There were the following developments during the year in connection with the so-called Cantaura massacre in 1982, in which armed forces and DISIP members allegedly killed 25 persons:
Societal violence remained high. In the first four months of the year,
the NGO Venezuelan Observatory of Violence reported 4,659 killings in the
country. For 2008 the observatory noted 49 killings for every 100,000
inhabitants nationwide and an estimated 130 killings per 100,000 inhabitants
of Caracas.
b. Disappearance
There were no substantiated reports of politically motivated disappearances.
However, criminal kidnappings for ransom were reportedly widespread in both
urban centers and rural areas. PROVEA reported that in the first nine months
of the year there were 518 kidnappings, an increase of 41 percent from the
366 it reported for all of 2008. The National Federation of Cattle Ranchers
president announced late in the year the recording of 360 abductions between
January 1 and December 16, mainly in states along the country's western
border with Colombia. On December 23, the director of the government's
Scientific, Penal, and Criminalistic Investigative Corps (CICPC) stated that
kidnappings had increased by approximately 63 percent during the year, with
a total of 616 cases reported. NGOs noted that many victims did not report
kidnappings to police or other authorities.
Media frequently reported the public perception of collaboration between
police and kidnappers. According to the NGO Active Peace, in 2008 the
average total cost of a kidnapping--based on an average of 12 days in
captivity, a negotiator's fee, and ransom paid--was approximately the
equivalent of $118,000. Human rights NGOs reported approximately 20 percent
of kidnapping victims were minors or students.
In the case of the forced disappearances of two persons during the 1999
mudslide in Vargas State, the government reported to the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights in September that a court sentenced DISIP official
Casimiro Jose Yanez in June to 15 years' imprisonment and acquitted another
official.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Although the constitution states that no person shall be subjected to cruel,
inhuman, or degrading punishment, there were credible reports that security
forces continued to torture and abuse detainees.
PROVEA reported that in the 12 months prior to September, it received 16
complaints alleging torture and 427 complaints regarding cruel, inhuman, and
degrading treatment, a decrease from the 573 cases reported in the
comparable period in 2008. (PROVEA defines "torture" as methods used by
state security force members to extract information from victims and "cruel
and inhuman treatment" as methods used by those members to punish or
intimidate victims.)
In August the government Public Defender's Office reported that allegations
of torture by the police had increased by 10 percent during 2008. Of the 87
complaint cases filed that year, 66 resulted from alleged physical torture
and 21 from alleged psychological torture; 62 percent of the victims were
men between 20 and 34.
Human rights groups continued to question the commitment of the prosecutor
general and the human rights ombudsman to oversee neutral investigations.
There was no data available on convictions in cases of alleged torture.
Reports of beatings and humiliating treatment of suspects during arrests
were common and involved various law enforcement agencies.
Prison and Detention Center Conditions
Prison conditions were harsh, due to poorly trained and allegedly corrupt
prison staff; violence and alleged extortion by guards and inmates, some
gang-related and fueled by trafficking in arms and drugs; severe
overcrowding in some prisons; and food and water shortages. The
prison-monitoring NGO Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) estimated that
existing prisons were designed to hold approximately 60 percent of the
23,457 persons in the national penitentiary system. For the first nine
months of the year, PROVEA reported that a total of 30,483 persons were
imprisoned, of whom 1,901 or 6 percent were women; and that 55 centers in
the country held approximately 750 minors.
Security forces and law enforcement authorities often held minors together
with adults, even though separate facilities existed. Because reform
institutions were filled to capacity, hundreds of children accused of
infractions were confined in juvenile detention centers where they were
reportedly crowded into small, unsanitary cells. Women and men generally
were held in separate prison facilities. The OVP stated that while no prison
had good conditions, women's facilities were generally less violent and
healthier than those for men.
Both the OVP and PROVEA estimated that only approximately one-third of the
prisoner population in 2008 had been formally convicted and sentenced, while
two-thirds were in preventive detention or awaiting trial. In its 2008
annual report, the Public Defender's Office noted that 30 percent of those
imprisoned had been sentenced.
The National Guard and the Ministry of Interior and Justice have
responsibility for exterior and interior security, respectively. The
government failed to provide adequate prison security. The OVP estimated in
2008 that the guard force in Uribana prison, one of the most violent
prisons, was 0.5 percent of the required strength.
The OVP reported 366 inmates died in custody during the year and 635 were
injured, compared to 422 deaths and 854 injuries in 2008. Most such deaths
and injuries resulted from prisoner-on-prisoner violence, riots, fires, and
generally unsanitary and unsafe conditions. The Carabobo Penitentiary
(commonly known as "Tocuyito") documented the highest numbers in the country
of deaths (53) and injuries (106) due to violence during the year.
Hunger strikes and prison uprisings protesting administrative delays and
harsh prison conditions were common during the year. They included the
following selected cases:
Human rights observers continued to experience lengthy administrative delays
and restricted access to prisons and detention centers.
The government's High-Level Prison Council, established in December 2008 to
design penitentiary-system improvement policies, began work during the year.
In July the prosecutor general announced a pilot project in Caracas to
create two prosecutors' offices (one for investigations, another for trials)
to expedite cases involving Caracas-area inmates. The Supreme Court
president announced an increased number of judges to reduce judicial delays.
PROVEA reported the opening during the year of new penitentiaries or annexes
in Coro (capacity 840) and in Caracas (Terrazas de Yare III, capacity 432),
and others were under construction as part of the government's "Strategic
Plan to Humanize the Penitentiary System, 2006-11."
During a public hearing convened by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
in September, a government delegation provided information on government
actions to comply with a 2006 court decision regarding the improvement of
penitentiary conditions and concluded that prison violence had been reduced.
In a September 30 statement, the IACHR rapporteur on the rights of persons
deprived of liberty recognized these efforts but found them insufficient to
overcome the high level of prison violence; and inmate representatives
claimed the government "violates, continually, systematically and
notoriously, the right to life and personal integrity of the inmate
population." In November the Inter-American Court issued a resolution
requiring the government to maintain the provisional measures and to submit
bimonthly reports, beginning in February 2010, with specific information on
actions taken "to protect the life and integrity" of inmates, and requiring
the IACHR and inmate representatives to provide reports every six and four
months, respectively, on prison conditions.
d. Arbitrary Arrest or Detention
The constitution prohibits the arrest or detention of an individual without
a judicial order; provides for the accused to remain free while being tried,
except in specific cases where state law or individual judges may supersede
this provision; and provides that any detained individual has the right to
immediate communication with family and lawyers who, in turn, have the right
to know a detainee's whereabouts (see also section 1.e.).
Role of the Police and Security Apparatus
The National Guard, a branch of the military, is largely responsible for
maintaining public order, guarding the exterior of key government
installations and prisons, conducting counternarcotics operations,
monitoring borders, and providing law enforcement in remote areas. The
Ministry of Interior and Justice controls the CICPC, which conducts most
criminal investigations, and the SEBIN (formerly DISIP), which collects
intelligence within the country and is responsible for investigating cases
of corruption, subversion, and arms trafficking.
Mayors and governors generally oversee local and state police forces;
however, in 2008 the Interior and Justice Ministry assumed authority over
the Caracas Metropolitan Police from the mayor of Greater Caracas.
