start getting those military officers who could operate as snipers ready.”
Here's the audio:
On May 19, the Caracas Chronicles published this piece by Francisco Toro, with a link to a longer version of the audio, which includes an interesting analysis of its content. Toro highlights that the tape shows that some of the generals are concerned about the consequences of using snipers, including the possibility of ending in jail. As Toro says, “it’s not that these guys have suddenly grown a conscience. It’s that they are scared.” The fact that these men are pushing back because they realize that shooting protesters is not in their best interest shows that an amnesty that excludes human rights abusers may be a good strategy to break their unity, says Toro.
On May 17, Venezuelan immigration authorities stopped journalist César Miguel Rondon at the Caracas airport when he was heading abroad to participate in a public event. This happened a day after President Maduro said on television that Rondon and another journalist had “promoted a persecution.” Rondon had commented on Twitter about cases in which Venezuelan government officials had been harassed by Venezuelan citizens abroad, Espacio Público reported. Rondon’s passport and that of his wife were annulled and he was not allowed to leave the country.
On May 18, Venezuelan immigration authorities confiscated the passport of opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski at the Caracas airport, when he was heading to a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Capriles was not allowed to leave the country.
#DenunciaEP | Anulan pasaporte a César Miguel Rondón (@cmrondon) tras amenazas de Nicolás Maduro https://t.co/NURGmC4fbu
— Espacio Público (@espaciopublico) May 17, 2017
Consejo de Seguridad ONU discutiría mañana crisis en Venezuela. Maduro ya no puede evadir la presión internacional. https://t.co/pHDtpOc7v3
— José Miguel Vivanco (@JMVivancoHRW) May 17, 2017
Here are some good sources from the human rights world that provide information on what’s happening in the interior of the country:
In Zulia state, CODHEZ is monitoring the protests and abuses against protesters. For a glimpse of the information they’ve gathered in April, please see this report and this special publication on the protests. @CODHEZ
In Mérida state, see what’s being reported by PROMEDEHUM, on Facebook and @promedehum, and the Human Rights Observatory of the Los Andes University, on their website or @uladdhh
In Lara state, check out information produced by FUNPAZ, on Facebook and @Funpaz2013 and the MOVIMIENTO VINOTINTO, also on Facebook and @movinotinto
In Carabobo state, you can review material published by CADEF (Centro de Acción y Defensa por los Derechos Humanos), here. @_cadef
This is how they left one of the doors of an apartment they broke into
On May 15, dozens of neighbors participated in an anti-government demonstration in Mañongo, a residential area of Valencia, Carabobo state. The demonstration consisted of cutting main roads, and was part of a nation-wide protest called “the Planton,” or sit-out. Around 4 pm, after the demonstration ended, a group of at least 50 members of the National Guard and the investigative police forcefully entered four residential buildings in the area, without a judicial order, claiming that they were looking for a sniper, a resident said. Several residents told Human Rights Watch that security agents used force to break into several apartments, and stole personal belongings, including cellphones, clothes, and cash. One said she saw an agent pointing a gun at a woman who was carrying a baby; others reported that agents beat residents and detained several residents as well as two people working at the buildings, without showing any judicial order.
A lot has been said about the existence of armed pro-government groups, called “colectivos,” that collaborate with Venezuelan security forces to repress peaceful protests, or operate with their acquiescence. Human Rights Watch has documented such cases since 2014. This interesting piece recently published by the Caracas Chronicles analyzes international human rights jurisprudence and concludes that the Venezuelan government is responsible for the crimes and abuses committed by these gangs. Food for thought.
“Colectivo” Responsibility https://t.co/3lVm36QSUS pic.twitter.com/3x6o8D46xv
— Caracas Chronicles (@CaracasChron) May 12, 2017
As of May 15, the Venezuelan Penal Forum has obtained information regarding the prosecution of at least 275 civilians by military courts in Venezuela. In all these cases, the Venezuelan Penal Forum has directly assisted detainees or verified information regarding the prosecutions through direct contact with family members. Human Rights Watch interviewed several of the lawyers representing detainees. The cases include the prosecution of 192 civilians in Carabobo state, 19 in Falcon state, 20 in Zulia state, 18 in Caracas, 13 in Lara state, 10 in Sucre state, two in Barinas state, and one in Táchira state. 159 of these defendants were in pretrial detention as of May 12. Detainees are being held in military prisons, prisons for detainees subject to military prosecution, high-security prisons, or in headquarters of the intelligence services.
