Amnesty International Report 1995 - Venezuela

At least one prisoner of conscience was jailed during 1994 and at least eight others remained in prison. The widespread use of torture by the security forces continued to be reported. Prison conditions remained extremely harsh, and scores of prisoners died during violent incidents in jails. At least 10 people were extrajudicially executed by the security forces, and scores more were reported to have been unlawfully killed during police and army operations to combat crime. Most investigations into reported human rights violations made little progress. President Rafael Caldera took office in February. On 27 June, in the context of a deepening economic crisis, President Caldera announced the suspension of certain constitutional guarantees, including the right not to be detained without warrant except when caught committing a crime. The suspension of guarantees was rejected by Congress on 22 July but the next day the executive overturned Congress' decision and suspended the guarantees until the end of the year. Venezuela signed the Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons in June but had not ratified it by the end of the year. Community activists and their relatives continued to face threats, persecution and imprisonment. Several were prisoners of conscience. Gabriel Rivas Granadillo, leader of La Chívera peasants' union, was arrested without warrant on 2 July by the state police in Valencia under the Ley de Vagos y Maleantes, Law on Vagrants and Crooks. This permits administrative detention for periods of up to five years, without judicial appeal or review. He remained in detention as a prisoner of conscience in extremely harsh conditions for days before being released without charge. Other prisoners of conscience arrested in previous years remained in jail, including Henry Landino Contreras, a musician, the son of Bari Indian and peasant activist Mario Landino who was released without charge in March (see Amnesty International Report 1994). Henry Landino was arrested and tortured in the state of Zulia in March 1993, together with Guzmán Villalba Torres, a Colombian peasant. Both men were prisoners of conscience and remained imprisoned throughout 1994. Pedro Luis Peña Arévalo and José Luis Zapata were arrested in Maracaibo and Caracas in 1992 because of their homosexuality. They were detained under the Law on Vagrants and Crooks. Jaime Rafael Lugo Acabán, a student activist, was arrested and tortured in Puerto La Cruz by members of the military intelligence agency Dirección de Inteligencia Militar (DIM), in May 1992. He was tried on charges of "military rebellion" and acquitted by a military court in July 1992. However, he remained in detention as a result of the court's failure to order his release owing to an unresolved conflict between military and civilian jurisdictions. Human rights activist Fernando Arias Figueroa, who was arrested and tortured by members of DIM in February 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994), was released on bail in July. Dozens of other prisoners of conscience, including community and student activists, were detained without warrant after the suspension of guarantees on 27 June. They were held for short periods and interrogated by members of DIM and the police intelligence agency, Dirección de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención (DISIP). The human rights sub-commission of Congress criticized such arbitrary arrests. Scores of people continued to be imprisoned under the Law on Vagrants and Crooks despite government promises to repeal the law, which government and judicial authorities have acknowledged infringes the Constitution and international human rights treaties ratified by the country, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Most of those imprisoned in connection with the coup attempts in February and November 1992 were released during the year (see Amnesty International Report 1993). Torture and ill-treatment by the security forces continued to be widely reported throughout the country and those responsible continued to benefit from impunity. Victims included men, women and children, many of whom belonged to underprivileged sectors of society. The most frequently cited methods were beatings; suspension from wrists or ankles for prolonged periods; near-asphyxiation with plastic bags; electric shocks; and mock executions. Torture was used extensively by the police and army to extract confessions from criminal suspects and such confessions continued to be accepted as evidence by the courts. State attorneys frequently failed to act effectively on complaints of torture and official forensic doctors regularly avoided documenting cases of torture. Torture and ill-treatment were also widely reported from prisons. Medical treatment for detainees who suffered torture was generally unavailable or grossly inadequate. Among the scores of cases of torture reported were those of María García and her husband Luis Gelves, who were arrested without warrant together with eight other peasants by soldiers between 18 and 20 April in the community of Sector Socuavó, Zulia state. Although María García was seriously ill and awaiting an operation, they were transferred to a local army