Content:
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
The right to food
The right to a healthy environment
The right to education
Labor rights
Freedom of association
The rights of indigenous peoples
The right to health
The right to social security
The right to land
The right to adequate housing
Civil and Politic rights
The right to asylum and refuge
The right to integrity
The right to justice
The right to freedom of expression and information
The right to personal liberty
The right to the pacific protest
The rights of persons deprived of their liberty
The right to public safety
The right to life
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The balance that is presented below is the summary of an analysis on the situation of human rights that Provea presents in this 18th edition of its annual report.
To evaluate the situation of human rights, both economic, social and cultural rights, and civil and politic rights, it is imperative not only to describe the human rights violations suffered by persons or sectors of the population, but also to analyze the actions of the State. The purpose is not limited to gather information of violations or to pretend to cover in an exhaustive manner all the faults of the Venezuelan State. While taking into account these issues, it is also presented the results of the analysis of policies implemented by the authorities, with the intension to point out the mistakes or successes of the state regarding its responsibility according to in the various treaties and human rights conventions and domestic law in Venezuela.
The sources for this analysis were, in part, testimonies from victims and relatives and even in some cases of victimizers, as well as monitoring and profound studies of statistics and state measures undertaken by researchers specialized in this area.
As in previous years, we also intend to contribute to the debate on the effective exercise of human rights in the country.
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Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Regarding the right to food little changes were observed with respect to the previous period. The available official data showed that there was a slight decline in the rates of malnutrition, especially in the infant population. However, these indexes do not reflect a clear improvement; the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO continues placing Venezuela among the countries in Latin America with the worst performance in terms of nutrition with 18% of undernourished people equivalent to 4.700.000 people, a position far above the average of Latin America and the Caribbean. Between 2004 and 2005, official indicators of children malnutrition under 5 years of age were as follows: the overall malnutrition rate varied from 5.19% to 4.64%, chronic malnutrition from 12.52% to 11.77%, severe malnutrition from 4.05% to 3.77% and overweight from 3.31% to 3.11%, with the exception of chronic malnutrition, these figures do not show a substantial change in relation to what existed in 1999.
The complaints about the decease of children as a result of malnutrition, remained particularly on indigenous populations, although mortality from malnutrition improved slightly over the year 2003: in the group of children under 1 year of age it went from 448 deaths in 2003 to 279 in 2004 and in the group of ages between 1 and 4 years, it went from 359 deaths in 2003 to 220 in 2004. It is important to note that there was no access to traditional indicators such as low birth weight and anemia.
In 2005, both public and private sources coincided on the increase in the consumption of proteins by the population. Also recognized that Venezuelans, in general, consume more food (growth of 9%), in part as a consequence of the raised of the minimum wage that made possible the coverage of the cost of the basic basket, improving the purchasing capacity, especially in the social sector within the stratum E.
There remains some concern on the subject of the real growth of domestic food production, which affects food security of the country. The national production presented an irregular behavior, growing in some areas (roots and tubers, vegetables, etc.) and falling in others (cereals, fisheries, sorghum, rice, etc.). The continuing shortages of some foods generated an increase in the imports, which rose to 31.10%, going from 486 million dollars to 638 million.
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On the subject of the right to a healthy environment, during the analyzed period, there are still many demands to meet. The indicators of the quality of the different elements (air, water, soil) have not registered substantial improvements.
There have been some discussions in the NA about the Environment Conservation Organic Law but the comments made by civil society organizations were dismissed. On the other hand, the Planning and Management of the Territory Organic Law was postponed.
“Mission Tree” is considered a positive issue as a plan to fight deforestation (140.000 hectares annually) produced by the extension of the agricultural frontier and forest fire, as well as the lack of environmental controls.
The investment to the water sanitation projects was increased; therefore the Ministry of Environment assigned 40 % of its budget to the execution of constructions. However, once again this does not prevented the uncontrolled growth of the plant Lentil Aquatic (lemna) which covered 20% of the surface of Maracaibo’s Lake in Zulia State and the recurrence of the Bora in the Mariposa’s reservoir, in Miranda State. Similarly, there were many complaints about water contamination caused by the lack of treatment, which once again reiterates the need to establish a national plan of investment for the integral protection and recovery of the most emblematic bodies of water.