While no public record of these proceedings is available—a problem in its own right—the accounts by lawyers and family members include many disturbing allegations of abuses and procedural defects in the conduct of these prosecutions, including the following:
Accounts of the proceedings provided by lawyers who attended the hearings
On May 5, 40 people who had been detained separately near a food company in Valencia, Carabobo state, which had been looted a day earlier, were brought before a military judge in an improvised courtroom inside military headquarters. The hearing started at 7 p.m. and lasted 12 hours. During the hearing, most detainees showed bruises that they said were caused by members of the National Guard who beat them, sometimes with an aluminum bar or a baseball bat. Some claimed the officers cut their hair during their detention. At least 15 said they were forced to eat raw pasta with human excrement—the officers allegedly put teargas powder in their noses so they would be forced to open their mouths to eat. Without individualizing the criminal responsibility of each, all 40 were charged with rebellion. The military judge admitted the charges against all, but sent only 19 to the high-security prison “26 of July” in Guárico state, without providing any explanation, the lawyer said. The others were released on conditional liberty.
On May 6, Carlos Sardi, a man who collaborates with local groups working with cancer patients and on LGBT rights, was detained while he was protesting with his wife in Valencia, Carabobo state. Sardi said that he was brutally beaten and forced to wear a black hood, while authorities he could not see asked him about people who had allegedly been involved in the protests. Prosecutors argued he had been in phone contact with other protesters, and was carrying Molotov cocktails, nails, and gasoline—evidence he claims was planted. Sardi was taken before a military court and charged with rebellion, treason, and contempt. A military judge ordered his pretrial detention in the “26 of July” security prison in Guárico state.
On May 9, 16 people who had been detained in different circumstances in La Villa de Rosario were brought together before a military court in Maracaibo, Zulia state. The detainees included a man who said he was walking home from work when he was picked up by the National Guard, and two brothers who said they were working on the roof of their home and were detained without a judicial order. Two others were reportedly taken from the hospital—one said he was there after suffering a domestic accident and the other said that he was a government supporter who had been hit by a bottle in a protest—to the offices of the investigative police to declare who had injured them, and were then detained. Eight of the 16 detainees claimed they were beaten by members of the National Guard when they were detained, and that the officers spread a white powder on their faces that caused a burning sensation and made them cry, which they described as being similar to the effect of teargas bombs. The lawyers who were able to enter the hearing—which took place inside a military installation—were searched by officers and were not allowed to take their cellphones or personal belongings into the hearing. There were no female officers, so female lawyers were physically searched by male military officers. On May 11, the prosecutor charged the 16 detainees with rebellion and insult to a sentinel, without specifying what each of them had done. The judge accepted the charges against all detainees, but ruled seven would be held in pretrial detention at the Santa Ana prison, an installation for people prosecuted in military courts, without providing any explanation for the distinction, the lawyer said. The rest were released on conditional liberty.
Sergio Contreras, an activist with the Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) opposition party and a lawyer who taught at the Catholic University Andrés Bello, said that on May 10, he was beaten and detained by members of the Bolivarian National Police while he was demonstrating in Caracas. Contreras said he was speaking to a group of students with a megaphone. Contreras was taken before a military court on May 12 and charged with rebellion, treason, and “stealing military material” (based on a firearm he said was planted). The judge accepted the charges, ordered his pretrial detention, and sent him to the Ramo Verde military prison.
On May 11, Lisbeth Añez, an activist who has visited political prisoners detained in Venezuela, was arrested at the Caracas airport when she was boarding a flight to Miami. She was taken before a military court in Caracas a day later, and charged with rebellion and treason based on evidence that included alleged WhatsApp messages that lawyers say are not described in judicial documents, as well as books, letters, and recognitions of her social work. This evidence, according to the court, proved she was promoting violent acts, in light of the “notoriety” of the fact that Venezuelan protests are violent, the lawyers said. She was ordered detained at the headquarters of the National Bolivarian Intelligence Services in Caracas.
International human rights standards
Both Venezuelan and international law provide that civilians should not be prosecuted before military courts. The Venezuelan Constitution, in article 261, limits military jurisdiction to crimes that are of a military nature. Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Venezuela ratified in 1978, guarantees the right to a timely trial by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal. In 2015, the Human Rights Committee, the expert body charged with interpreting the ICCPR, expressed concern that military courts in Venezuela are competent to try civilians under certain circumstances and called on the Venezuelan government to “adopt the necessary measures to prohibit military courts from trying civilians.” Similarly, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that military courts should not try civilians.
#15Mayo 11:45am Desde Abril2017 275 civiles han sido sometidos a la justicia militar. 159 han quedado presos #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/dPrS3yNXDc
— Alfredo Romero (@alfredoromero) May 15, 2017
On May 12, 47 Venezuelan human rights organization published this press release criticizing the government’s decision to extend the presidential decree that had declared a “state of exception and economic emergency.” The decree was criticized by 125 Latin American and international organizations when it was adopted in May 2016 because it included vague language that would allow restricting basic rights and limit the ability of the opposition-led National Assembly and Venezuelan nongovernmental organizations to challenge abuses of power by the government. The state of exception has been extended six times without legislative approval, the press release says.