In December following the killing of two National Guardsmen in Tachira
State, President Chavez alleged that the Tachira and Zulia state police
forces had failed to control Colombian paramilitary activity and warned that
the national government might intervene in those forces. In a December 21
public statement, the president said he told the defense minister and the
strategic operational commander to seize state police headquarters if they
continued "openly [to] defy the public authority." The two state governors,
members of the opposition, rejected the intervention threat.
Pursuant to a 2008 law, President Chavez inaugurated the new Bolivarian
National Police (PNB) in December, and the PNB deployed its first graduating
class of 953 officers in a Caracas municipality. According to its mission
statement, the PNB is not to be a substitute for, but a complement to, state
and municipal police efforts.
Corruption was a major problem in all police forces, whose members were
generally poorly paid and minimally trained. Impunity for corruption,
brutality, and other acts of violence were major problems explicitly
acknowledged by some government officials.
In July for instance, General Juan Francisco Romero Figueroa, vice minister
of citizen security in the Ministry of Interior and Justice, illustrated the
need for police internal investigations by reporting that 1,800 of the 9,000
Metropolitan Police officers were under investigation for alleged misconduct
or human rights violations--including kidnapping, torture, unlawful arrest
and detention, and extrajudicial killing--stemming from cases filed in the
previous eight years. In October Interior and Justice Minister Tarek El
Aissami stated that police committed approximately 15-20 percent of the
country's crimes, including the most violent ones.
In March Vice President Ramon Alonzo Carrizales and the interior and justice
minister established the National Prevention Council for Citizen Security to
address crime-related issues. Under its auspices, an expert-level conference
to discuss public policies for crime reduction occurred in October.
The government used police and the National Guard to repress political
demonstrations (see section 2.b.).
Some local police forces offered human rights training for their personnel.
For example, during the year the Chacao municipality of Caracas continued to
provide mandatory human rights training to all new police recruits. Amnesty
International worked with the municipality to offer workshops on
domestic-violence case processing.
Arrest Procedures and Treatment While in Detention
A warrant is required for an arrest or detention. A detention is possible
without an arrest warrant when the individual is caught in the act of
committing a crime. Persons were sometimes apprehended without warrants from
judicial authorities. Detainees must be brought before a prosecutor within
12 hours and before a judge within 48 hours to determine the legality of
detention. A person accused of a crime may not be detained for longer than
the possible minimum sentence for that crime nor for longer than two years,
except in certain circumstances, such as when the defendant is responsible
for the delay in the proceedings. The law requires that detainees be
promptly informed of the charges against them, and that requirement was
generally met in practice.
Although there is a functioning system of bail, it is not available for
certain crimes. Bail also may be denied if a person is apprehended in the
act of committing a crime or if a judge determines that there is a danger
that the accused may flee or impede the investigation. In 2008 the public
defender reported that more than 60 percent of those imprisoned had not been
convicted or sentenced. The law requires that detainees be provided access
to counsel and family members, and that requirement was generally met in
practice.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
While the constitution provides for an independent judiciary, judicial
independence remained compromised according to many observers, and there
were allegations of corruption and political influence, particularly from
the Prosecutor General's Office. (See also section 3.)
On May 21, authorities raided the Caracas residence of Guillermo Zuloaga,
president of the private television network Globovision, and confiscated 24
new vehicles and hunting trophies. According to Zuloaga, the automobiles
belonged to his car dealership and were at his home for security reasons,
and the trophies had been acquired abroad. On July 16, a court charged
Zuloaga with hoarding vehicles and issued an order preventing his departure
from the country. The next day the judge handling the case stated publicly
that a superior had pressured her to issue the order; three days later she
was notified of the revocation of her judicial appointment. On July 21, the
13th Criminal Court overturned the travel injunction, but the following day
another judge reinstated the travel ban, which continued in force at year's
end.
Eligio Cedeno--a banker accused in 2003 and detained in 2007 on charges of
corruption and embezzlement, and conditionally released on December
10--alleged in a December 25 press conference outside the country that his
case was subjected to judicial manipulation, due process violations, and
numerous trial irregularities. A court had annulled his earlier trial in May
at Public Ministry request, ordered a retrial, and reinstated a detention
order, but the Appeals Court for Caracas ordered his release in October
because his detention exceeded the two-year limit. The Public Ministry
successfully appealed the release order to the Constitutional Chamber of the
Supreme Court, but on December 10, Judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni granted Cedeno
conditional release pending retrial. Shortly thereafter, SEBIN agents
detained the judge on charges of corruption, aiding in the evasion of
justice, abuse of authority, and conspiracy; and the two bailiffs, on
corruption, aiding in the evasion of justice, and conspiracy charges. The
bailiffs were released pending trial, but President Chavez called for the
judge's imprisonment for 35 years as a lesson to others. At year's end she
remained detained at the Women's Detention Facility, and her attorney
expressed concern for her safety in that facility since women she had
sentenced were held there. SEBIN was unable to locate Cedeno after his
departure from the courthouse and issued a fugitive arrest warrant; Foreign
Minister Nicolas Maduro Moros announced the government's intention to seek
Cedeno's extradition on December 22.
A court sentenced former Caracas Metropolitan Police commissioners Ivan
Simonovis, Henry Vivas, and Lazarro Forero to 30 years' imprisonment on
April 3 for coordinating police firing on pro-Chavez demonstrators during
events related to the 2002 attempted coup. They continued to maintain their
innocence and assert that the prosecution was politically motivated. The
defendants also claimed that the verdicts were reached despite a lack of key
forensic evidence and asserted that the court ignored exonerating video,
audio, and eyewitness-testimonial evidence. Of the eight police officers
also charged in connection with the shootings, a court found seven guilty
and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from three to 30 years. At year's
end they were held at SEBIN headquarters in Caracas.
The judicial sector consists of the Supreme Court of Justice and lower
courts, the Prosecutor General's Office, and the Ministry of Interior and
Justice. The Supreme Court, the highest court, administers lower courts
through the Executive Directorate of the Judiciary. Supreme Court justices
are elected by the National Assembly for 12-year terms.
According to the NGO Penal Forum, almost 40 percent of lower court judges
were provisional and temporary. The Supreme Court's Judicial Committee may
hire and fire temporary judges without cause or explanation, and it did so.
(See section 3 for examples of dismissals contested in the IACHR and the
Inter-American Court.) Provisional and temporary judges, who legally have
the same rights and authorities as permanent judges, were particularly
subject to political influence from the Ministry of Interior and Justice and
the prosecutor general. A prominent legal scholar's study, published in the
media in March, concluded that in 2007 the Supreme Court's
Political-Administrative Chamber ruled in favor of the government in 324 of
the 325 cases brought by private citizens against the government.
The law provides that the Moral Council (prosecutor general, human rights
ombudsman, and comptroller general) may suspend judges and allows the
National Assembly to remove Supreme Court justices by a simple majority
vote.
Lower court judges hear pretrial motions, including prosecution and defense
motions, prior to criminal cases going to trial judges. Executive judges
oversee the application of sentences. Appeals courts, consisting of
three-judge panels, review lower court decisions. The prosecutor general
oversees the prosecutors who investigate crimes and bring charges against
criminal suspects.