As in previous years, there are concerns about atmospheric pollution generated by energy projects that caused acid rain that wiped out crops, as well as low maintenance of cars, especially in big cities and poor supervision of the authorities on this aspect. The problem of garbage, particularly in the metropolitan region of Caracas, and the provision of the garbage collection service worsened. The problem of contamination persisted in the main trophic levels of the food chain (soil, water, plants, animals and humans) by the use of pesticides and / or agrochemicals, particularly in the region of the Andes and the Llanos. The National Parks continued to present problems of control and monitoring.
Finally, also highlights as a negative issue the limitation of communities to protect their environmental rights due to lack of a comptrollership social plan and the strengthening of grass-roots organizations such as the Water Working Groups.
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Regarding the right to education, the availability of educational institutions, increased by 3% compared to the previous period, corresponding to 727 new campuses. Despite this progress the lack of schools continues registering, mainly in the pre-school level, in certain areas of the country or in certain discriminated population groups. There was also an increase on campuses and facilities for students with special health conditions, special needs or ethnic conditions. However, a deficit persists in special education sector, even recognized by the authorities.
In relation to the indicators of educational investment, it grew by 4.1% the real public spending per capita on education with respect to year 2004, but in comparison to the increase of 31.1% that had in year 2003 was way to low; the public spending on education descended as a percentage of the GDP located at 4.2% while in 2004 was 5.3%. The education public spending also drop as a percentage of social spending to 38.3%, being 43.3% in the previous period and the actual public education spending grew only 7.5% way below the 33.4% of the previous period.
The preschool level had, for a second consecutive year, an increase of 7.5% in its enrollment, which is considered positive because it exceeded the Millennium Development Goals (increase of 5%). However, according to some estimation, about 600,000 children and girls between 3 and 5 years of age are still outside the classroom.
The enrollment rate of basic education level also grew in global terms (0.8%) but at a lower pace than in the previous period (1%). Additionally, the enrollment of the phase I and II of the basic education level (1st to 6th grade) fails to exceed the figure for the period 2001-2002. The high school level of education once again reveals a significant increase (9.1%) of the enrollment. Even though it represents a major advance, it should not be forgotten that the level of exclusion remains high, with approximately 1.100.000 students of these ages who would be uneducated.
The popular sectors continue to be the population with less access to higher education, according to several investigations. From 500.000 graduates who presented the Academic Aptitude Test, only 230.000 will be admitted in the higher education. Moreover, like in previous years, the non-discrimination principle based on sex remained until the high school education, from which the proportion of males enrolled in relation to women is 73.6% of males per 100 women.
The repetition rates continued descending. The overall rate drop from 8.1% to 7.6%. The 1st grade rate from 11.9% to 11.1% and the 7th grade from 13.3% to 12.5%. It is important to highlight that the global and the 7th grade rate are the lowest of the decade. In relation to this issue, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MES) revoked a norm that only allowed graduates with 50% of the subjects approved to repair failed subjects. However, this new disposition was not communicated on time to the institutions in order to be implemented during that school year.
In relation with the process of school continuity, when considering the period from 1st to 9th grade, this index improved from a continuity of 44% for the period 1999-2000 to 61% in the period 2003-2004. This means that currently 61 students, who initially entered 1st grade, finish the 9th grade.
We emphasize as positive that by October 28th 2005, 1.485.543 adults learned to read and write through the Mission Robinson I Campaign of which 1.452.542 are attending the Mission Robinson II which intends that this population completes its basic education.
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In relation to labor rights, during the period 2005-2006, the unemployment rate continued decreasing. By July 2005, the unemployment rate was located at 12.6% while in the same period in 2006 was 9.6%. The Economic Active Population (EAP) of Venezuela represents 66% of the total population over 15 years of age, that is 12.280.195 people, which corresponds to a slight increase of 0.2%.
The informal economy (46.5% in July 2006 in comparison to 47.3% in July 2005) is, for the third consecutive year, yielding ground to the formal economy (53.5% in July 2006 and 52.7%). Part of the decrease observed since 2005 is due to a change in the calculation method, since the National Institute of Statistics (NIE) includes in its calculation of the formal economy sector people working in companies with fewer than 5 employees.
These developments do not necessarily correspond to the enjoyment of a decent job. Private sources estimate the open unemployment rate at 70%, while according to official sources, 43% of workers perceived salaries below the minimum wage (MW). By presidential decree the salary was increased twice. Therefore the MW exceeds in 7% the value of the basic food basket.