On May 11, the Venezuelan Society of Palliative Care published a letter stating that today in Venezuela there are no opioid medicines available to alleviate moderated to severe pain, and that health professionals have “no way of alleviating the suffering of so many patients who fight for their lives or are close to death.” The letter calls on Venezuelan authorities to ensure the availability of medicines to control pain, to comply with their obligation to respect the right to health. The full letter is available here:
This piece by the International Crisis Group provides a comprehensive summary of the Venezuela crisis and explains two problematic measures adopted by the Venezuelan government recently: President Maduro’s proposal to create a Constitutional Assembly, and the his decision to withdraw from the OAS. It argues that “taken together, these two decisions mark the crossing of a threshold in Venezuela, and the abandonment of ‘revolutionary’ regime in Caracas of representative democracy.” The ICG describes a series proposals to move forward with a negotiated solution (as opposed to interminable dialogues) that includes an amnesty for certain government officials—excluding those responsible for drug-trafficking and grave human rights abuses—and an interim government of national unity, including some government officials, that would organize elections.
#Venezuela National Assembly should prepare amnesty law to reassure regime moderates & avoid transition witch-hunts
— Crisis Group (@CrisisGroup) May 12, 2017
On May 5, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference issued a press release arguing that most Venezuelans perceive President Maduro’s proposal to draft a new constitution as a step that further undermines the rule of law provided for in the existing constitution. The statement says, “What the Venezuelan people need the most today is food, medicines, liberty, personal and juridical security, and peace, all of which would be achieved if the government respected the existing constitution.” It also calls for the end of repression, after describing the “repressive nature” of the government and excessive violence by security forces and armed groups called “colectivos” that act “under the protective watch” of authorities.
A similar line was adopted by Father Luis Ugalde, a Jesuit priest that is a former dean of the Catholic University Andrés Bello in Caracas, in this interview:
Since the latest round of massive protests erupted in early April, The New York Times’ The Interpreter published two very good pieces worth reading. A first piece, published on April 1, describes how populism turned authoritarian in Venezuela, starting with the political takeover of the Supreme Court by President Hugo Chávez in 2004. Another article, published on May 6, analyzes the existing and potential fractures within political and military elites, including recent dissenting statements by the Venezuelan attorney general, Luisa Ortega Díaz.
In Venezuela’s Chaos, Elites Play a High-Stakes Game for Survival https://t.co/Hok5PwgMrt
— Max Fisher (@Max_Fisher) May 6, 2017
On May 9, Reuters reported that, according to official data, in 2016 Venezuela’s infant mortality rates rose 30 percent, maternal mortality increased 65 percent, and cases of malaria jumped 76 percent. You can access the official reports by clicking here. This information is consistent with Human Rights Watch’s findings on the humanitarian crisis, available here.
On May 9, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a public statement deploring “repressive measures taken by Venezuelan authorities in response to the wave of protests that began in March in the country.” The IACHR expressed concern regarding the number of deaths and injuries caused by firearms and the excessive use of other less lethal weapons, such as teargas and birdshot, and highlighted that hundreds of the nearly 2,000 detainees remained in custody. The commission has received allegations of torture and ill-treatment by security forces, and information that authorities are using the military criminal justice system to try civilians, it said. The IACHR condemned “any attempt by the Venezuelan authorities to prevent holding of elections” and deplored President Maduro’s unprecedented decision to denounce the OAS charter.
Venezuela: Condenamos aumento de muertes, heridos y detenciones masivas https://t.co/NDEtGtEjnl
— CIDH (@CIDH) May 9, 2017
With impunity, National Police beat this man as he left a demonstration, detained him 4 several hours & took away his backpack. Caracas, 5/1 pic.twitter.com/0cBH1BiAcR
— HRW Venezuela (@HRW_Venezuela) May 9, 2017
On May 4, the general commander of the Bolivarian National Guard, Antonio Benavides Torres, stated that a special operation ordered by President Nicolás Maduro would be carried out to prosecute, in military courts, civilians who had been detained two days earlier during protests in Carabobo state. The operation is part of the “Zamora Plan,” an initiative meant to address “internal and external attacks that threaten the country’s peace and sovereignty.” (For background on the Zamora Plan, with links to official sources, check out this outline prepared by the Human Rights Center of the Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas).