The three persons convicted in 2007 for their roles in the 2004 car bombing
that killed prosecutor Danilo Anderson remained in a SEBIN jail on 27- to
30-year sentences. In March 2008 a former prosecutor in the case alleged
that their convictions had been based on false and perjured testimony.
Trial Procedures
Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. The law provides for
open, public, and fair trials with oral proceedings for all individuals.
Defendants have the right to be present and consult with an attorney. Public
defenders are provided for indigent defendants, but there continued to be a
shortage. Defendants have the right to question witnesses against them and
present their own witnesses. Defendants and their attorneys have the right
to access government-held evidence, but in practice this access often did
not occur. Defendants and plaintiffs have the right of appeal. Trial delays
were common.
The law provides that trials for military personnel charged with human
rights abuses after 1999 be held in civilian rather than military courts.
Political Prisoners and Detainees
During the year various NGOs reported between 11 and 57 political prisoners
in the country. Nine leading NGOs published advertisements in Trinidad and
Tobago newspapers before the April Summit of the Americas that listed the
names of 11 persons they considered political prisoners. The advertisements
also claimed that the government was pursuing another 45 persons as
"political objectives" using various legal and administrative means. As of
December 31, the NGO Venezuelan Awareness Foundation listed 32 persons as
political prisoners.
In some cases political prisoners were held in various penal facilities,
including SEBIN installations and the Ramo Verde military prison.
Authorities permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross access to
these individuals.
Some examples of persons claiming to be political detainees follow (see also
section 1.e.):
Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies
There are separate civil courts that permit citizens to bring lawsuits
seeking damages. Like all courts in the country, however, the civil elements
of the judiciary remained subject to strong executive control.
In the past there were administrative remedies available, but they were
generally inefficient. The current consumer-protection mechanism is enforced
by the Institute for Defense of the People in Accessing Goods and Services
(INDEPABIS) under the auspices of the Commerce Ministry. INDEPABIS is
empowered to use reconciliation, mediation, and arbitration to settle
disputes and is able to sanction providers of goods and services who violate
the law. INDEPABIS also has authority to expropriate goods and services.
Other entities that provide administrative or civil remedies include the
National Securities Commission and the superintendencies of banks,
insurance, cooperatives and savings accounts, and the promotion and
protection of free competition.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The constitution provides for the inviolability of the home and personal
privacy; however, in some cases security forces allegedly infringed on
citizens' privacy rights by searching homes, particularly those of
independent media owners and opposition leaders.
In July agriculturalist Franklin Brito began a hunger strike to protest the
government's failure to resolve remaining compensation issues related to the
National Land Institute's 2003 seizure of part of his lands in Bolivar
State. He ended the strike in December after receiving a commitment from the
National Assembly president to resolve those issues but resumed the strike
later that month claiming that the commitments had not been honored fully.
The government claimed responsibility for safeguarding his life and forcibly
moved him to the psychiatric ward of the Military Hospital for his own
"protection," where he remained at year's end.
There was no further information on the investigation into the December 2008
attack against former opposition gubernatorial candidate Lenny Manuitt in
her home, allegedly by two men dressed as CICPC officers.
Human rights NGOs asserted that the government was complicit with others,
including National Assembly Deputy Luis Tascon, in maintaining the "Tascon"
and "Maisanta" Lists, which were reportedly used by employers to dismiss or
refuse to hire persons who signed a petition in 2003 to hold a recall
referendum on President Chavez in 2004.
NGOs expressed concern over official political discrimination against, and
the firing of, state employees whose views differed from those of the
government. According to PROVEA, the government used coercion and the threat
of dismissal to compel state employees to attend partisan political
functions.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The law provides for freedom of speech and of the press; however, the combination of laws and regulations governing libel and media content, as well as legal harassment and physical intimidation of both individuals and the media, resulted in practical limitations on these freedoms and a climate of self-censorship.
The law makes insulting the president punishable by six to 30 months in prison without bail, with lesser penalties for insulting lower-ranking officials. Comments exposing another person to public contempt or hatred are punishable by one-to-three-year prison sentences and fines starting at 55 Bs.F (approximately $26). Inaccurate reporting that disturbs the public peace is punishable by a two-to-five-year prison term. The requirement that media disseminate only "true" information was undefined and open to politically motivated interpretation.
Government officials regularly characterized the independent media as
fomenting instability in the country, and according to the media and NGO
community, the government employed a variety of mechanisms to harass and
intimidate the private media.
Members of the independent print media privately said they regularly engaged
in self-censorship due to fear of government reprisal. The country's major
newspapers were independently owned but heavily dependent on government
advertising. In regions where local newspapers competed for the same
audience and a smaller pool of advertisers, print media tended to exercise
even more caution in order to secure financing from government sources. The
government published one national newspaper, Diario Vea, with a
relatively low circulation. In August President Chavez announced government
publication and funding of a new newspaper, El Correo del Orinoco; it
began publication in September. Also in August a new local Caracas
newspaper, Ciudad CCS, debuted; the newspaper was run by the
presidentially appointed Capital District vice president and received
funding from the mayor of the Libertador municipality of Caracas.
The country's nonsubscription broadcast media were largely government owned.
The government operated six channels with nationwide coverage.
Government officials, including the president, used government-controlled
media outlets to accuse private media owners, directors, and reporters of
fomenting antigovernment destabilization campaigns and coup attempts.
Officials made such allegations against Alberto Federico Ravell, director of
all-news cable television network Globovision; Guillermo Zuloaga, majority
owner of Globovision (see also section 1.e.); Miguel Henrique Otero,
director of El Nacional newspaper; and Andres Mata, owner and editor
in chief of El Universal newspaper.
Senior federal and state government leaders actively harassed privately
owned and opposition-oriented television stations, media outlets, and
journalists throughout the year, using administrative sanctions, fines, and
threats of closure to prevent or respond to any perceived criticism of the
government.
During the March 1 broadcast of his weekly Sunday talk-show program (Hello,
President), President Chavez ordered progovernment governors and mayors
to "draw a map of the media war" to determine which media were "owned by
oligarchs," although he did not specify what he or his administration
intended to do with such information.
On April 13, President Chavez urged authorities to impose sanctions on private television networks Venevision, Globovision, Radio Caracas Television (RCTV), and Televen for allegedly having backed the 2002 coup by broadcasting cartoons and movies instead of covering the street protests that aided in his return to power.
Throughout May prominent government officials publicly denounced
Globovision (see also section 1.e.) and called for its closure. For example,
on May 10, President Chavez threatened to close Globovision during his
Sunday talk show. On May 11, the foreign minister publicly accused
Globovision Director Ravell of conspiring to take away people's rights and
engaging in "media terrorism." On May 18, the National Assembly president
condemned Globovision at a political rally. On May 19, members of the
governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) held a public
demonstration against Globovision.
National and international groups, such as Reporters without Borders and the
Committee to Protect Journalists, condemned government efforts throughout
the year to restrict press freedom and to create a climate of fear and
self-censorship. The domestic media-watchdog NGO Public Space released
statistics showing that during the year, 191 journalists either were
attacked or had their individual rights violated.