There are still some sings of discrimination by gender. On one hand, 61.8% of women receive a salary lower than the MW, on the other hand, 4 out of 10 women that look for a job are actually working, while 7 out of 10 men in the similar circumstances are hired.
It stands out as a positive the implementation of the labor solvency by decree of the National Executive on February 2nd 2006. It is a document that indicates that the employer complies with its legal obligations related to the labor rights of workers. Moreover, the national government extended for 9th and 10th time the labor immobility until March 31st 2007, offering greater legal guarantees to defend the right to work.
During the analyzed period, labor disputes intensified, especially those related to the provision of jobs in the oil sector and basic industries. The disputes between trade unions to obtain jobs in these industries caused by December 2005 the deaths of at least 45 people, which reflect the feeling of desperation of broad sectors to get a job and the lack of transparency in their allocation.
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In relation to the freedom of association some positive measures of the State were observed on the issue of the interference of the National Electoral Council (NEC) in trade union's elections, which is considered by the International Labor Organization (ILO) as a violation of Convention No. 87 related to Freedom of Association. The President of the Appeal Court of Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) and the General Director of the Ministry of Substructure admitted the legitimacy of the trade union's elections without the supervision of the NEC. However, there wasn't a court decision on that topic by the closing date of this report. In fact, the interference of the NEC had a negative effect in the conclusion of collective agreements, especially with trade unions not allied with the government. Despite the increase in the trade union's registry, there was also a process of weakening, since they had less participation and impact in the design of policies associated with the labor world. The debate on the tripartite dialogue has been transferred to the spaces of the ILO, which through the Committee on Freedom of Association urged the state to restart the process of negotiation with the most representative trade unions of all sectors.
There were advances in the government structure that was in charge of monitoring and improving the workplace conditions and environment, although there were labor accidents in the oil sector that haven't been properly investigated. Regarding child labor, no significant progress has been made.
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The gap between the speech and the reality continued characterizing the action of authorities in relation to the rights of indigenous peoples. Few positive actions were made, with some exceptions. On December 8th 2005, the government passed the Organic Law of Indigenous Peoples, which establishes rules for the demarcation of the indigenous lands and habitat, but the delay in the demarcation persisted and had to be stopped as a petition of indigenous in order to review some of these rules. The State remains inefficient in the resolution of conflicts between indigenous people and farmers and continues granting mining, forestry or oil concessions, in indigenous territories that threaten their survival, as well as announcements of plans that affect indigenous territories, without a proper consultation with these peoples.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) estimated that about 90% of the native population in Venezuela lives in poverty, victims of the lack of basic services. This situation got worst with the resurgence of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diarrhea and cholera as well as child malnutrition.
The relocation of the “Mission Guaicaipuro” in November 2005 to the Ministry of Popular Participation and Social Development, as well as all the institutions created 7 years ago to deal with the rights of these people, does not allow to predict or evaluate in a efficient way the articulation of health and education policies.
It highlights as positive the creation, by the Indigenous Health Office of offices in the principal hospitals of states with indigenous population, as well as the implementation of Missions “Selva Adentro”, “Cabaña Adentro”, “Sabana Adentro” y “Laguna Adentro”, but the need to implement policies to prevent the disappearance of ancestral languages continues, despite the fact that some programs and activities have been advanced to strengthen indigenous education.
At least 4 indigenous were executed by soldiers of the Theatre of Operation No. 5 with the intention to end the activities of miners in the area of the Paragua, in Bolivar State. The indigenous communities denounced the acts of the soldiers of TO No.5; beside the abuses against them, they do not take responsibility on the allegations of environmental damages that affects their territories.
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The situation of the right to health showed no significant progress except for the extension of coverage and universalization of health care services, especially primary care services through “Mission Barrio Adentro”.
The Ministry of Health and Social Development (MHSD) again made changes on its organizational structure which generated the split of the Ministry into two other Ministries (the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Popular Participation and Social Development) reflecting the lack of politic clarity around the model of management of National Public Health System (NPHS). The investment in health as a percentage of GDP grew slightly but the percentage associated with public social spending decreased from 13.3% to 12.8%. As for the budget of the Ministry of Health in relation to the national budget, it descended to 5.07%, the lowest level since year 2000. Additionally to this negative trend there's a disparity in the distribution of resources between federal entities.
