The researcher for South American Affairs of Amnesty International highlighted that the report of this organizations’ fact finding mission, with establish individual responsibilities in the chain of command of the Chavista government related to Human Rights violations originating from their policy of repression.
“The biggest worry for Amnesty International (AI) with regards to the effects of COVID-19 in Venezuela goes hand in hand with what we have been denouncing these last years, and we have documented multiple cases and it is the establishment a policy of repression by Nicolás Maduro’s government, because that policy might be exacerbated to limit the dissemination of trustworthy information with regards to the current status of the pandemic in Venezuela, the number of carriers of the virus, the number of people receiving treatment, the government stockpile of supplies and infrastructure available to attend to these people and the effectiveness of the treatment and control of the pandemic.”
This statement was made by Valentina Ballesta, the researcher for South American Affairs of Amnesty International, who assured that the Human Rights organizations have the challenge to guarantee that the reliable information regarding claims of lack of treatment, medical attention, or testing to detect the new coronavirus, be made public.
In an interview for the Provea-TalCual alliance, the researcher alerted that this is very sensitive information, and those who denounce these claims face the risk of becoming a political target of repression by Nicolas Maduro. Ballesta also indicated: “It wouldn’t be the first time it happens in the country. We have cases of various domain experts who upon asserting irregularities on various subjects or for not agreeing with the policies of the government, have been discriminated and persecuted. We have claims about two physicians, one of whom was imprisoned and released back into freedom, and the other whose status we are currently verifying.”
Working with networks and coalitions against the policy of repression.
– Given these restrictions on freedom of transit that have been established to citizens, how can Human Rights activists carry on and continue their work in Venezuela?
– The organizations are going to face many difficulties, but so will citizens. Due to the current situation that the country is going through, we understand that many essential items are difficult to obtain and that the general population is used to look for different venues to obtain them. We understand that measures to limit mobility are necessarily required. However, alongside them, there must be mechanisms to enable access to basic resources such as water.
“With regards to Human Rights organizations this is the time for them to work as networks and coalitions; it will be crucial, all information must be verified, we have to focus efforts to filter out the information that is being shared while simultaneously cover the most amount of territory as we will not be able to freely move,” indicated Ballesta, who pointed out that there are currently networks who are acting as channels of information, confirmation, and activism challenging Nicolas Maduro’s policy of repression.
The revolving door of the policy of repression
– What is your opinion on the update of the report on Venezuela, of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, in which she insists to re-examine the previous human rights violations as well as current new cases being documented?
– To AI, any kind of international scrutiny on the human rights situation in Venezuela is crucial, highly important. We have to understand that the updates made by Bachelet this year, aren’t in isolation, but rather coming from a strong mandate by the Human Rights Council with regards to the required scrutiny needed with regards to human rights in Venezuela, and we have the notion that the situation remains equally grave, and highlights the concept of denying people their freedoms on political bases; one cannot deny this “revolving door” concept (a few detainees are released while others come into custody), that one cannot reduce the pressure and scrutiny on the arbitrary detentions to politically persecute individuals who are deemed opponents to the ideals or the government of Nicolas Maduro. It is a mechanism we still see in function these days.
Initiation of criminal processes
“We believe this will complement the work done by the High Commissioner. This is a group of independent experts that guarantee impartiality, and that have sufficient resources to maintain a level of scrutiny and verification required to bring forth justice and reparations to the victims of human rights violations,” highlighted the investigator.
-What actions can come forth from presenting this report?
-Th ideal is to open criminal processes and investigations, both at domestic as well as at international level. This type of report, produced in these commissions of investigation must be useful in a specific juridisictional process. This document will allow us to determine where responsibilities are headed towards so that a criminal court can establish whether the person is criminally responsible, and then apply a sanction to him/her.
More arbitrariness
– From within the government, there have been threats against various Human Rights NGOs to investigate them for receiving foreign financial assistance. They have been accused of seeking to destabilize and even going against the interests of the country.
-Without a doubt, it is very worrisome for AI. The government of Nicolas Maduro has threatened civil society organizations since several years back. However, we believe these threats might materialize in any minute, and for this, we call on the international community to insist this would violate human rights and go against Rule of Law that shelters the natural functions of civil society organizations, such as the oversight and comptroller functionalities they perform. An example of this is the proposal of an approval (via the Constituent Assembly invoked by the President and not the people) of a law draft that contains several types of vague criminal definitions. Something that is not technically precise, which will lead to more arbitrariness.
“We denounced that the biggest risk that the Venezuelan society faces is the high level of arbitrariness with which the Maduro government operates. Therefore, any law that limits the functions of civil society organizations via arbitrary mechanisms, becomes part of their repertoire of mechanisms of control and policies of repression by the government. The arbitrary detentions, the extra-judicial killings, the excessive use of force, in addition to this policy of repression would expose the work conducted by human rights defenders every day to defend and vindicate the most basic rights in Venezuela,” explained Ballesta.
Historic event.
– Can there be hope for the Venezuelan people to see justice in these cases of human rights violations?
-Yes. When we understand that the paths to justice in Venezuela are sadly limited and curtailed, we believe that the vision must be directed towards international justice. We have the opportunity of a feat, a historic event which will be the presentation of this report of the fact finding mission that – for the first time – will focus on specific, high-profile, cases that can determine chains of command, and therefore provide some truth, justice, and reparation to victims. This serves as the moment for society to obtain truth and justice, for victims to receive reparations, and for allowing us to build mechanisms so that these acts do not happen again.
Is there a current example of a country before which a fact finding mission had presented a report and thus, criminal processes were opened?
-Yes, one recent example is Myanmar, where the fact finding mission did exhaustive and in-depth analyses on chains of command, etc.. and that is strengthening an investication of the ICC.