Benavides Torres claimed 43 people had been “involved in serious crimes against the public order, such as looting, rebellion, and robbery and attack to a sentinel.” Francisco Ameliach, the governor of Carabobo who belongs to President Maduro’s political party, tweeted that “more than 70 hooligans” had been detained and taken before military courts, and authorities were “in search of intellectual authors and collaborators.”
On May 5, the interior and justice minister, Néstor Luis Reverol, tweeted that “military courts will be in charge of all investigations that are necessary of these TERRORISTS hired by the right” (caps in the original).
These actions occur days after Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz publicly criticized policies by the Maduro administration and requested courts to release 38 people detained by the National Guard in Nueva Esparta, arguing that the police report on their detention did not specify why they had been detained.
Local human rights groups have confirmed that dozens of civilians have been prosecuted by military courts. In one case, at least 19 were prosecuted days ago for “rebellion” and “contempt.” The military court rejected the defense’s argument that they did not have jurisdiction to try civilians. Armed military officials stood guard inside the courtroom.
Both Venezuelan and international law provide that civilians should not be prosecuted before military courts. The Venezuelan Constitution, in article 261, limits military jurisdiction to crimes that are of a military nature. Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Venezuela ratified in 1978, guarantees the right to a timely trial by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal. In 2015, the Human Rights Committee, the expert body charged with interpreting the ICCPR, expressed concern that military courts in Venezuela are competent to try civilians under certain circumstances and called on the Venezuelan government to “adopt the necessary measures to prohibit military courts from trying civilians.” Similarly, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that military courts should not try civilians.
To see OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro’s statement on the use of military courts against civilians, click here.
¡En Carabobo! Plan Zamora ha capturado a más de 70 terroristas de la derecha https://t.co/hg0bLHQEwi #6Mayo pic.twitter.com/n2BQzx8plx
— Con el Mazo Dando (@ConElMazoDando) May 7, 2017
A radio initiative co-produced by Provea, one of the leading human rights groups in Venezuela, is now available online:
Una radio por internet para el activismo: Comienza @_humanoderecho en
período de prueba. Disfrutala en https://t.co/oUpZbIRPAt pic.twitter.com/29fdvPF12R— PROVEA (@_Provea) May 6, 2017
A good way to understand what’s happening in Venezuela is to see it with your own eyes. The Financial Times has published this piece and video with an excellent overview of the crisis, including testimony from government supporters and former government supporters, as well as information on pro-government armed groups of civilians called “colectivos.” A recent in-depth article and video by the Wall Street Journal, available here, provides a thorough and moving description of the food crisis and the difficulty that Venezuelans are facing to feed their families. For Human Rights Watch reporting on the humanitarian crisis, including a video report on food and health shortages, see here.
Please read this story, and look at the pictures to understand Venezuela's collapse. I cried editing this. https://t.co/Lu4jk2In2K via @WSJ
— David Luhnow (@davidluhnow) May 5, 2017
Letter to President Maduro requesting authorization to visit Leopoldo López.
On May 5, Human Rights Watch requested authorization to President Nicolás Maduro to visit Leopoldo López in the Ramo Verde military prison. López has not received visits from his family or lawyer since early April. The full letter in English is available here and in Spanish, here.
Between April 1-May 4, 35 people died in the context of demonstrations—18 in Caracas, six in Carabobo state, five in Lara state, two in Mérida state, two in Miranda state, one in Barinas state, and one in Táchira state, the Attorney General’s Office reported. A total of 717 people were injured in demonstrations nation-wide, including 329 cases in which there were allegations of violations of basic rights, the office said.
On May 4, the Venezuelan Penal Forum, a nongovernmental organization that provides legal support to detainees nation-wide, reported that 1,708 people had been arrested during demonstrations that started on April 4, and that 596 of them remained in detention.
Ministerio Público registra 35 fallecidos y 717 heridos tras manifestaciones entre abril y mayo https://t.co/ijndJuXtNs #4May
— Ministerio Público (@MPvenezolano) May 4, 2017
On May 4, eight Latin American governments—Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Paraguay—issued a statement deploring the violence in Venezuela that has led to deaths and hundreds of injured people. The statement condemns the excessive use of force by authorities against the civilian population, called on the Venezuelan government to respect the human rights of its citizens, and highlighted the need to organize elections, release political prisoners, restore the powers of the National Assembly, and guarantee the separation of powers. The statement is available in Spanish here, and in Portuguese here.
On May 4, The Economist published an interesting article examining the critical role the Venezuelan military is playing in the current crisis. Check it out here:
No butter, but lots of guns: The armed forces will decide the fate of Venezuela’s regime https://t.co/Yu89V7YKD4 via @TheEconomist
— Michael Reid (@michaelreid52) May 4, 2017
In the evening of May 3, a Venezuelan journalist and a US senator tweeted that Leopoldo López had been transferred to a military hospital in delicate health conditions. Around 11 p.m., Diosdado Cabello, the powerful Chavista politician, showed what he called a “proof of life” video in his weekly TV show, allegedly filmed two hours earlier, in which López tells his family that he is alright and does not know why he is filming the video.
