Venezuela
05.08.02
Urgent Interventions
Venezuela: attacks on local demonstrators and a Belgian European Parliament political assessor
Case VEN 050802
Aggression an other attacks / Ill-treatment
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent action regarding the following situation in Venezuela.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information about an assault on Belgian citizen Paul Emile Dupret, assigned in Venezuela by the European Parliament as a political assessor. He, along with a number of demonstrators, was attacked by the police on 31 July 2002 in front of the Supreme Court of Justice in Caracas.
Mr. Dupret declared in a public statement that has been widely transmitted by the media, that at the time of the events he was accompanying a team from the community television channel Catia-TV, which was covering a demonstration at the Supreme Court of Justice by a number of local citizens who were seeking to express their opinion on the recent coup-d’état that took place on April 11th, 2002. Mr. Dupret declared that “the metropolitan police of Caracas, in an obvious act of provocation, manoeuvred very swiftly using gratuitous force on the sector of pro-Government demonstrators, who were violently crushed…”
According to his statements, Mr. Dupret received around 40 shot pellet wounds over his body, which, although they have not caused any grave injury, have seriously affected his physical and psychological integrity. Mr. Dupret has undertaken the necessary legal action with the Public Prosecutor of Venezuela and informed his Embassy in order protest against the police action.
Mr. Dupret also stated that during at least two days following the demonstration, the police deliberately acted against the population “in order to create a state of chaos demonstrating the incapacity of the Chavez Government to enforce calm and order…” He continued to say that numerous people who protested became victims of police aggression (shot wounds, beatings and, according to the family of one victim, torture). The source confirms that 18 people were injured during the incident of 31 July, but that the number of victims of the events that took place on August 1st and 2nd remains unknown.
The OMCT wishes to express its concern for the human rights situation and for the respect of free speech in Venezuela in general, for the repression of the civil population by Venezuelan authorities and for the physical and psychological integrity of the people involved in the events described above.
Action requested:
Please contact the Venezuelan Authorities urging them to:
· take immediate action to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Paul Emile Dupret and that of the other victims mentioned in the above events;
· order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances described above, in particular into the reports of police violence, and guarantee that those responsible are brought to trial and that the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions are applied as provided by law;
· guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country, in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, in particular the right of physical, psychological and moral integrity enshrined in Article 46, Section 1 of the Constitution of the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela, the right of personal integrity in Article 5 of the American Convention for Human Rights and in the Convention Against Torture, and all other international treaties ratified by Venezuela.
Addresses:
· S.E. D. Hugo Chávez Frías, Presidente de la República, Palacio de Miraflores, Caracas, Venezuela. Fax .: (+58 212) 283 82 39. e-mail : venezuela@venezuela.gov.ve
· Sr. Isaías Rodríguez, Fiscal General de la República, Avenida Universidad, Esquina Pele el ojo a Misericordia, frente a Parque Carabobo. Caracas, Venezuela. Tel.: (+58 212) 509 81 34; (+58 212) 509 80 80. Fax.: (+58 212) 576 44 19 ; (+58 212) 577 21 44 ; (+58 212) 564 74 61
· Gobernador del Distrito Federal, Hernan Gruber Odremán, Tel.: (+58 212) 581 11 11
· Ministerio de Relaciones Interiores, Ministro de Relaciones Interiores y Justicia Ignacio Arcaya. Fax.: (+58 212) 862 75 16 ; (+58 212) 864 43 34 ; (+58 212) 576 87 19
· Sr. German Mundaraín, Defensor del Pueblo, Fina avenida México Plaza Morelos, edificio Defensoría de Pueblo, piso 8, frente al Ateneo de Caracas. Caracas,Venezuela. e-mail: denuncias@defensoria.gov.ve ; Tel. y Fax.: (+58 212) 575 51 03 e-mail : gmundarain @defensoria. gov.ve
· Director Henry Vivas, Comandante General de la Policía Metropolitana, Final de la Fuerzas Armadas, frente al hospital Risque. Caracas, Venezuela. Tel.: (+58 212) 552 29 31; Fax: (+58 212) 551 29 31
· Comandante Manuel Antonio Sotillo, Director Policía Municipal de Sucre, Parte Alta de la Urbina, calle El Samán, Tel. : (+58 212) 242 22 11
· Alcalde José Vicente Rancel Avalos, Municipio de Sucre, Zona colonial de Petare, Palacio Municipal, piso 01, Despacho municipal, frente a la Plaza de Sucre. Tel.: (+58 212) 272 33 60; Fax: (+58 212) 271 18 67
Please also write to the diplomatic representative of Venezuela in your country.
Geneva, August 5th, 2002
Kindly inform the OMCT of any action you have undertaken indicating the appeal code in your response.