During the year two private media journalists were killed, and numerous
others were subjected to physical attacks and threats, notably:
Progovernment and foreign-affiliated media personnel also faced violence. For example:
The government sought to control and/or limit the scope of independent news
coverage by controlling licensing requirements and censoring advertising
content.
The law requires that practicing journalists have journalism degrees and be members of the National College of Journalists, and it prescribes three- to six-month jail terms for those practicing illegally. These requirements are waived for foreigners and opinion columnists.
The law empowers the government to impose heavy fines and cancel
broadcasts, and the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL), the
government regulatory agency, oversees the law's application. Media-observer
organizations called on the government to appoint an independent body to
regulate the implementation of the law, which it had not done by year's end.
The government continued to use administrative and criminal investigations
against private television station Globovision. For instance, on May 8,
CONATEL opened an investigation into Globovision's coverage of the May 4
earthquake, charging that the network might have incited panic. President
Chavez and other officials asserted that Globovision panicked the public
because it broadcast foreign seismic data instead of the government's (which
had been unavailable at the time). On September 7, CONATEL opened a sixth
administrative proceeding against Globovision following its September 3
broadcast of text messages that alerted viewers to a possible coup and
called for persons to resist the government; a government minister asked
prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into the broadcast.
The government also restricted broadcasting during the year; examples
follow:
In July the government announced its intention to review the licenses of 240
radio stations for allegedly failing to comply with registration or tax
requirements. On July 31, Minister of Public Works and Housing (and CONATEL
Director) Diosdado Cabello announced the closure of 32 radio stations and
two television stations for alleged procedural, licensing, or tax
violations. On September 7, the government announced its intention to close
another unspecified 29 radio stations. Minister Cabello also announced that
CONATEL had begun studying the possible reassignment of revoked frequencies
to other stations or organized communities for the creation of community
radio stations. Media owners and watchdog groups expressed concern that
permission to operate radio stations would be issued predominantly to
government supporters. At year's end the 34 closed stations remained closed,
and the others remained under threat of closure.
Some of the notable developments in defending press freedom during the year
were as follows:
During August 1–3, there were demonstrations against the government's decision to shut down 32 radio stations. Many international groups denounced both the station closings and a proposed media law then under consideration by the National Assembly. On August 3, the UN special rapporteur and the IACHR separately expressed deep concern about the closings of 32 radio and two television stations, and on August 14, IAPA condemned the August 3 violence against the media and Globovision.
In January a court convicted the suspected 2008 killer of Caracas journalist
Javier Garcia and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment.
There were no known developments in the cases of the June 2008 killing of
Pierre Fould Gerges, vice president of Reporte Diario de la Economia,
and the September 2008 shooting of columnist Eliecer Calzadilla, a
contributor to the regional newspaper Correo del Caroni.
There were no developments in the November 2008 investigations by CONATEL
of Globovision for October broadcasts of comments allegedly inciting the
assassination of the president and of a speech by the Carabobo State
governor-elect that allegedly incited violence.
There were no known developments in the cases of the July 2008 assault by
Maracaibo city officials on two journalists from La Verdad newspaper
in Zulia State, and the December 2008 attack by progovernment supporters on
a Valencia journalist in Carabobo.
In November a new trial was ordered in the September 2004 murder of Maturin
journalist Mauro Marcano. The accused remained in custody at year's end.
On January 28, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found the government
responsible for failing to prevent attacks, threats, and harassment against
employees and reporters both of RCTV during the period 2001-04 and of
Globovision during the period 2001-05. The court ordered the government to
conduct investigations in order to determine responsibilities; to avoid
illegal restrictions and hindrances on the freedom to seek, receive, and
impart information; and to report to the court within one year on compliance
measures taken.
Internet Freedom
The International Telecommunication Union reported that in 2008 approximately 25 percent of the population accessed the Internet. There were no government restrictions on access to the Internet, and individuals and groups could engage in the peaceful expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Some media NGOs expressed concern that the government monitored e-mails and Web searches.
Academic Freedom and Cultural Events
There were some government restrictions on academic freedom and cultural
events. Government supporters often disrupted university classes, marches,
and rallies and used violence and intimidation to discourage students from
political participation.
On January 18, unknown assailants blew up the pickup truck of the president
of the Federation of University Centers–Central University of Venezuela
(FCU-UCV). A principal adviser to the FCU-UCV complained in May of weekly
attacks on its leaders.
In March and May the media reported that officials of the previous
pro-Chavez Miranda State government (2003-08) pulped 62,262 books for
counterrevolutionary ideological content, accusations that the government
denied.
On August 19, approximately 40 masked men interrupted classes and fired guns
at the University of the Andes in Merida, saying they were looking for
opposition-oriented students, and injured two law school students and three
professors. At year's end there was no information available regarding an
investigation.
In August the National Assembly passed an educational reform law
consolidating control over the public and private educational systems.
Opposition parties, teachers, parents, and students widely complained that
the law eliminated university autonomy and subjected teachers and students
to ideological litmus tests, and there were demonstrations against it.
Catholic school advocates expressed concern that the law could prevent
private religious schools from receiving financial support from private
international associations. At year's end the new law had not yet been
implemented.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
Freedom of Assembly
The constitution provides for freedom of assembly, and the government
generally respected this right in practice.
Human rights groups continued to criticize the 2005 penal code revision for
its strict penalties on some forms of peaceful demonstration. PROVEA
expressed concern over the law's "criminalization" of protests. Penal
Forum's 2006 complaint before the Supreme Court challenging this measure's
legality remained unheard at year's end.
The media reported on June 5 that authorities opened 50 judicial proceedings
in the first half of the year against students, workers, and other citizens
for participating in demonstrations. According to the NGO Public Space,
during the first eight months of the year, out of a total of 2,079 public
demonstrations, police and security forces suppressed 130, resulting in a
total of 461 injuries among participants and 440 arrests. PROVEA noted that
584 injuries resulted from security-force interventions in peaceful
demonstrations during the year.
On May 5, PROVEA and COFAVIC appealed for government investigations into
excessive police force used against demonstrators and urged the government
to respect the right of protest.
Among the examples of government disruptions of demonstrations were the
following:
Freedom of Association
While the constitution provides for freedom of association and freedom from
political discrimination, the government only partially respected this
right. Although indicating that they generally operated without
interference, professional and academic associations complained that the
National Electoral Council (CNE)--which is responsible for convoking all
elections, and establishing dates and procedures for them--repeatedly
interfered with their attempts to hold internal elections. The systematic
political discrimination that HRW attributed to the Chavez administration in
its September 2008 report continued during the year.
c. Freedom of Religion
The constitution provides for freedom of religion on the condition that its
practice does not violate public morality, decency, or public order, and the
government generally respected this right in practice. There were some
efforts by the government to limit the influence of religious groups in
certain geographic, social, and political areas.
In November authorities arrested six persons in connection with the December
2008 killings of an evangelical preacher, his wife, and daughter in San Jose
de Guanipa. A trial was pending at year's end.