At the legislative level there are concerns about the 6 years delay in the approval of the Organic Law of Health as well as the variety of projects, all elaborated with little social consultation.
As it has been pointed out in previous reports, the extension of the coverage of health care, and particularly primary care services through the “Mission Barrio Adentro”, is the component of the right to health that presents more progress. However, there are concerns that the Barrio Adentro's networks (family medicine network, medical diagnostics network and the clinic medicine network) advanced in parallel with the public care network. The clinics and hospitals of the traditional system remain in crisis, with persistent failures that affects the guarantees of gratuitousness and quality of the services. The shortage of basic supplies and medical surgical supplies, the lack of medicines, the deterioration of medical equipments or the lack of them are among others, the factors that still allow collecting indirect payments and the maintenance of long waiting lists for the eligibility of surgical interventions and / or specialized medical exams.
The proportion of sick people according to a specific place and time, continued to affect the sectors of the population exposed to poor living conditions, habitat and environment, especially in urbanized areas and in rural areas where the distribution of potable water is deficient, being the children, elderly and indigenous population the most vulnerable sectors. The prevention of infectious diseases presented advances and setbacks. Among the advances are a decline in the cases of malaria, from 46.244 cases registered in 2004 there were 45.328 cases in late 2005; in contrast, dengue presents a rebound; and despite a slight decrease (from 25.1 cases per every 100.000 inhabitants in 2004 to 24.9 in 2005) tuberculosis has become an emerging disease, especially in the Federal District, in Delta Amacuro state and Amazonas state, again being the indigenous populations (168.5 per 100,000) the most affected sector. In the process of prevention of these diseases, the coverage of vaccination did not achieve the 95% needed to avoid the recurrence of past outbreaks.
There are also concerns about the increase of 18.5% of maternal mortality, the main reason being the lack of prenatal care and the lack of medic staff, followed by pregnancies ending in abortion. It is imperative to develop effective family planning policies. Infant mortality reported a decrease of 1 point, presenting in 2004 17.5 per 100 newborns alive registered (NVR) compared to 18.5 in 2003.
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As for the obligation of the State to fulfill the right to social security, the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (VISS) continued canceling on time, old-age pensions and reducing the total debt of pensioners and retirees. In 2006 the VISS budget was increased 1.3 billion bolivars, confirming the increasing trend observed since 1999. This increase can be explained by the requirement established to every company, which stated that in order to get their labor solvency they must cancel on time their social security contributions. This increased in one year the number of companies affiliated to the VISS from 296.700 to 322.380 and the number of persons affiliated from 2.471.523 to 3.154.336. Despite these positive aspects, the Contingency Plan was established in 2003 to include a monthly average of 30.000 pensioners was not reached in these two last years, forcing the institution to reduce drastically its target for year 2005 to only 50.000 pensioners that were in fact reached.
In the legal field, the Venezuelan government honored its agreement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) which established the payment of the new accumulated debt to pensioners and retirees of the Viasa Company that is 2.95 billion bolivars. However, more than 3500 of the ex-CANTV workers are still waiting the quantification of their retroactive although the 14th of July 2006 the 5th Chamber of First Instance of Conduct, Mediation and Implementation of the Transitional Labor Procedure Regime of the metropolitan area of Caracas ordered this company to cancel from September 1st 2006 the equivalent of the minimum wage to the pensioners.
The National Assembly (NA) continued its delay on its duty to adopt and implement laws designed to develop the institutions of the Organic Law on the Social Security System, which was approved in December 2002, also remaining health, pensions and other economic allocations laws for its approval. As a positive step, the decree No. 4.269 sets out the conditions through which people that do not have the necessary number of contributions to collect their pensions are able to regularize their situation.
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In relation to the right to land, during this period was strengthen the process of the agrarian reform through the distribution of agrarian letters, although sometimes they were arbitrarily awarded by the National Institute of Land (NIL), increasing the conflicts concerning land distribution. 3000 agrarian letters were handed for a total of 256.386.24 hectares, benefiting 139.831 farmers and 76 “Fundos Zamoranos” were created. Regarding the conflict against large landed owners, the National Institute of Land (NIL) increased to 500 between August 2005 and May 2006 the rescue processes of land for a total of 1.316.000hectares. There were demonstrations of political will to reach agreements with the alleged owners, but in few cases the dialogue reached positive results. Several measures were taken against landlords that were under processes, sometimes unconstitutional; and some governors exceeded its powers, which sometimes included the use of force, to help the NIL implement those measures.