López has been unable to see his family or lawyer since early April. Although his wife and mother visited the military hospital where he had reportedly been transferred as well as the prison where he is being held on May 3 at night and in the morning of May 4, they were unable to see or talk to him.
At least 200 people were injured during clashes that erupted during a demonstration in Caracas on May 3 against the Maduro administration, Reuters reported. Thousands had marched peacefully until they were blocked by security forces. The death toll during incidents in Venezuela rose to 34, Reuters said.
Barbarie en Venezuela. Países de la OEA y alto comisionado de Naciones Unidas deben exigir cese inmediato de represión. https://t.co/XcAnwTYEGK
— José Miguel Vivanco (@JMVivancoHRW) May 3, 2017
There are more than 140 political prisoners in Venezuela, according to the Venezuelan Penal Forum, a local group that provides legal support to detainees. Human Rights Watch has documented that judicial processes in several of these cases violate the most basic due process rights, and prosecutions have been based on non-existent or fabricated evidence. These cases, however, also have a dramatic impact on the lives of the detainees’ families. Here are some videos in which the wives of five men who have been detained and prosecuted for political reasons in Venezuela share their stories:
#29Abril se cumplen 8 meses del secuestro de Yon. Denunciamos las condiciones degradantes en que lo mantiene la dictadura. #LiberenAYon pic.twitter.com/2zClLFEnMA
— Yon Goicoechea (@YonGoicoechea) April 30, 2017
On May 1, President Nicolas Maduro announced that his government will organize elections to establish a constituent assembly and draft a new constitution. But what he should be doing now -- without any further delay-- is upholding the rights enshrined in the existing constitution, which was enacted by his predecessor Hugo Chavez and contains basic guarantees that his government is violating. The solution to Venezuela's crisis requires setting a date for overdue regional elections, releasing political prisoners, restoring the independence of the judiciary and the National Assembly's powers, and accepting desperately-needed international humanitarian aid. Maduro's proposal to write a new constitution should not be allowed to distract from his flagrant disregard for the rights enshrined in the existing one.
- José Miguel Vivanco
Maduro's constitutional reform cannot distract from his systematic disregard of the existing constitution.Statement: https://t.co/Qmz3iGA8oV pic.twitter.com/wXLZW7qyua
— José Miguel Vivanco (@JMVivancoHRW) May 2, 2017
This year, major newspapers worldwide have published editorials on the Venezuela crisis. They have addressed issues ranging from the humanitarian crisis to the need to release political prisoners and restore powers to the National Assembly. Many editorials have supported the OAS process to evaluate Venezuela's compliance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter and called for increased international and multilateral pressure on the Maduro administration. For a list of editorials published in 2017, with links to access them, please see here.
In August 2016, intelligence agents detained Yon Goicoechea, an activist of the Popular Will opposition party, as he was driving to a press conference about an opposition rally scheduled for the following month. Goicoechea’s family and lawyer received no official information about his whereabouts for more than 56 hours. A judge subsequently charged Goicoechea with several crimes and ordered his pretrial detention. He has since been detained at one of the headquarters in Caracas of the Bolivarian Intelligence Services for almost eight months, despite the fact that the Attorney General’s Office decided not to press charges on October 17, 2016, and a court ordered his release three days later, according to official documentation reviewed by Human Rights Watch.
There have been reports of at least 17 other cases in which people are being detained by intelligence services, even after a court has ordered their release.
Exigimos que justicia venezolana ejecute inmediatamente decisión judicial para liberar al preso político @YonGoicoechea. #VZLAcrisis pic.twitter.com/wXDckt0ONA
— HRW Venezuela (@HRW_Venezuela) December 8, 2016
On April 26, two experts on freedom of expression of the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights criticized acts of censorship and internet blocking in Venezuela, as well as the detention, attacks, and stigmatization of journalists and media workers covering protests in Venezuela.
At least 12 Venezuelan and international journalists have been detained, some for hours and others for days, according to the statement. Journalist Braulio Jatar, who was detained after his independent news outlet reported on a protest against President Maduro in September 2016, remains in detention.
Venezuela: Al menos doce periodistas han sido detenidos en el marco de los actuales acontecimientos: https://t.co/NVNKdFZ8yU
— RELE (@RELE_CIDH) April 26, 2017
At least three online platforms offering news and information of public interest in Venezuela have been blocked by private internet service providers, in response to orders by the National Telecommunications Commission, said the UN and IACHR experts. And at least three international news channels suffered interruptions to their transmissions or had their signals suspended.