The Directorate of Justice and Religion in the Ministry of Interior and
Justice maintains a registry of religious groups and disburses funds to
religious organizations. Registration, involving largely administrative
requirements, is required for legal status as a religious organization.
Foreign missionaries are required to have a special visa to enter the
country, and they noted continuing difficulties, including refusals for
first-time religious visas and, less frequently, for renewals. The
government continued to prohibit foreign missionary groups from working in
indigenous areas.
Societal Abuses and Discrimination
Government officials criticized specific Catholic bishops and the papal
nuncio on several occasions and warned them to refrain from commenting on
political issues.
In 2007 the Vatican granted political asylum to opposition student leader
Nixon Moreno in the Holy See mission in Caracas; thereafter the government
denied Moreno permission to leave the country. On January 19 and February 5,
unknown perpetrators threw tear gas canisters at the mission, and on March
9, Moreno fled the mission, reportedly fearing that progovernment supporters
would forcibly extricate him. March issues of the progovernment daily
Diario Vea featured numerous articles and political cartoons accusing
the nuncio and the Catholic Church of complicity in Moreno's departure,
although no evidence was offered. In late October Peru granted Moreno
political asylum.
There were an estimated 11,000 Jews in the country. Government-affiliated
media outlets broadcast or printed numerous anti-Semitic comments. There was
an increase in anti-Semitic vandalism, caricatures, and expressions at
rallies and in newspapers. The host of The Razorblade, a
progovernment talk show on state television, made frequent anti-Semitic
slurs, and government-owned Diario Vea regularly published
anti-Semitic comments. Incidents of sprayed graffiti, intimidation,
vandalism, and other physical attacks against Jewish institutions were
frequent.
Anti-Semitism was not officially condoned by the government, but in January
following Israel's operations in Gaza, the government convoked several
anti-Israel demonstrations and equated Israeli military actions against
Palestinians to the Holocaust. These activities were accompanied by an
increase in anti-Semitic rhetoric and graffiti, including vandalism of
properties owned by Jews. President Chavez called on the Jewish community to
denounce Israel's military actions, remarks interpreted by Jewish community
members as intimidation.
On February 9, prosecutors charged eight police officers and three others in
connection with the January 30-31 armed attack on and vandalization of
Tiferet Israel Synagogue in Caracas, an attack the government condemned.
Eleven suspects remained in prison at year's end awaiting trial.
On February 26, unknown assailants threw a small explosive device into the
Caracas Hebrew Center. No investigation results were known at year's end.
For a more detailed discussion, see the 2009 International
Religious Freedom Report at
www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/.
d. Freedom of Movement, Internally Displaced Persons, Protection of
Refugees, and Stateless Persons
The constitution provides for freedom of movement within the country,
foreign travel, emigration, and repatriation, and the government generally
respected these rights in practice. There were individual complaints that
government agencies denied passports and other official documents if
individuals signed the petition in support of the 2004 recall referendum.
The government cooperated with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and other humanitarian organizations in providing
protection and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers.
The law prohibits forced exile, and it was not used.
Protection of Refugees
The country is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Its laws provide for the granting of asylum
or refugee status, and the government has established a system for providing
protection to refugees. In practice the government provided protection
against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives
or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion,
nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
The UNHCR reported 14,317 (cumulative) applicants for refugee status in the
country as of December, of whom 1,211 (cumulative) were recognized as
refugees by the government. The UNHCR estimated that there were an
additional 200,000 persons in need of international protection. During the
year 2,796 persons applied for refugee status.
The government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian
organizations in assisting refugees and asylum seekers. The National
Committee for Refugees had limited physical and human resources to address
refugee issues, in addition to a lengthy process for examining individual
refugee applications.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change
their Government
The constitution provides citizens the right to change their government
peacefully, and citizens exercised this right through periodic free and fair
elections based on universal suffrage.
Elections and Political Participation
In 2006 voters reelected Hugo Chavez as president. Official observation
missions from the European Union and the OAS deemed the elections generally
free and fair but noted some irregularities.
In a February referendum deemed generally free and fair by international
observers notwithstanding scattered reports of irregularities, voters
approved a proposal to eliminate term limits for all elected officials.
Before the referendum, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV), opposition
political parties, and leading NGOs questioned the legality and legitimacy
of the referendum on the basis of the 2007 electoral defeat of a
constitutional reform package that had included the elimination of
presidential term limits. Prior to the February vote, those opposed to the
referendum held a large number of demonstrations throughout the country (see
section 2.b.).
During the year the central government and the National Assembly removed
most of the responsibilities and funding from the Office of the Mayor of
Greater Caracas, held by opposition leader Antonio Ledezma. In early January
the government revoked the mayor's authority over the police force, hospital
system, and sports and recreation facilities. On January 16, 40 armed masked
men took over the Caracas city hall, tied up security guards, and refused
access to the mayor and staff. On February 5, a conflict erupted between the
mayor's staff and personnel from the Ministries of Housing and Culture; the
media reported that an armed group attacked the mayor's staff. In April the
National Assembly approved a law that transferred control of the city's
budget and resources to a newly created position of vice president of the
capital district, appointed by the president. Opposition parties protested
this move as antidemocratic and undermining voter choice.
On August 12, President Chavez approved a new election law (passed by the
National Assembly on July 31) that changed the country's proportional
representation system to advantage majority parties greatly and gave the CNE
broad discretion in redrawing voting-district boundaries and establishing
electoral regulations and timetables. Smaller political parties expressed
concern that the law would disadvantage them in the 2010 National Assembly
election.
Opposition political parties operated in an atmosphere characterized by
intimidation, violence, and restricted media access. Opposition political
leaders and their families suffered physical assaults by unknown assailants
and selective prosecutions. Progovernment militant groups--including "La
Piedrita," "Alexis Vive," and "Los Tupamaros"--frequently issued threats
against opposition figures (see also sections 1.e. and 2.a.).
On January 20, a progovernment group headed by Lina Ron stormed the meeting
hall of a small political party (Bandera Roja), fired weapons, threw tear
gas, and forced the building's evacuation. There was no police response.
On February 19, Carlos Azuaje, the brother of a National Assembly deputy,
was shot and killed in Barinas. The deputy, who was expelled from the ruling
PSUV in 2008 after accusing the Chavez family of corruption, blamed the
killing on the Barinas governor, the president's brother, whom he accused of
"inciting" the crime. Authorities arrested two suspects in the killing. A
court convicted and sentenced one to 20 years' imprisonment in November; the
second suspect's trial was pending at year's end.
On September 14, the IACHR recommended that the government annul the
disqualification of the former opposition mayor of Chacao, Leopoldo Lopez,
and other current and former public officials whom the comptroller general
had declared ineligible to run for elected office in 2008 based on
allegations of misappropriation of public funds and corruption.
Following are examples of prosecutions of several key opposition leaders
that were widely considered politically motivated and appeared selective:
There were 29 women in the 167-seat National Assembly, five women in the
27-member cabinet, and 10 women among the 32 justices on the Supreme Court.
The constitution reserves three seats in the National Assembly for
indigenous persons, which were filled in the 2000 election and remained
occupied during the year. There is one indigenous member of the cabinet.