The government recognized the relative failure of the “Fundos Zamoranos”, the main flag of the agrarian reform, reflecting bad management in this area, as well as lack of transparency of policies and lack of follow up of agricultural projects. Many of the beneficiaries complained about the complex administrative apparatus and denounced irregularities in the granting of land, as well as questioned the final destination of some financial resources. Judiciary processes were opened and some investigations were advanced. 19 people were held accountable for corruption in the “Complejo Agroindustrial Azucarero Ezequiel Zamora” (CAEEZ) and the board of Agrarian, Fishing and Forestal Development Fund (Fondafa) presented 402 complaints against producers for the deflection of funds that were assigned to activities other than agricultural.
Despite the significant investment of the state in the agrarian reform, the creation of thousands of cooperatives and the importance agreed by the government for this initiative, the area of land harvested increased only 9% in the last 5 years and the national production remains insufficient.
Regarding to the legislative framework, the Agrarian Silos, Warehouses and Deposits Act was reformed. The National Integrated Service of Taxes Administration (SENIAT) suggested the reform of the Land Law due to the current conditions that made impossible the collection of contributions, despite some improvements observed in the Land Registration Tax. The permanence of policies and projects is difficult due to the constant change of ministers in the Ministry of Agriculture and Land, as well as the board of NIL and the Fondafa. Some sentences that favored land owners were not applied; in 2005 61 lawsuits were interpose in both the Supreme Court and high farm courts.
5 farmers were killed in acts of “sicariato” or killing by orders. The government did not honor its commitment with farmer organizations to investigate and punish these crimes and impunity also remains with respect to the previous murders.
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Regarding the right to adequate housing, existing problems were worsened in this period. The housing deficit raised due to heavy rains that mainly affected buildings located on unstable ground. According to the National Institute of Statistics (NIE), the deficit is approximately 1.600.000 households, while 60% of the existing houses need to be fix. However, the UN-Habitat Program estimates the household deficit at 3 million units, which affects 13 million people. To remedy this deficiency, the government has planned the construction of 150,000 housing units for the year 2006, but at the end of the first semester, there were only 35,000 built. Figures from the National Statistics Institute show that from the 5.175.130 households existing in Venezuela, 3.3% don't have electric service, 14.5% were not supplied with drinking water and 31.9% don't have the water closed system connected to the sewers. In the “rancho” housing type, this percentage becomes respectively 18.4%, 41.9% and 81.5%.
It stands out the constitution of the Urban Land Committees (ULC), as an organizational process that facilitates participation of communities for the production of housing, to which were awarded 40.833 urban property titles. However, a number of important complaints were known regarding the legal security of property tenure. In the cases of “Ciudad Miranda” and “Juan Crisostomo Falcon” there were irregularities in the allocation of buildings and cases of corruption in their delivery. The case of “Nueva Tacagua Urbanization” reflects the juridical insecurity faced by persons who have the certificate of the adjudication but do not have property titles.
Cases of evictions continued happening, often at night, without offering alternatives to the occupiers and in some cases making excessive and abusive use of force by the police officers. The Supreme Court declared inadmissible due to unintelligible a constitutional guardship interpose by the National Foundation for the Homeless, a case where was denounced a practice of night eviction.
In terms of legislation, it must be the referred as a significant advance the approval of the Special Law for the Regularization of Urban Land and Integral Co-gestion as long as it ensures legal security of land tenure for those families that built their own homes .
In relation to rents, it was extended for 6 months the freezing of rent prices measure. This measure, although perceived as a positive public policy it had contradictory effects, since the owners chose to remove the buildings from the market, which implied an increased in the prices of rents of new units offered.
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Civil and Politic rights
On the subject of the right to asylum and refuge, the situation of violence in the Colombian border due to the presence of armed groups and the illicit trade among other causes, generated discrimination and criminalization of the People in Situation of Refuge (PSR)
The State responded with the militarization of the borders through the Theater of Operations which led to human rights violations, increasing pressure on the authorities to revive the suspension of guarantees as a solution to the problems of insecurity which affected the villagers. In relation to this, it can be referred as positive the recognition of some authorities of its refusal to implement these measures.
There has been some progress in the functioning of the National Commission for Refugees (NCR) regarding its technical secretaries, it also has been demonstrated a greater access of applicants to the procedure and the organization of journey day's for the reception of applications in remote areas of the cities.