For updated information on attacks against journalists and the press, visit the Venezuelan NGO Espacio Público’s website.
Between April 3-25, 26 people died in Venezuela in “violent incidents,” 437 were injured, and 1.289 were detained, Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz said. An official list of those who died, most of whom were killed with gunshots, is available here. The attorney general reported that 65 people were in pretrial detention and 217 others would be taken before a judge on April 25.
Fiscal General repudió muerte de 26 personas por hechos de violencia en los últimos días https://t.co/akpS7L7qna #25Abr pic.twitter.com/UxETr1TQMj
— Ministerio Público (@MPvenezolano) April 26, 2017
On April 24, 16 OAS member states requested a meeting of the organization’s Permanent Council to approve a resolution that will decide to organize a special meeting of foreign ministers to address the situation in Venezuela. It cites OAS charter provisions that allow for such meetings to consider “urgent problems” that are of “common interest.” The meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 26 at 4 pm local time.
Meanwhile, on April 25, the Venezuelan foreign affairs minister warned that if the OAS foreign affairs ministers meet without Venezuela’s consent, the government would withdraw from the OAS—note, however, that under OAS Charter rules (art. 143) that decision would only enter into effect two years later.
The Venezuelan minister also said the Venezuelan government was organizing another extraordinary meeting of foreign affairs minister to denounce “the opposition violence.” Only members of allied governments belonging to another regional organization called CELAC were invited to this one. The meeting is scheduled to take place on May 2.
Consejo #OEA considerará convocar Reunión de Consulta de Cancilleres sobre situación en #Venezuela https://t.co/4cRfWRd8Oy pic.twitter.com/ywxmKsnSc1
— OEA (@OEA_oficial) April 25, 2017
Maria Patricia Molina, 27, moved to Brazil when she was seven months pregnant due to insecurity and the shortages of food and medicine in Venezuela. Sasha, her daughter, was born at Roraima's Maternity Hospital on February 15, 2017. Molina had requested asylum, and was waiting for a decision by the Brazilian refugee agency when Human Rights Watch met with her. February 15. 2017.
The nurses spoke a foreign language, and narrow beds crowded the stuffy ward, but María gazed blissfully into her newborn Sasha’s eyes. María was far from family and friends, but she’d made it to a land of relative plenty — rich with diapers and cooking oil.
Covering Venezuela for Human Rights Watch these past eight years, I’ve watched the country tailspin into repression and privation. In recent weeks, security forces have used excessive force and fired teargas indiscriminately against anti-government protesters, and the Supreme Court effectively shut down Congress — although it later reverted part of its ruling, at the president’s request. There’s little doubt that the Maduro administration looks more and more like a full-fledged dictatorship. My story shows disturbing parallels with the Latin American dictatorships of yesteryear, said Tamara Taraciuk Broner in an article published by the Miami Herald.
The article was also published in Spanish in La Nación (Argentina), La Prensa Gráfica (El Salvador), La Nación (Costa Rica), El Tiempo (Colombia), El Nacional (Venezuela), and in O Globo (Brazil) in Portuguese.
Often, Venezuelan authorities have imposed bans on visits to Leopoldo López—the opposition leader who was arbitrarily detained and convicted to almost 14 years in prison—by his family or lawyers. The most recent ban, his wife reports, has been in place for a month. Instead of questioning the ban, Venezuela’s ombudsman, Tarek William Saab, said he had “mediated” with the government, and told López’s family they would be able to see him after his “sanction” ended. This just adds to the list of abuses Saab has failed to speak up about, and has made more than 100 Venezuelan NGOs call for his resignation.
Como un burócrata más, @TarekWiliamSaab actúa como si sanciones contra @leopoldolopez fueran justas y legales. ¿Defensor del Pueblo? pic.twitter.com/kaZzJm8Cri
— José Miguel Vivanco (@JMVivancoHRW) April 24, 2017
On April 21, the Spanish newspaper El País reported that 3.960 Venezuelans had requested asylum in 2016—a seven-fold increase from 2015, when 585 Venezuelans had done so. More Venezuelans sought asylum in Spain during that year than nationals of any other country. According to official sources reviewed by Human Rights Watch, 124 Venezuelans had requested asylum in Spain in 2014, up from 35 in 2013 and 28 in 2012.
Although Spain is a popular destination for Venezuelans who are fleeing the political, economic, and humanitarian crisis in their country, a review of official sources elsewhere shows a similar increase of Venezuelan immigration:
Venezuela: La crisis humanitaria se extiende a Brasil https://t.co/BxFbAJslfU
— Luis Almagro (@Almagro_OEA2015) April 18, 2017
Today, the Venezuelan opposition organized “The National Plantón,” a demonstration that consists of sitting on the streets and closing down main roads in various cities. For updated information and pictures on what’s happening in different parts of the country, visit NTN24’s website.