Section 4 Official Corruption and Government Transparency
The law provides criminal penalties for corruption by government officials;
credible observers alleged the government did not implement the law
effectively or fairly and frequently prosecuted its political opponents
selectively on corruption charges to harass, intimidate, or imprison them.
The World Bank's governance indicators reflected that government corruption
was a serious problem. There was a perception of widespread corruption at
all government levels. Journalists reported several cases of apparent
corruption implicating high-level government officials, but none was
investigated.
Public officials are not subject to financial disclosure laws. The
government agency responsible for combating government corruption is the
Comptroller General's Office.
The law provides for citizen access to government information. Human rights
groups reported that the government routinely ignored this requirement and
their requests, did not make government information available, and usually
did not give a reason for not providing it.
Section 5 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental
Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A variety of independent domestic and international human rights groups
generally operated with some government restrictions, and government
officials were somewhat responsive to their views. Major domestic human
rights NGOs that operated independently from the government included
COFAVIC, PROVEA, Network of Assistance, and the OVP.
In late May the government prohibited the attendance of three prominent
civil society organizations (Active Citizenry, Public Space, and
Transparency Venezuela) at the OAS General Assembly.
Many domestic NGOs reported threats, physical attacks, and harassment.
On July 9, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights removed the 2002-05
protection orders granting COFAVIC employees and its executive director,
Lilian Ortega, a security detail. COFAVIC expressed concern about continued
threats to their personal safety.
Government and ruling-party officials publicly criticized OVP Director
Humberto Prado numerous times during the year. For example, in a March 19
television interview, PSUV political leader Gerson Perez accused Prado of
promoting prison hunger strikes, and in a July university seminar, National
Assembly Deputy Pedro Infante accused Prado of working with prison leaders
to orchestrate hunger strikes.
The director of the NGO Window to Liberty, Carlos Nieto Palma, reported
threats on August 19 from three police officers who visited his home.
The government continued to reject IACHR requests to conduct a human rights
monitoring visit in the country, and by year's end no such permission had
been granted. In October students demanded such an IACHR visit as one of the
conditions for ending their hunger strike (see section 1.e.). The
government's representative to the IACHR, German Saltron, told the press
that the government would not accept such a visit because it objected to the
continued tenure of IACHR Executive Secretary Santiago Canton due to his
alleged support of the 2002 attempted coup. Students lifted a second hunger
strike in December following a one-day visit by IACHR staff members to
Caracas.
On November 25, the IACHR filed a case asking the Inter-American Court to
order the government both to reinstate or compensate Mercedes Chocron
Chocron for her arbitrary removal in 2003 as a temporary judge of the
Metropolitan Caracas Criminal Court of First Instance and also to adopt
"clear criteria and ensure guarantees in the appointment, tenure, and
removal of judges."
In December 2008 the Supreme Court rejected and criticized the
Inter-American Court judgment seeking reinstatement of three of the
country's judges to the First Court of Administrative Disputes, a judgment
that found the 2003 removal of the judges to be a violation of due process
and that ordered reinstatement and compensation.
On June 30, the Inter-American Court ordered reinstatement of Judge Reveron
Trujillo, who had been removed in 2002.
On August 27, two unknown persons shot at Jose Luis Urbano, president of the
Foundation for the Defense of the Right to Education, near the city of
Barcelona. Injured in a 2007 shooting attack, Urbano and other members of
the foundation have been repeatedly targeted by unknown assailants and
received death threats after having publicly condemned corruption and
violations of the right to free education.
Although the ombudsman, named by the National Assembly, is responsible for
ensuring that citizen rights are protected in a conflict with the state,
human rights NGOs claimed that the Ombudsman's Office was not independent
and rarely acted on public interest cases, and that the ombudsman was chosen
in 2007 in a nontransparent process. Reports or recommendations issued by
the office were not widely available.
The National Assembly's Subcommission on Human Rights played an
insignificant role in human rights debates.
Section 6 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons
Although the law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, disability,
language, or social status, discrimination against women, persons with
disabilities, and indigenous persons was a problem.
Women
The law prohibits rape, including spousal rape. It is punishable by prison
terms of eight to 14 years, although cases often were not reported to the
police. A man may avoid punishment by marrying his victim before sentencing.
There were no reliable statistics on the incidence of, or prosecutions or
convictions for, rape.
The law prohibits domestic violence, and penalties range from six to 27
months in prison. Violence against women continued to be a problem. In
October Supreme Court Justice Yolanda Jaimes Guerrero stated, "Every 15
minutes a woman is the victim of abuse by her partner. Every 10 days a woman
dies in Caracas, the victim of violence by her husband, lover, or partner."
Women faced substantial institutional and societal prejudice with respect to
reporting rape and domestic violence. The law criminalizes physical, sexual,
and psychological violence in the home, the community, and at work, as well
as trafficking, forced prostitution, sexual harassment, and slavery; it also
establishes women's bureaus at local police headquarters and tribunals
specializing in gender-based violence. Justice Jaimes Guerrero reported that
between June 2008 and October 2009, the 29 specialized tribunals had
received 55,916 cases, of which 23,443 had been processed. There was no
information available on the results of these tribunal cases.
The law requires police to report domestic violence to judicial authorities
and obligates hospital personnel to notify the authorities when they admit
patients who are victims of domestic abuse. Police generally were reluctant
to intervene to prevent domestic violence. Justice Jaimes Guerrero reported
in October that the Public Ministry was investigating approximately 124,000
complaints of violence against women, although there was no publicly
available information regarding the number of indictments, prosecutions, or
convictions resulting from these investigations. The government sought to
combat domestic violence through a public awareness campaign and a national
victim-assistance hotline administered by the government's National Women's
Institute (INAMUJER). According to the Director for the Prevention and
Attention to Violence against Women, Florangel Parodi, between January and
September there were 127,133 calls to the women's hotline. There were no
reliable statistics available on the incidence of, or prosecutions or
convictions for, domestic violence.
Prostitution is legal. While there was no government information on the
extent of prostitution, the local antitrafficking NGO Association of Women
for Welfare and Mutual Help noted that prostitution was a serious problem,
particularly in Caracas and domestic tourist destinations.
Sexual harassment is illegal and punishable by a prison sentence of one to
three years. Sexual harassment was allegedly common in the workplace, but
cases were rarely reported.
Couples and individuals had the right to decide the number, spacing, and
timing of children, and had the information and means to do so free from
discrimination. Access to information on contraception and skilled
attendance at delivery and in postpartum care were widely available. Women
and men were generally given equal access to diagnostic services and
treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
Women and men are legally equal in marriage, and the law provides for gender
equality in exercising the right to work. The law specifies that employers
must not discriminate against women with regard to pay or working
conditions. According to the Ministry of Labor and the Confederation of
Workers (CTV), these regulations were enforced in the formal sector,
although women reportedly earned 30 percent less than men on average.
INAMUJER worked to protect women's rights but did not make statistics
publicly available.
The law provides women with property rights equal to those of men. In
practice, however, women frequently waived these rights by signing over the
equivalent of power of attorney to their husbands.
Children
Citizenship is derived by birth within the country's territory. According to
the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), thousands of children were not officially
registered at birth.
