Dec 3, 2019 | Alerts |
(Caracas, 03.12.2019. CDH-UCAB). The Human Rights Center at Andrés Bello Catholic University (CDH UCAB), expressed alarm at various human rights violations against a group of 58 Venezuelan citizens deported from Colombia last week.
The irregularities identified by the CDH UCAB include:
1. Selectivity in arbitrary detentions based on nationality. Information received by the CDH UCAB from lawyers representing the victims indicates that several of them were interrogated by officials about their nationality. When they said they were Venezuelan, they were detained without further explanation. This situation occurred with several detainees in the immediate vicinity of the commercial plaza of Bosa Recreo, Bogotá. Other people who were affected said that they were inside their homes in the Patio Bonito sector, when officials entered without order, asking about their nationality and, when they said they were Venezuelans, were taken away.
2. Absence of due process. The immigration authorities allege that the procedure used for expulsions is administrative and justified because, according to the director of Migration Colombia, “they were affecting security and public order. They were advancing acts of vandalism in the marches,” although at no time was evidence presented to link the expelled with the acts of vandalism. In addition, the authorities affirm that, since it is a matter of national security, an article of decree 1067 of 20152 was used, which made the decision unappealable, relativizing the right to due process. The procedure, in addition to being brief, is secret, since the affected party is not informed about the substance of the decision. According to the same director of Migration Colombia, “If you look, for example, a measure of expulsion (…) in the content is not mentioned, beyond the discretion of the principles of sovereignty … the substance of the matter is enshrined
[confidential or secret]
in a security or intelligence report.” In this regard, it should be remembered that a decree does not correspond to the definition of law, as indicated by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; a decree cannot affect rights, much less by invoking reasons of national security or public order, since this would mean de facto suspension of constitutional guarantees that have not been and cannot be suspended.
3. Presumption of innocence and right to honor. In addition to violating the presumption of innocence by applying an unappealable administrative measure that denies victims the opportunity to defend themselves, immigration authorities announced that they would share information on the deportees with other countries so that they would not be admitted to any other State. The victims are thus publicly identified, affecting their honor and reputation while other States are urged to impose an extraterritorial sanction on people who have not had the opportunity to defend themselves.
4. Absence of transparency in the procedure. The CDH UCAB has had information from the lawyers who represented the deportees. According to the lawyers’ information, those affected and their families were not adequately informed about the procedure. Family members were told that the procedure would be done at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, November 25. However, the people affected by the expulsion measure were taken from the place of detention at dawn and transferred to a military airport, without their relatives being able to see them at any time, nor to know the destination of travel.
5. Violations of the right to personal integrity. Testimonies from relatives collected by lawyers and shared with the CDH UCAB, indicate that the deportees were subjected to beatings and kicks. Additionally, as we have been informed, a tear gas canister was launched inside the bus where the detainees were placed [for local transport to the military airport].
6. The deportation route is, by itself, an inhuman and degrading treatment. The deportees were transferred by air to two different points in Colombia, on the border with Venezuela. They were moved first to Puerto Carreño (Vichada), and then to Inírida (Guainía) across from San Fernando de Atabapo (Amazonas, Venezuela). Many of those affected had no money, were in light clothes (shorts and sandals – what they were wearing when they were taken from their homes), and had to get from San Fernando de Atabapo (a town 6 hours by boat from Puerto Ayacucho) to their places of origin, without resources or food. When questioned about the reason for deportation from such a remote location, the director of Migration Colombia said: “If we expel them through places with easy access back to Colombia, well, they can enter again. Therefore what we want is to make it difficult for these people to return to our country, make it a little more complex, so we expel them to other areas
[distant from larger cities and principal border towns]
using air transport, and then waterway.” This statement, which does not consider the conditions of the deportees, is further contradicted by the announcement of the same official regarding instructions to the 45 immigration control posts in Colombia to enforce the expulsion measure and prohibition of re-entry for 10 years. If there are precise instructions to all border posts, there should be no fear that the individuals would re-enter Colombian territory.
7. Affectation of the family unit. According to the testimonies received by the CDH UCAB, many of the deportees left wives (some are Colombian citizens) and children in Colombia. Others were in charge of children with special needs. The rights of children are among the non-derogable [the rights are absolute and inviolable under international law], even in a state of exception. According to the director of Migration Colombia, nothing prevents family members who remain in Colombia from returning to Venezuela, which unfortunately shows that the criterion applied corresponds to that of a regular or voluntary migrant and not to people in need of international protection.
To the above is added a current of opinion, even fueled by certain media in Venezuela, which applauds and justifies the deportations for alleged links of the deportees to vandalism or for alleged sympathies with the Venezuelan government party. Although nothing has been proven, the presumption of innocence has not been granted to those affected, and the situation is feeding expressions of xenophobia coming from Venezuelan territory.
As an organization with 20 years of experience, 15 of which we have dedicated to supporting hundreds of Colombians at risk, and as the only Venezuelan organization that denounced the mass expulsions of Colombians from Venezuela in 2015 to international human rights organizations, we call on Colombian authorities to guarantee due process and all human rights to any person subject to an administrative procedure that may lead to deportation or expulsion.
We recognize the efforts made by the Colombian government in the face of a massive and unexpected flow of people from Venezuela and we welcome the announcement of the director of Migration Colombia regarding new policies of the country towards Venezuelan migrants and refugees, which will be disclosed this week. We hope that the social convulsion that affected Colombia in recent days [the nationwide strikes that began on November 21st of 2019] does not stop the efforts of regularization and labor and community integration efforts of Venezuelans, which is the best way to maintain control over the citizens subject to Colombian jurisdiction.
Likewise, we call on the media to make responsible use of this information and to avoid encouraging feelings of xenophobia or unfounded suspicions about the Venezuelan population that has had to migrate against their will.
Finally, our call is also to Venezuelan society, to avoid echoing any justification of deportations without due process, based on an alleged sympathy of those affected with a political tendency. That type of intolerant justifications is the product of a polarizing discourse that neglects the rights of people who are all equal before the law.
Official Source: CDH – UCAB