Al interior de Venezuela madrugaron para "plantarse" al Gobierno de Maduro #24Abr
https://t.co/GHURVWssY7— NTN24 Venezuela (@NTN24ve) April 24, 2017
Demonstrators clash with riot police during the so-called "mother of all marches" against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela April 19, 2017.
© 2017 ReutersTens of thousands of Venezuelans who have reached a breaking point over the country's humanitarian and political crisis poured into the streets all over the country on Wednesday. They demanded that the government let aid enter Venezuela to help the many people who are desperate for food and medicine. They demanded that the government hold elections, free political prisoners, and reestablish judicial independence and the powers of the National Assembly.
The Venezuelan government's harsh reaction -- complete with a show of force -- was a hugely irresponsible replay of its response to previous protests. The government's response to these protests is further evidence of the need for strong international pressure, especially from other states in the region, to push for the restoration of human rights and democracy in Venezuela -- and a demonstration of the potential cost of a failure to act, said José Miguel Vivanco and Tamara Taraciuk Broner in an op-ed published by CNN.
On the evening of April 20, incidents of looting began in El Valle, a hillside slum area in Caracas, according to the Caracas Chronicles. Security forces were sent in to confront the looters, reportedly alongside armed civilians with links to the government. Many social media postings reproduced videos and audios of repeated gunfire, while others reported that the Children’s and Maternity Hospital in the area had to be evacuated after teargas entered the building. Local residents set up a series of small, burning barricades to try to stop security forces and the armed civilians from passing through, the Caracas Chronicles reported.
On April 21, the Attorney General’s Office said it was investigating the death of 11 people, including a 17-year-old boy, and injuries to six others in El Valle on April 20-21. Some victims were electrocuted, and others were killed by a firearm. The office was also investigating the death of another man who died in “a similar incident” in Petare, another poor area in Caracas.
Piecing together last night's events in El Valle. https://t.co/2kZy5k8oYK
— Caracas Chronicles (@CaracasChron) April 21, 2017
On April 18, a criminal court in Caracas ordered the pretrial detention of the twins Francisco José Sánchez Ramírez and Francisco Alejandro Sánchez Ramírez, 22-year-old university students and opposition activists. The twins had been arrested five days earlier and accused of participating in an attack, during an anti-government protest on April 8, on a building that belongs to the judiciary.
On the day of their arrest, the interior and justice minister tweeted that security forces had delivered a “hard blow to the Venezuelan right’s terrorism” and that the twins had been “organizing terrorist acts against the country’s peace.” The minister said they had “confessed” their participation in “violence” and the government had “obtained valuable elements of proof that implicate right-wing leaders in terrorist acts.”
On April 16, President Nicolás Maduro aired a video supposedly of one of the twins, with his face blurred—and the voices of those questioning him altered—confessing that an opposition politician had paid him to recruit people and participate in violent acts.
But José Sánchez, the twins’ father and a lawyer, said the twins told the judge at the hearing that, after being detained as they were leaving the home of one’s girlfriend, they were driven to the offices of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Services (SEBIN), where they were physically abused and threatened with death so they would film the video. When the father visited SEBIN offices that day, he was told they were not there. He was only able to see them 72 hours later, he said.
A prosecutor at the hearing said the video could not be used as evidence against the twins, the father reported, and that the allegations of torture would be investigated.
At a public appearance at the National Assembly on April 18, the father broke down when he reported what the twins had said: “They bent us, but they did not break us. Dad, tell all our friends that today’s tears will be tomorrow’s smiles.”
The opposition in Venezuela organized what they called the “mother of all marches” today, as thousands poured into the streets to demand that the government hold elections, release political prisoners, reestablish judicial independence and the powers of the National Assembly, and allow sufficient humanitarian aid into the country.
Demonstrators clash with riot police during the so-called "mother of all marches" against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela April 19, 2017.
© 2017 ReutersThe turnout was massive. But you’d never be able to tell from the information published by Venezuelan official sources – including the vice-president, Telesur, and VTV – that have been reporting exclusively on pro-government rallies in which large numbers of people participated, including some who sing and dance “in defense of peace.”
There aren’t many reasons to sing and dance in Venezuela today. Leave aside, for the moment, the political, economic, human rights, and humanitarian crisis that pushed thousands into the streets in protest. Today, security forces used force and deployed teargas against demonstrators, and dozens of people have been detained. Journalists covering the protests reported suffering harassment at the hands of security forces and pro-government supporters, and a TV cable channel that reported on the protests was taken off the air. At least one person was killed – a 17-year-old boy who was reportedly not participating in the demonstrations died after being shot in the head.