garrison. María García was held with four other women, one of whom was pregnant. They were repeatedly threatened with death, and on 22 April were brutally beaten by members of DIM to force them to confess to collaborating with Colombian guerrillas. Luis Gelves was tortured together with 27 other men while held in secret detention at a local army post. The men were beaten, nearly drowned and threatened with death. On 6 May María García, Luis Gelves and 11 other peasants were released, but the charges against them were not dropped. Franklin Pérez was arrested by members of the Policía Técnica Judicial (PTJ), Criminal Investigations Police, in July in Tucupita, Delta Amacuro. He was allegedly beaten and semi-asphyxiated with a plastic bag while suspended from the wrists during interrogation. He was released without charge three days later. In August community activists José Manuel Flores, José Gregorio Guedez, Rubén Sánchez and José Luis Sánchez were arrested by the state police in Valencia, Carabobo, on charges of participating in the November 1992 coup attempt and belonging to an armed opposition group, Bandera Roja. They were held in incommunicado detention by DISIP and were allegedly beaten, suspended by the wrists for prolonged periods, and given electric shocks. They were then transferred to a military prison run by the DIM in Caracas, the capital, where they remained awaiting trial before military courts. There were no prosecutions of those responsible for past cases of torture. The perpetrators continued to benefit from impunity. In August two members of a non-governmental human rights organization, Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz, received several anonymous death threats after publicly complaining about torture and extrajudicial executions by the police in Caracas. Prison conditions were extremely harsh, often amounting to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Government authorities publicly acknowledged the lack of security for prison inmates, the serious overcrowding and the extremely poor sanitary conditions, but failed to reform the prison system. At least 108 prisoners were killed and dozens remained unaccounted for in Sabaneta prison, Maracaibo. In the worst recorded incident in Venezuela's prisons, on 3 January a group of inmates attacked and set fire to overcrowded cells. The guards failed to prevent and stop the attack, which according to reports was planned with the knowledge of some prison authorities. Few of those responsible had been brought to justice by the end of the year. At least 10 people were extrajudicially executed by the security forces and scores were reported to have been unlawfully killed. Six prisoners who escaped from the Centro Penitenciario de Aragua, a prison in Aragua, on 4 January, were shot in the back by a member of the Guardia Nacional (GN), National Guard. The unarmed prisoners were recaptured at a nearby bus stop on the day of their escape, and forced to lie face down on the ground by the GN. Witnesses saw one of them shoot the prisoners in the back at close range. Rómer de la Cruz Morón Carrillo, a bystander, was shot in the leg when he protested. Those responsible were not brought to justice. On 2 February around 30 soldiers raided the Yukpa Indian community of Kasmera in Zulia. They confiscated a shipment of wood, without a court order as required by law. Community members who protested were threatened and shot at by the soldiers. Three Yukpa Indians – Felipe Romero, José Vicente Romero and Carmen Romero – were killed and 17-year-old Francisco Romero was wounded in the attack. Those responsible had not been brought to justice by the end of the year. Alibeth Blanco Nieves was killed by members of the Policía Metropolitana (PM), Metropolitan Police, in May as she stood with her relatives at a bus stop in Caracas. The police reportedly shot indiscriminately at bystanders. Alibeth's 15-month-old son Anderson was slightly injured in the incident. The PM was accused of dozens of other arbitrary killings in Caracas during 1994, which were not investigated. The officers responsible for killings during 1993 (see Amnesty International Report 1994) were not brought to justice. The victims included three-year-old César García Villarroel and Sergio Rodríguez Yance, a human rights activist. Most killings by the security forces in previous years remained unpunished, including the 1992 massacre of at least 63 inmates in the Retén de Catia prison in Caracas (see Amnesty International Report 1993). An Amnesty International delegation visited Venezuela in May and June and met President Rafael Caldera and other senior government officials, including the Interior Minister, the Justice Minister and the Defence Minister, as well as officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, members of the Supreme Court, members of Congress and the Attorney General. The delegates urged the government to implement more than 70 recommendations contained in Amnesty International's 1993 report, Venezuela: The eclipse of human rights, including the abolition of the Law on Vagrants and Crooks. The President and other government officials acknowledged the organization's concerns, and expressed the government's willingness to end human rights violations.