Aggression an other attacks / Ill-treatment
The International Secretariat of the OMCT requests your urgent action regarding the following situation in Venezuela.
Brief description of the situation:
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information about an assault on Belgian citizen Paul Emile Dupret, assigned in Venezuela by the European Parliament as a political assessor. He, along with a number of demonstrators, was attacked by the police on 31 July 2002 in front of the Supreme Court of Justice in Caracas.
Mr. Dupret declared in a public statement that has been widely transmitted by the media, that at the time of the events he was accompanying a team from the community television channel Catia-TV, which was covering a demonstration at the Supreme Court of Justice by a number of local citizens who were seeking to express their opinion on the recent coup-d’état that took place on April 11th, 2002. Mr. Dupret declared that “the metropolitan police of Caracas, in an obvious act of provocation, manoeuvred very swiftly using gratuitous force on the sector of pro-Government demonstrators, who were violently crushed…”
According to his statements, Mr. Dupret received around 40 shot pellet wounds over his body, which, although they have not caused any grave injury, have seriously affected his physical and psychological integrity. Mr. Dupret has undertaken the necessary legal action with the Public Prosecutor of Venezuela and informed his Embassy in order protest against the police action.
Mr. Dupret also stated that during at least two days following the demonstration, the police deliberately acted against the population “in order to create a state of chaos demonstrating the incapacity of the Chavez Government to enforce calm and order…” He continued to say that numerous people who protested became victims of police aggression (shot wounds, beatings and, according to the family of one victim, torture). The source confirms that 18 people were injured during the incident of 31 July, but that the number of victims of the events that took place on August 1st and 2nd remains unknown.
The OMCT wishes to express its concern for the human rights situation and for the respect of free speech in Venezuela in general, for the repression of the civil population by Venezuelan authorities and for the physical and psychological integrity of the people involved in the events described above.
Action requested:
Please contact the Venezuelan Authorities urging them to:
· take immediate action to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Paul Emile Dupret and that of the other victims mentioned in the above events;
· order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances described above, in particular into the reports of police violence, and guarantee that those responsible are brought to trial and that the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions are applied as provided by law;
· guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country, in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards, in particular the right of physical, psychological and moral integrity enshrined in Article 46, Section 1 of the Constitution of the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela, the right of personal integrity in Article 5 of the American Convention for Human Rights and in the Convention Against Torture, and all other international treaties ratified by Venezuela.
Addresses:
· S.E. D. Hugo Chávez Frías, Presidente de la República, Palacio de Miraflores, Caracas, Venezuela. Fax .: (+58 212) 283 82 39. e-mail : venezuela@venezuela.gov.ve
· Sr. Isaías Rodríguez, Fiscal General de la República, Avenida Universidad, Esquina Pele el ojo a Misericordia, frente a Parque Carabobo. Caracas, Venezuela. Tel.: (+58 212) 509 81 34; (+58 212) 509 80 80. Fax.: (+58 212) 576 44 19 ; (+58 212) 577 21 44 ; (+58 212) 564 74 61
· Gobernador del Distrito Federal, Hernan Gruber Odremán, Tel.: (+58 212) 581 11 11
· Ministerio de Relaciones Interiores, Ministro de Relaciones Interiores y Justicia Ignacio Arcaya. Fax.: (+58 212) 862 75 16 ; (+58 212) 864 43 34 ; (+58 212) 576 87 19
· Sr. German Mundaraín, Defensor del Pueblo, Fina avenida México Plaza Morelos, edificio Defensoría de Pueblo, piso 8, frente al Ateneo de Caracas. Caracas,Venezuela. e-mail: denuncias@defensoria.gov.ve ; Tel. y Fax.: (+58 212) 575 51 03 e-mail : gmundarain @defensoria. gov.ve
· Director Henry Vivas, Comandante General de la Policía Metropolitana, Final de la Fuerzas Armadas, frente al hospital Risque. Caracas, Venezuela. Tel.: (+58 212) 552 29 31; Fax: (+58 212) 551 29 31
· Comandante Manuel Antonio Sotillo, Director Policía Municipal de Sucre, Parte Alta de la Urbina, calle El Samán, Tel. : (+58 212) 242 22 11
· Alcalde José Vicente Rancel Avalos, Municipio de Sucre, Zona colonial de Petare, Palacio Municipal, piso 01, Despacho municipal, frente a la Plaza de Sucre. Tel.: (+58 212) 272 33 60; Fax: (+58 212) 271 18 67
Please also write to the diplomatic representative of Venezuela in your country.
Geneva, August 5th, 2002
Kindly inform the OMCT of any action you have undertaken indicating the appeal code in your response.