However, it calls our attention the difference between the figures for the NCR and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who estimate at 13.316 the refugees applicants from 2005 until the closing date of this report, while according to the NCR 2.060 applications were received, of which 1.561 are under consideration.
There are also concerns about the accumulation of applications, with a decision of only 23% of all cases. It also persist the delay in the appropriate delivery of documents to these people in the legal limit time, which among other causes prevented access to a number of them into the educational missions. The consequent vulnerability placed the alleged aliens into a situation of extreme labor exploitation, particularly in the cases of the Wayuu indigenous ethnic group original from Colombia which despite being in their ancestral land are considered foreigners.
Finally, several actions became known such as the agreement with the UNHCR for the creation of a network in Zulia State that seeks to integrate those seeking for refuge into existing programs, as well as the existence of a plan of care in cases of mass inflow.
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In relation to the right to integrity, Provea reported a total of 201 cases of violations of this right, collective and individual, which affected 1478 people, reflecting an increase of 84.75% in comparison with the 293 cases of the last period, when 800 people were affected.
This increase was observed only in one of the five patterns analyzed. The pattern of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments registered an alarming increase of 177.13% while the pattern of torture decreased in 38.71%; the wounded by gunfire in 48.33%, the illegal house searching’s in 70.27% and finally the threats and harassment in 79.55%.
2 cases were reported where the victims died as a result of tortures, adding up to the five people who died as a result of mistreatment.
46 of the 126 security forces in Venezuela were reported. The national corps are responsible for 31.34% of the total, and highlights the National Guard with 883 victims. The regional polices were responsible of 93 cases (46.27%). Among them, the Aragua Police presented the highest number of complaints with 46 victims, and repeated for the fourth consecutive year as the most reported police agency. The municipal polices were pointed out with13.93% of all cases and the joined actions of the National Guard with other security forces threw a total of 66 victims.
The three federal entities that concentrated the greatest number of victims were Caracas with 481 (32.54%), Zulia state with 370 (25.03%) and Aragua state with 135 (9.13%).
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Regarding the right to justice, a year and a half from the implementation of the Plan for the Structural Transformation and Modernization of the Judicial Power, the structural problems that affects the Judicial Administration System (JAS) have not been reverted, being this institution of the Venezuelan State the second worst evaluated by the Venezuelans.
Once again the minimum allowance of 2% of the national regular budget assigned to the JAS was respected, increasing to 2.67% in relation to previous period (2.49%). However, this did not bring substantial improvements in the services because resources were concentrated on recurrent expenditures of the staff and maintenance.
Since the entry into force of the new Organic Law of the TSJ, increased the number of judges from 20 to 32, but 50% of the new designations were allocated to people who had previously occupied positions in the government, they had dismissal sanctions from other positions they had occupied or didn't approved opposition contests, being questioned the independence of the judiciary system and the criteria selection to occupy positions in the highest court. Stresses as positive that by the closing date of this report the temporariness of judges was reduced to 33.3% in comparison with 80% in early January 2005. However, it seems difficult to meet the goals judge's title adjudication of 90% by the end of 2006. It concerns that the training program for adjudication of titles to judges ends up being a simple training course of 72 hours.
There were no further progress in relation to the procedural delay, especially in the first instance control courts of criminal matters (761.7 cases admitted per judge), in the first instance of civilian courts (450.5 per judge ) and in terms of the Organic Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (567.8% per judge). It concerns that the reform of judicial power was more devoted to acquire headquarters for the courts instead of increasing the number of judges.
It was passed on second discussion of the NA the Public Defender Act, which adjudicates the Autonomous Service of Defense to the Ombudsman violating the independence and autonomy of this institution as well as the procedural guarantees. Persisted delays of trials denounced by its political connotation, especially leaders of the politic opposition.
To ensure access to justice the Project “Casas de Justiticia” was presented, but by the closing date of this report none of these have been built.
Persist the questioning of the Ombudsman's actions, who in several opportunities assumed a role of defense and justification of the acts of government and disqualified the opposition rather than present a clear and strong position on the human rights violations cases.
Finally, the corruption of JAS was evident with the struggle that took place between the Ministry of Interior and Justice and Judge Velasquez Alvaray, a former member of the governing party, in the illegal licitation of the “Ciudad Lebrun” terrains, but didn't not end up in any investigation despite the allegations that led to the removal of the magistrate.