This was totally foreseeable. Today’s protests unfolded amid explosive tensions, in a country where security forces have brutally repressed anti-government demonstrations, sometimes in collaboration with armed pro-government groups. Before today’s demonstration, President Nicolás Maduro – invoking his “defending peace” slogan – accused the opposition of engaging in “violence, conspiracy, [a] coup d’etat, and interventionism.” He announced he would multiply the number of pro-government militias and arm them, while organizing parallel pro-government demonstrations to counter the opposition’s one.
In advance of today’s protests, the region’s eyes were on Venezuela. What is happening today should only be further evidence that there is an urgent need for strong international pressure to push for the restoration of human rights and democracy in Venezuela – and that the potential cost and risk of not exercising such pressure is rapidly increasing.
Watch images of today’s anti-government protests here:
Watch live feeds from @VPITV and @NTN24ve here. https://t.co/wdx06E9VYX
— Caracas Chronicles (@CaracasChron) April 19, 2017
Ready to repress opposition-led protests, Maduro packs streets with soldiers and gives weapons to the few supporters he has left pic.twitter.com/rcKaQYgh7W
— José Miguel Vivanco (@JMVivancoHRW) April 19, 2017
The Venezuelan Penal Forum, a local group that provides legal support to detainees, reported today that 470 people have been detained during anti-government protests in Venezuela between April 4-14, including 165 who were released before being brought before a judge. Security forces used excessive force and teargas indiscriminately to disperse demonstrations, leading to serious injuries, the report says. At least five people were killed with firearms during the demonstrations, some of them by pro-government armed groups, the report says. Lawyers collaborating with the organization report that some detainees were beaten and tortured, while others were prosecuted without evidence implicating them in any crime, including sometimes by military courts.
Reporte sobre la #represion del Estado venezolano del 4 al 16 de abril 2017. Leer aquí: https://t.co/GHcgenAZ7a pic.twitter.com/FokaxCEfen .
— Foro Penal (@PorHumanidad) April 18, 2017
UPDATE (April 20, 2017)
#20A Con los arrestos del día de ayer, del 4 al 19 de abril de 2017 tenemos reportados más de 1000 arrestos por protestas. #Venezuela
— Foro Penal (@PorHumanidad) April 20, 2017
Venezuela’s humanitarian crisis is spilling across its borders, Human Rights Watch said today. Latin American governments need to apply strong pressure on the Maduro administration to address severe shortages of medicine and food in Venezuela that are causing Venezuelans to leave the country.
On April 17, in advance of anti-government protests scheduled to take place in Venezuela on April 19, the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru called on the Maduro administration to ensure Venezuelans can exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully, and set a date for elections “to solve the grave crisis that Venezuela is facing, and worries the region.”
On March 29, the Venezuelan Supreme Court effectively shut down Congress, the only key government institution that remained independent of executive control, making the incredible announcement that it would assume all legislative powers itself or choose some other institution to delegate them to. This ruling is the end of Maduro administration’s façade of democracy, José Miguel Vivanco writes in Univisión.
Without strong international pressure, @leopoldolopez will remain Maduro’s hostage. It's been 1000 days #VZLAcrisis https://t.co/KAOv6qOpRI pic.twitter.com/h9IcdIfUMf
— José Miguel Vivanco (@JMVivancoHRW) November 14, 2016
The Venezuelan government has targeted critics of its ineffective efforts to alleviate severe shortages of essential medicines and food while the crisis persists, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Regional governments should press the administration of President Nicolás Maduro to adopt immediate measures to better address the profound humanitarian crisis, including by exploring avenues for increased international assistance.
The Organization of American States (OAS) should press authorities from Venezuela’s Maduro administration to release and drop criminal charges against anyone who has been arbitrarily detained and charged, Human Rights Watch said today. The OAS should also press Venezuela so its authorities investigate allegations that several detainees have been beaten and tortured in custody, and make the results of the investigations public.
Police and military raids in low-income and immigrant communities in Venezuela have led to widespread allegations of abuse, the Venezuelan Human Rights Education-Action Program (PROVEA) and Human Rights Watch said in a joint report released today. The allegations included extrajudicial killings, mass arbitrary detentions, maltreatment of detainees, forced evictions, the destruction of homes, and the arbitrary deportation of Colombian nationals.
Venezuelan security forces have used unlawful force in response to antigovernment demonstrations, severely beating unarmed protesters and shooting them at point blank range, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Security forces also subjected detainees to severe physical and psychological abuse, including in some cases torture, and justice officials failed to safeguard detainees’ due process rights.
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