According to UNICEF and NGOs working with children and women, child abuse,
including incest, occurred but was rarely reported. Although the judicial
system acted to remove children from abusive households, public facilities
for such children were inadequate and had poorly trained staff.
Under the law, sexual relations with a minor (under age 13) or an
"especially vulnerable" person, or with a minor (under age 16) when the
perpetrator is a relative or guardian, are punishable with a mandatory
sentence of 15 to 20 years' imprisonment. Some children were occasionally
engaged in commercial sexual exploitation and pornography. The law prohibits
the production and sale of child pornography and establishes penalties of 16
to 20 years' imprisonment.
The human rights NGO For the Rights of Children and Adolescents estimated
that 15,000 children lived on the streets. Authorities in Caracas and
several other jurisdictions imposed curfews on unsupervised minors to
attempt to cope with this problem, but with institutions filled to capacity,
hundreds of children accused of infractions, such as curfew violations, were
confined in inadequate juvenile detention centers. The government's social
service mission (Mision Negra Hipolita) provided assistance to street
children and the homeless.
Trafficking in Persons
The constitution prohibits slavery or servitude, and the law prohibits
transnational trafficking in persons; however, there were reports of
trafficking to, from, and within the country.
According to NGOs, the country was a source, destination, and transit
country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of
commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. An underdeveloped legal
framework, economic conditions, and the relative ease with which fraudulent
passports, identity cards, and birth certificates could be obtained created
favorable conditions for trafficking. The Foreign Ministry reported in late
November that police conducted 15 investigations and detained 11 persons in
2008-09 for trafficking crimes and that there were seven cases of
repatriation of persons who had been trafficked abroad (to Trinidad and
Tobago, Spain, and Romania) for sexual or labor exploitation; at year's end
no further information was available.
According to a range of international organizations and NGOs, women and
children from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and
the People's Republic of China were reportedly trafficked to and through the
country and subjected to commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor.
Citizens were reportedly trafficked internally and to Western Europe,
particularly Spain and the Netherlands, and to destinations in the region
such as Mexico, Aruba, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and
Tobago for commercial sexual exploitation. The country was a transit country
for undocumented migrants from other places in the region--particularly Peru
and Colombia--and for Asian nationals, some of whom were believed to be
trafficking victims. Subgroups particularly at risk included women and
children from poor areas.
Organized criminal groups were widely believed to be involved in trafficking
women and children to and through the country. Traffickers traveled to
transport victims to large urban centers or resort destinations. In many
cases traffickers reportedly placed ads for models in regional newspapers
and then lured respondents to Caracas and other urban areas under false
pretenses of employment.
Trafficking may be prosecuted under criminal laws against forced
prostitution and trafficking, with penalties of up to 20 years for using
force to coerce a victim to perform a sexual act for a third person, and
under a law to protect children, with fines of one to 10 months' income for
trafficking in children and two to six years' imprisonment for trafficking a
child abroad. The law provides for sentences of 10 to 15 years in prison if
the victim is an adult (or up to 18 years if the victim is a child or
adolescent).
Government efforts to combat trafficking are the responsibility of the
Public Prosecutor's Family Protection Directorate, the National Institutes
for Women and Minors, and the Interior and Justice Ministry's Crime
Prevention Unit, which is under the jurisdiction of the Vice Ministry of
Citizen Security. Enforcement efforts generally were limited.
In some cases the government provided trafficking victims with psychological
and physical examinations, but it did not operate shelters specifically for
trafficking victims. The government operated a hotline and conducted
information campaigns of uncertain effectiveness to prevent future
trafficking cases.
The Department of State's annual Trafficking in Persons Report can be
found at
www.state.gov/g/tip.
Persons with Disabilities
The constitution prohibits discrimination against persons with physical and
mental disabilities in education, employment, health care, and the provision
of other state services. Persons with disabilities had minimal access to
public transportation, and ramps were practically nonexistent. The law
requires that all newly constructed or renovated public parks and buildings
provide access and prohibits discrimination in employment practices and in
the provision of public services; however, the government did not make a
significant effort to implement the law, inform the public of it, or combat
societal prejudice against persons with disabilities.
Indigenous People
The law prohibits discrimination based on ethnic origin, and senior
government officials repeatedly stated support for indigenous rights.
However, there were complaints from some organizations and in the media of
government mismanagement and paternalistic attitudes toward the indigenous
population. Of the country's approximately 300,000 indigenous persons in 27
ethnic groups, many were isolated from urban areas, lacked access to basic
health and educational facilities, and suffered from high rates of disease.
The government included indigenous persons in its literacy campaigns, in
some cases teaching them to read and write in their native languages as well
as in Spanish.
The law creates three seats in the National Assembly for deputies of
indigenous origin and also provides for "the protection of indigenous
communities and their progressive incorporation into the life of the
nation." Nonetheless, local political authorities seldom took account of
indigenous interests when making decisions affecting indigenous lands,
cultures, traditions, or the allocation of natural resources. Indigenous
persons called on the government to recognize lands traditionally inhabited
by them as territories belonging to each respective indigenous group.
Conflict between cattle ranchers/landowners and indigenous persons occurred
sporadically. Civil society organizations criticized a government
land-transfer program, which gave private dairy farms in Zulia State to the
Yukpa indigenous group, for causing tension and violence in the region.
Following the alleged theft of 124 cattle on October 11, three Yukpa tribe
members were killed, allegedly by other Yukpa members, on October 13.
Authorities detained one Yukpa community leader that month in connection
with the killings, but no further information was available at year's end.
Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence Based on Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity
The constitution provides for equality before the law of all persons and
prohibits discrimination based on sex or social condition. On this basis,
the Supreme Court ruled in March 2008 that no individual may be
discriminated against by reason of sexual orientation in any way that
implies treatment in an unequal fashion. This prohibition was generally
respected in practice.
There were no reliable statistics on societal violence or discrimination
based on sexual orientation, although violence against lesbian, gay,
transgender, and bisexual communities reportedly occurred during the year.
The media reported that four transgender persons were killed in Caracas
between November 2008 and May and that nine transgender persons were killed
in Caracas and Zulia State between January and October. The media also noted
that victims of hate crimes based on sexual orientation frequently did not
report the incidents.
Other Societal Violence or Discrimination
According to the NGO Citizen Action against AIDS, persons diagnosed with
HIV/AIDS frequently were discriminated against at the workplace and often
were refused access to government health services.
Section 7 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
While the law provides that all private and public sector workers (except
armed forces members) have the right to form and join unions of their
choice, according to labor sources and media reports the government
continued to undermine this right by restricting the composition of union
leadership and refusing to negotiate collective bargaining agreements.
Approximately 10 to 12 percent of the 12-million-person labor force was
unionized.
Although the law recognizes the right of all public and private sector
workers to strike in accordance with conditions established by labor law,
public servants may strike only if the strike does not cause "irreparable
damage to the population or to institutions." Replacement workers are not
permitted during legal strikes, and the president may order public or
private sector strikers back to work and submit their disputes to
arbitration if the strike "puts in immediate danger the lives or security of
all or part of the population."