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In the period under investigation, deterioration in the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and information was observed with the aggravation that produced the death of 3 workers of the press. There was an increase of 56.67% in the number of violations. 142 cases were known, 65.12% more than the previous period (86). We also recorded an increase of the victims accounted for in these cases: 205 victims during this period in relation with the 111 recorded in the previous period, which demonstrate an increase of 84.68%. Among them, 48.29%, corresponds to street's journalists. There were also frequent attacks to the media as a corporate entity and there were measures of censorship, such as the prohibition of the exposure of the investigation files of Danilo Anderson's murder.
The pattern that was observed with the highest incidence was intimidation, which occurred on 51 occasions, used by governors, mayors, legislative councils and even by the President. Regarding the perpetrators, 70% of the cases relate to actions carried out by state agents, led by courts that had the privileged means to accuse any worker for the crime of opinion, obviating the mechanisms of replica and response.
It is noticeable that during this year the attacks are not the exclusive result of the politic polarization.
Again, the prohibitions or limitations, particularly in hospitals and courts, of the transit of journalists restricted and intimidated their work. Moreover, 7 were the means of communication temporarily closed in Bolivar State by the Seniat with measures considered discriminatory that affected only independent or opposition means.
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In relation to the right to personal liberty, 1928 arbitrary arrests were registered, which represents a decrease of 30.02% in relation to the previous period. Among the victims of arbitrary detention highlights 156 students, 32 farmers, 13 trade unionists and 9 supporters of the opposition. As in previous years, the largest number of complaints were concentrated under the pattern of mass arrests: 77.8% (1501 cases), with a decrease of 39.20% over the previous period (2541). The individual arrests also presented a decrease going from 116 to 91 by September 2006. In contrast to this decrease, arrests in demonstrations recorded an increase of 241.98% moving from 81 to 277, being this figure the highest observed in the last 6 years.
The victims of enforced disappearance (15) showed a slight decline: 11.76% compared to 17 the previous period, therefore this pattern continues to be considered as a serious one. The Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Corp was the police most reported for this crime, with 6 cases. The State's Polices recorded also 6 (where the Police of Portuguesa state stands out with 2 cases). The municipal police corps were responsible for 2, carried out by officials of the Policia Muncipal de Lagunillas (Zulia State).
As for the responsibility of the security forces according to different patterns, the regional polices were the most denounced for mass arrests (69.97%), occupying the first place the Carabobo's State Police with 521 victims. They also registered the highest number of complaints for individual detentions (a total of 42.86% under this pattern), the Aragua’s State Police was the most reported with 23 cases (25.27%). The bodies of national security forces arrested 68 people (24.55%) in the context of demonstrations, where all the cases are attributed to the National Guard.
Again the court delay proceedings generated overcrowding in jails and police roadblocks, turning them into places extremely unsanitary and inhumane conditions to give shelter to people.
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In relation to the right to the pacific protest, the downward trend observed in previous periods was reverted. From 1280 peaceful demonstrations, 58 were repressed, prevented or hindered by security agencies of the state (4.5%). This figure represents the highest percentage recorded in the last 8 years. The actions of officials of security agencies generated unfortunate consequences: in the period, a student died while exerting his right to protest while another student died as a result of abuse of firearms by the security forces during a violent demonstration.
At least 113 people were injured, 1 by gunshot wound and the rest with lead shots, beatings, suffocation and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatments. This figure is 130.6% higher than the last year with 49 people. Also, the number of violations of personal freedom in the context of repressed demonstrations (166) was increased by 130.9% which shows a disturbing increase of the violations during demonstrations.
Again, the most repressed sector were the neighbors (41.4%) followed by workers (24.1%). The federal entity with more violations was the Aragua state (14) followed by Anzoategui, Vargas and Zulia with 5.
For the fourth consecutive year, the NG was the body that presented the highest number of violations (18 repressed and 3 prevented), and had the largest number of demonstrations repressed for the last 8 years. In 8 of these 21 interventions, the NG acted in conjunction with regional or local security forces. It is noteworthy that the state's polices were responsible for 65, 5% of the demonstrations suppressed.
