(Mérida, 08/03/2024).- The Human Rights Observatory of the University of Los Andes (ODH-ULA) has identified 12 patterns of repression against people who have been detained in the states of Mérida, Táchira and Trujillo and against those who suffer political persecution in the Andean region following the questioned presidential elections of July 28.
According to records from the ODH-ULA, the Trujillo Human Rights Network and the Penal Forum, from Monday, July 29 until 1:00 pm on Saturday, August 3, a total of 147 people have been arrested in the states Merida (35), Tachira (44) and Trujillo (68). Of this number, the observatory has been able to identify the data of 108 people, including 9 teenagers and 15 women (adults and minors): one of them is pregnant and the other is a nursing mother. Some of the victims have already been released, but their detentions were arbitrary and their human rights violated.
The ODH-ULA has identified Nine (9) patterns of repression against detained persons: arbitrary arrests; enforced disappearances; cruel and degrading treatment; violation of the principle of presumption of innocence; accusation of serious crimes without evidence; denial of the right to private defence; violation of the principle of individualisation of punishment; undifferentiated treatment between adults and minors during their detention and judicial proceedings; and undifferentiated treatment of women deprived of liberty.
In addition, this observatory has identified three (3) other patterns of political persecution that have generated and could generate more arrests and/or reprisals: incitement to hatred through the public display of photographs and names of people, who are tagged with messages such as “Wanted. Reward. Guarimbero leaders,” using in some cases symbols of police agencies; violation of freedom of expression, free association and free movement; and harassment and attacks against press workers.
Forced disappearances, cruel and degrading treatment
The United Nations (UN) defines enforced disappearance as “any form of arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty perpetrated by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by the refusal of the authorities to acknowledge the situation of deprivation of liberty or to reveal the fate or whereabouts of the person concerned, which removes the victim from the protection of the law.”
Although the lack of official information from Venezuelan authorities makes it difficult to know the details of the cases of detentions committed after the elections, the ODH-ULA has been able to confirm through testimonies of the victims’ relatives that most of them were missing for hours or even days, and some are still missing. One of these cases is that of Roberto Antonio Andrade Andrade, whose relatives still do not know his whereabouts after he was detained by officials of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) on Tuesday, July 30, in the Libertador municipality of the state of Mérida.
In addition to being arbitrarily detained, people captured by police and military officials are subjected to cruel and degrading treatment, including physical and verbal aggression, threats, coercion and denial of timely access to food and water. The ODH-ULA was able to confirm that some detainees who have already been released received threats to prevent them from reporting the aggression they suffered during their detentions.
Patterns of due process violations
Lawyers from the ODH-ULA have been able to confirm that in all cases of arrests committed in Mérida due process of law has been violated in these aspects: imputation of serious crimes without presentation of evidence, which violates the constitutional principle of presumption of innocence, also contemplated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in international treaties; lack of individualization of charges (all detainees are charged with the same crimes and presented in group hearings); imposition from Caracas of defenders and National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutors of the Public Ministry, despite the fact that the events occurred in Mérida; and appointment of a judge for all cases, who does not appear in person at the hearings, which are held via telematics and after the periods established in the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure (COPP).
The charges also follow a pattern. Without any evidence, all those arrested are charged with the same crimes: terrorism, incitement to hatred, treason, conspiracy and resistance to authority.which carry sentences of up to 30 years in prison. Some adults are also charged with the crime of using adolescents to commit crimes, as provided for in the Organic Law for the Protection of Boys, Girls and Adolescents (LOPNNA).
In addition to this, in the state of Mérida, the ODH-ULA lawyers have been able to confirm that The GNB officials who made the arrests are present at the hearings, This creates fear among the detainees, causing many of them to refuse to declare what these officials have done to them. The ODH-ULA has also been able to verify intimidation actions against judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys in Mérida, ordered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Caracas.
Another pattern identified is the Denial of visits to detainees by their familieswho spend hours and days without knowing the place of confinement of their loved ones. The ODH-ULA was able to learn that some detainees have been able to communicate with their relatives through handwritten letters, but have not been able to receive anything from them, neither food nor the medication that some need. As of the date of publication of this press release, the police and military bodies involved have not published the names of the persons deprived of liberty, limiting the possibility of communicating with the detainees to relatives and lawyers.
Minors and women do not receive differential treatment
The ODH-ULA confirmed that Nine teenagers have been arrested in Merida, whose right to be tried by a natural judge specialized in minors, as established by the LOPNNA, has been violated, and they remain detained together with adults. In addition, authorities have recorded and distributed videos of these adolescents, violating their right to the preservation of identity enshrined in the LOPNNA. All these violations violate the best interests of the child and adolescent, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (Beijing Rules).
In the case of women, both adults and minors, they have not received differentiated treatment that guarantees their human rights. One of the women detained in the Andean region is pregnant and another is breastfeeding. The pregnant woman was physically and verbally abused by her captors, while the nursing mother was denied her right to breastfeed her baby, who is also a victim of this transgression by not receiving food from his mother.
The arrests of women in the Andean region following the presidential elections ignore the gender perspective of human rights standards on persons deprived of liberty, as contemplated by the Inter-American Commission of Women of the Organization of American States (OAS).
Finally, the ODH-ULA has also recorded cases of harassment and attacks on journalists and press workers in the Andean region.. Some cases are the arrest of VPI TV cameraman in Trujillo state, Paul Leonwho is also a student of Social Communication at the University of Los Andes. Likewise, the physical assault and theft of her cell phone committed against journalist Yuliana Palmar, a reporter for the Andes Journal in TrujilloOther journalists have also been subjected to threats, intimidation and restrictions on their work.
The ODH-ULA rejects and denounces the repressive escalation ordered and executed by Venezuelan state officials following the announcement of the election results by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which have been questioned inside and outside the country. This observatory recalls that political persecution is a crime against humanity established in the Rome Statute, while urging the Venezuelan authorities to cease their repressive actions and to respect the human, civil and political rights of all citizens.
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2024-08-05 10:50:59
