US State Department unloads against Venezuela

On Feb. 25, 2009, the United States State Department release its Country Report on Venezuela concerning the status of human rights. Its not that the United States is perfect in this regard, after all its one of the few countries with lawful death penalty. However, the State Department issues this report so that people can learn on the violations of human rights in that specific country and recognize the development of policies in favor of protecting human rights.

I will paste certain parts of the report, which can be found here

"Venezuela is a constitutional democracy with a population of approximately 26 million. In 2006 voters reelected President Hugo Chavez of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR). Official observation missions from both the European Union and Organization of American States (OAS) deemed the elections generally free and fair but noted some irregularities. While civilian authorities generally maintained control of the security forces, there were instances in which elements of the security forces acted independently of government authority.

Politicization of the judiciary and official harassment of the political opposition and the media characterized the human rights situation during the year. The following human rights problems were reported: unlawful killings; harsh prison conditions; arbitrary arrests and detentions; a corrupt, inefficient, and politicized judicial system characterized by trial delays, impunity, and violations of due process; official intimidation and attacks on the independent media; discrimination based on political grounds; widespread corruption at all levels of government; violence against women; trafficking in persons; and restrictions on workers' right of association."

Here the report is totally correct, the politicization of the Judiciary is obscene in Venezuela, as a practicing attorney can give loads of examples, I remember that when the Initial Celebration of the Judicial year, all the Justices of the Supreme Court chanting Chavez no se va! Chavez will not go away. This is dead on. Unlawful killings, well one can read the papers in Venezuela to see that we have more dead count than the war in Iraq and Afganistan, put together. Trial delays, impunity and violations of due process. I wish to remember the people in Venezuela, that we have political prisoners, awaiting for years for a trial thats never going to come. The names, Lazaro Forero, Henry Vivas, Ivan Simonovics, Gral Martinez Mendoza, Jose Mazuco from Zulia State police, among others. Widespread corruption, well this is totally correct!!!

"In October the Ministry of Interior and Justice reported that 18,313 police officials, or 16 percent of the country's police force, were under investigation for misconduct and alleged human rights violations, including kidnapping, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, and extrajudicial killings stemming from cases filed from 2000-07. In 2007 alone, 1,948 police officers were accused of alleged misconduct, according to the Ministry. The National Organic Police Law was passed in April 2007. This law created a national police force; however, there have been no efforts to staff this organization. In January the Caracas Metropolitan Police Force was placed under the authority of the Ministry of Interior and Justice."

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While the constitution provides for an independent judiciary, judicial independence remained compromised. The judiciary also was highly inefficient, sometimes corrupt, and subject to political influence, particularly from the Attorney General's Office, which in turn was pressured by the executive branch.

The judicial sector consists of the Supreme Court and lower courts, the Attorney General's Office, and the Ministry of Interior and Justice. The Supreme Court is the country's highest court and directly administers the lower courts through the Executive Directorate of the Judiciary.

According to the NGO Foro Penal, almost 40 percent of the judges were provisional and temporary. The Supreme Court's Judicial Committee may hire and fire temporary judges without cause and without explanation, and it did so. Provisional judges legally have the same rights and authorities as permanent judges. The provisional and temporary judges, lacking tenure in their profession, particularly were subject to political influence from the Ministry of Interior and Justice and the attorney general.

The law provides that the Moral Council (attorney general, human rights ombudsman, and comptroller general) may suspend judges and allows the National Assembly to revoke the appointment of Supreme Court judges by a simple majority vote.

Lower court judges hear pretrial motions, including prosecution and defense motions, prior to criminal cases going to trial judges. Executive judges oversee the application of sentences. Appeals courts, consisting of three-judge panels, review lower court decisions. The attorney general oversees the prosecutors who investigate crimes and bring charges against criminal suspects.

In accordance with President Chavez's December 2007 amnesty decree, the charges against governor-elect of Miranda State Henrique Capriles Radonski, for his alleged involvement in the arrest of Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, were dropped. In October the courts reopened the case against Capriles related to a violent demonstration in 2002 outside the Cuban Embassy.

In March an ex-prosecutor accused former attorney general Isaias Rodriguez of altering witness testimony and falsely implicating critics of the government in the Danilo Anderson case. Anderson was a high-profile prosecutor killed in a car bomb explosion in November 2004. The government's one-time key witness, Giovanny Vasquez, told the media that Rodriguez paid him 1,075,000 Bs.F (approximately $500,000) to present false testimony in the case. The government reportedly reopened the case following the allegations against Rodriguez.

Trial Procedures

The law provides for open, public, and fair trials with oral proceedings for all individuals. The accused have the right to be present and consult with an attorney. Public defenders are provided for indigent defendants, but there continued to be a shortage of public defenders. Defendants have the right to question witnesses against them and present their own witnesses. The accused and their attorneys do not necessarily have access to government-held evidence. Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. Defendants and plaintiffs have the right of appeal.

Trial delays were common. A professional judge and two lay judges try serious cases; a single judge may hear serious cases if requested by the defendant or victim or if attempts to appoint lay judges have failed. Difficulty in finding persons willing to serve as lay judges also resulted in delays.

The law provides that trials for military personnel charged with human rights abuses after 1999 be held in civilian rather than military courts.

Political Prisoners and Detainees

There were an estimated 12 political prisoners in the country. In some cases the political prisoners were held in distinct penal facilities, including DISIP installations and the Ramo Verde military prison. The International Committee of the Red Cross was permitted access to these political prisoners.

In December 2007 President Chavez decreed a partial amnesty for persons implicated in the drafting or signing of the 2002 Carmona Decree, which recognized an interim government during the 2002 coup against Chavez, and in a series of enumerated acts surrounding the coup. Human rights organizations welcomed the measure but urged Chavez to broaden the amnesty to include all those accused of involvement in the events of 2002 and to all implicated in political crimes.

Retired army General Francisco Uson remained free on conditional release from Ramo Verde after being released in December 2007. Uson served three years and six months for allegedly "defaming" the army. The conditions for his release included not traveling outside of greater Caracas and reporting before a judge every 15 days. He was also prohibited from participating in demonstrations or commenting on his case to the media.

Former Caracas Metropolitan Police commissioners Ivan Simonovis, Henry Vivas, and Lazarro Forero, along with eight other police officers, remained imprisoned without conviction, stemming from charges of being accomplices to murder committed during the events related to the civil disturbances in 2002. The three commissioners were held in DISIP installations, while the eight other police officers were in Ramo Verde. On January 16, a judge denied a motion to dismiss the charges under President Chavez's December 2007 amnesty decree. The ruling followed statements by Chavez and Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz that the accused were not eligible to benefit from the amnesty.

In September 2007 government officials imprisoned and accused Jose Sanchez "Mazuco," former chief of security for Zulia State, which is controlled by opposition governor and former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, in connection with the killing of Claudio Macias, a Military Intelligence Police (DIM) informant who was jailed at the time. Prosecutors contended that Sanchez authorized the hanging of Macias. Sanchez remained in custody at the Ramo Verde military prison at year's end."