The kind of protest most repressed was the concentration type, from 377 protests, 20 were repressed and 1 hampered , which represents 1 of every 18 concentrations. It is noteworthy that in the previous period, only 1 of every 218 concentrations was suppressed. Also 1 out of 23 street's closing was suppressed in comparison to 1 out of 51 in the previous period, this form being the most repressed.
The National Assembly still hasn't approved the legislation designed to implement Article 332 of the Constitution, which contemplates a national police force.
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On the subject of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, the convicts' population decreased by 8.6%, 18.147 people by March 2006. However this decline, does not correspond to a sustained policy in the reduction of the use of prison, but to circumstantial reasons, therefore is estimated that the prison population could reach up to 30000 people.
By March 2006, 8.572 prisoners (47.2%) had received sentence, while 9.575 (52.8%) were still being processed.
The overcrowding figure was 7.32% by March 2006, representing an exceeding of 1.238 prisoners over the attention capacity, and even worst in some prisons which adds up to the terrible conditions of the facilities. According to figures from the Ombudsman 75% of the country's prisons should be demolishing. This problem is worst in the case of Community Treatment Centers (CTC), where overpopulation exceeds 270%
Problems as the procedural delay and the use of preventive prisons persist, where both facts leaded to conflicts in various prisons. As attempts of solution were announced plans to increase the number of control judges or special operations to evaluate the application of inmates to alternative measures of prison but this measures were circumstantial, they did not materialized.
There are some positive actions such as job training programs and access to education. 12.983 inmates attended literacy programs and in year 2005, 2500 inmates were trained in “Mision Vuelvan Caras”. However, the serious deficit in medical care has been the target of numerous complaints.
Although the Ministry of Interior and Justice did not give access to information on the status of health and on the number of deaths in prisons, the percentages of lethal violence within the prisons is high. According to data received by press resources and other ONG's specialized in the field, 408 deaths occurred in 2005 and 726 inmates were injured, which represents a significant increase in relation to the previous year. In the first half of 2006 there were 194 fatal victims.
Before this situation, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIHD) passed on January 9th 2006 an unprecedented sentence in Venezuela, a set of measures to guarantee the life and personal integrity of the inmates of the Monaga's Prison (La Pica). In March, the Inter-American Commission recommended a similar measure to protect prisoners from the Penitentiary Center of the Capital Region (Yare I and II).
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Regarding the right to public safety, important indicators of crime and delinquency presented, in the period studied, advances and setbacks: while burglaries and vehicle's thefts recorded a decrease, the situation of homicides remained the same in relation to the previous period while the personal injuries showed a significant increase.
Between the years 2004 and 2005 was observed an increase of 2.52% in the case of fatal crimes with 9.964 deaths in contrast to the 9.719 deaths of previous period, but the rate of 37 per 100 thousand inhabitants remained. These figures do not include the categories "inquiry of death" and deaths from "resisting authority", which, if included, would add up to 5.513 deaths. The second category in particular, encourages impunity of many crimes that could be clear violations of the right to life.
Being this issue the most important problem perceived by the citizens, the right to public safety became an topic of the electoral campaign in December 2006 but this was not articulated from the government as an integral public security policy but as short-term measures and favoring solutions such as increasing the presence the police and military, generating a negative impact on the respect for human rights. As an exception, it should be noted the initiative of the office of the Ministry of Interior and Justice (MIJ) which on April 10th 2006 activated the Police Reform National Commission which consists in a participatory process of consultation and diagnosis whose aim is the construction of a new police model.
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In the analyzed period, there were 169 complaints of violation of the right to life, which represents over the previous period (162 victims) an increase of 4.14%. As it has being happening since 1989, most of the victims were concentrated under the pattern of "execution", 82.84% of the total number of the known victims (140).
Again, in most of these cases remained the official version of “confrontation”, being this a mechanism frequently used to maintain impunity the deaths that are violations of the right to life.
State security forces were pointed out with the highest responsibility, with 71 victims (42.01)%, taking the Metropolitan Police (PM) the largest number of complaints (24). Adding up the joined actions with other agencies, the total number of its victims rises to 32.
Among the federal entities with the highest incidence is the Metropolitan District with 28.40% (48 victims), Anzoategui State with 14.2% (24 victims) and Bolivar State with 12.42% (21 victims).
Stresses as a positive development the recognition by the Public Ministry that the figures provided by NGOs about violations of the right to life are lower than the reality; affirming that between the years 2000 and 2005 throughout the country 6.377 victims were reported.
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