There were no government-provided statistics available on newly registered
trade union organizations during the year, but other sources estimated that
the number of such organizations remained relatively stable at approximately
6,200. According to labor leaders, the government was responsible for many
of these organizations, as it sought to create "parallel" unions to dilute
the membership and effectiveness of traditional unions.
The CNE has the authority to administer internal elections of labor
confederations. Labor unions complained of long delays in obtaining CNE
concurrence to hold such elections and in receiving certification of the
election results.
According to union leaders, the government organized groups of parallel
construction unions to attack and intimidate construction workers affiliated
with the CTV to gain control of lucrative construction projects. According
to PROVEA, 46 reported deaths were associated with union clashes from
October 2008 through September 2009. According to statistics maintained by a
respected academic, there was an average of 75 new or ongoing labor
conflicts each month between January and August.
At year's end the government continued to refuse to adjudicate or resolve
the cases of 19,000 state-owned petroleum-company employees who were fired
during and after the 2002-03 national strike. The Ministry of Labor
continued to deny registration to UNAPETROL, a union composed of these
workers.
The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) 2009 Annual Survey of
violations of trade union rights reported that labor conflicts (related to
recruitment practices in the construction and oil sectors and, to a lesser
extent, in basic industries) generated acts of violence ranging from
physical and verbal assaults to killings. According to PROVEA, in the period
between September 2008 and October 2009, at least 88 workers, including 16
union leaders, were affected by violence. The ITUC survey also stated that
the president called on trade unions to join the PSUV.
In January authorities charged and detained Julio Cesar Arguinzonez in
connection with the November 2008 killings of three trade union leaders
(Richard Gallardo, Carlos Jose Requena, and Luis Hernandez) in Aragua State
at the time of a collective bargaining dispute. The April preliminary court
hearing accepted the indictment and ordered that Arguinzonez remain in
custody pending trial.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The law provides that all public and private sector workers have the right
to conduct their activities without interference and protects collective
bargaining. The law stipulates that employers must negotiate a collective
contract with the union that represents the majority of their workers. The
International Labor Organization (ILO) objected to this provision and
requested that the government amend it. Due to the expired status of many
public sector collective bargaining agreements, only 9 percent of the
sector's workers were covered by them.
On July 14, Energy and Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramirez told oil and gas
workers that he would not negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement
with unions unsupportive of the government. After seven postponements, the
CNE convoked union elections in October, and the government-supported slate
of candidates won--with substantial financial support from both the
state-owned petroleum company and the government and with the open
endorsement of the minister and other officials.
According to PROVEA, more than two million public sector employees worked
under expired collective agreements during the year. The leader of the
largest national union federation, the National Workers' Union, stated that
the framework agreement for public administration has not been discussed for
four years and the one covering Labor Ministry employees has not been
discussed for 17 years. There were no developments reported during the year
concerning the formal complaint lodged with the ILO by the Teachers'
Federation and its 27 affiliated organizations to request that the
government restore its collective bargaining rights, which were blocked in
2006.
There are no special laws or exemptions from regular labor laws in the sole
export processing zone.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
While the law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including by children,
there were reports of trafficking in children for employment purposes,
particularly in the informal economic sector (see also section 7.d.).
d. Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment
The law protects children from exploitation in the workplace. The Ministry
of Labor and the National Institute for Minors enforced child labor policies
effectively in the formal sector of the economy but less so in the informal
sector.
Children most frequently worked in agriculture, retail trade, hotels,
restaurants, manufacturing, and community and social services. The Community
Center of Apprenticeship, a domestic NGO promoting the rights of children,
estimated that there were approximately one million minors working and that
a large percentage of them did not receive the salary and benefits due to
them under the law. According to the government, in 2006, 131,902 boys and
10,196 girls worked in the agricultural sector, 3,772 boys and 10,285 girls
worked in industrial manufacturing, and 36,106 boys and 746 girls worked in
construction. Indigenous children were reportedly trafficked and forced to
work as miners and prostitutes in illegal gold mining camps.
The law sets the minimum employment age at 14 years and permits children
ages 12 to 14 to work only if the National Institute for Minors or the
Ministry of Labor grants special permission. Children ages 14 to 16 may not
work without the permission of their legal guardians. Those under 16 years
of age may work no more than six hours per day or 30 hours per week. Minors
under the age of 18 may work only between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. Minors may not
work in mines or smelting factories, in occupations that risk life or health
or could damage intellectual or moral development, or in public spectacles.
Fines are established for employing children ages eight to 11 and for
employing a 12- or 13-year-old without authorization. Employing a child
younger than eight years of age is punishable by one to three years'
imprisonment. Employers must notify authorities if they hire a minor as a
domestic worker.
The law prohibits inducing the prostitution and corruption of minors.
Penalties range from three to 18 months in prison and up to four years in
prison if the minor is younger than 12 years old. If the crime is committed
repeatedly or for profit, it is punishable by three to six years'
imprisonment. Prison sentences for inducing a minor into prostitution are
increased by up to five years if various aggravating circumstances occur.
Penalties for several crimes relating to child prostitution do not apply if
the perpetrator marries the victim. The law establishes sentences of one to
three years' incarceration for forced child labor. There were no
substantiated reports that these penalties were enforced.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports ran educational programs to
reincorporate school dropouts and adults into the educational system, and
the government also continued to provide services to vulnerable children,
including street children, working children, and children at risk of
working. However, there was no independent accounting of the effectiveness
of these programs.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The minimum wage is established and updated annually by the Ministry of
Labor, which according to law should consult publicly when proposing
changes. However, union leaders alleged the ministry does not carry out such
consultations.
On April 30, President Chavez announced a 20 percent increase in the monthly
minimum wage and in the salaries of all public sector employees. This
increase was implemented in two increments--the first 10 percent as of May 1
and the second 10 percent as of September 1--for a total of 966.79 Bs.F
(approximately $450). The 20 percent increase was below the country's recent
annual inflation rate of 25-30 percent, so workers receiving it suffered a
decline in real annual purchasing power. The minimum wage did not provide a
decent standard of living for a worker and family. The Labor Ministry
enforced minimum wage rates effectively in the formal sector, but
approximately half the population worked in the informal sector, where labor
laws and protections generally were not enforced.
The law stipulates that the work week may not exceed 44 hours. Managers are
prohibited from obligating employees to work additional time, and workers
have the right to weekly time away from work. Overtime may not exceed two
hours daily, 10 hours weekly, or 100 hours annually and may not be paid at a
rate less than time-and-one-half. The ministry effectively enforced these
standards in the formal sector.
While the constitution provides for secure, hygienic, and adequate working
conditions, authorities conducted infrequent inspections to implement the
health and safety law. Employers are required to report work-related
accidents, and the law obligates employers to pay specified amounts (up to a
maximum of 25 times the minimum monthly salary) to workers for accidents or
occupational illnesses, regardless of who is responsible. Workplaces must
maintain "sufficient protection for health and life against sickness and
accidents," and penalties range from one quarter to twice the minimum
monthly salary for first infractions. Numerous complaints of unsafe
conditions, resulting in several deaths at state-owned industrial plants,
continued in Bolivar State. In practice ministry inspectors seldom closed
unsafe job sites. Under the law workers may remove themselves from dangerous
workplace situations without jeopardy to continued employment.