US embassy cable - 04CARACAS890

C O N F I D E N T I A L  CARACAS 000890 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
NSC FOR CBARTON 
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD 
USAID DCHA/OTI FOR RPORTER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/12/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, VE 
SUBJECT: DUELING CLAIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS 
 
REF: CARACAS 00620 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (B 
) AND (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1. (C) Nearly a dozen Venezuelans died, 1,758 were wounded or 
injured, and 410 were detained during disturbances in the 
country from February 27 to March 5, according to the 
opposition Democratic Coordinating Committee (DCC).  Amid the 
claims of government human rights abuses, the GOV has mounted 
its own campaign, highlighting injuries among the security 
forces and blaming the opposition itself for the alleged 
rights abuses.  Human rights organizations acknowledge 
certain governmental actions that assist victims, but they 
maintain nevertheless that the GOV bears the greater 
responsibility for human rights abuses.  End Summary. 
 
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ADDING UP THE VICTIMS 
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2. (U) Nearly a dozen Venezuelans died, 1,758 were wounded or 
injured, and 410 were detained during disturbances in the 
country from February 27 to March 5, according to a March 9 
statement from the broad opposition umbrella group Democratic 
Coordinating Committee (DCC).  In addition, DCC spokesman 
Jesus Torrealba claimed March 9 that eight anti-GOV 
protesters are unaccounted for (Note: one has been accounted 
for since then), and that there are nine accusations against 
security forces of torture and use of excessive force, 
especially by the National Guard (GN).  Human rights NGO 
PROVEA verified 9 dead and 103 "deprivations of personal 
integrity," a catch-all description that includes injuries, 
detentions, and torture.  Opposition London-based NGO 
Pro-Venezuela Organization (ProVeO) listed 12 dead, 8 
missing, and 180 political prisoners as of March 11 on their 
Web site (www.proveo.org). 
 
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PRO-GOV CIVILIAN GROUPS ACCUSED 
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3. (C) Torrealba asserted that the political police (DISIP) 
and "armed irregulars" participated in the alleged March 3 
killing of Jose Luis Ricaurte Blanco.  Merida student leader 
Nixon Moreno told poloff March 11 that Argenis Dugarte was 
killed by members of the pro-Chavez student group Utopia on 
March 2 and that pro-Chavez groups attacked several students 
and opposition groups March 3, including an armed assault on 
the student government headquarters (ref b).  Merida's 
student government reported the student medical clinic 
treated 22 protest-related injuries March 3 and 4. 
 
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TRYING TO FIND THE TRUTH 
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4. (C) Human rights NGOs are gathering information on alleged 
human rights violations through personal and phone interviews 
primarily.  Marino Alvarado, NGO PROVEA's Human Rights 
Education Coordinator, told poloff March 11 that human rights 
NGOs are reluctant to comment on exact numbers until they 
verify the cases reported to them and release formal reports 
-- a process that would not be completed any time soon. 
Carlos Correa, PROVEA's General Coordinator, told poloff 
March 8 that PROVEA also gathers information from official 
sources,  the media, and other human rights organizations and 
then compares those numbers with its own. 
 
5. (C) Correa remarked that convincing people to make 
official complaints with the authorities has been 
particularly difficult, and that the lack of an official 
complaint limits the range of actions the NGO can take. 
Alvarado added that many victims wish to remain anonymous due 
to reprisal fears, creating a dilemma for the NGO that must 
choose to include them in their report with annotations, 
report them separately, or reject them altogether.  Un Solo 
Pueblo Media Director Adriana Sanoja told poloff March 10 she 
 
knows of two attacks unreported to government or NGOs that 
occurred near the party headquarters.  She claimed local 
police assisting a pro-Chavez group in an attack on an 
opposition barricade shot a women in the head, grazing but 
not penetrating the skull.  Pro-Chavez neighbors warned the 
wounded woman not report the incident and destroyed a 
visiting friend's car to drive the point home, according to 
Sanoja.  Alvarado said PROVEA was having particular trouble 
tracking prisoners because of releases and new cases, 
something he suspected accounts for apparently overstated 
numbers in media reports.  However, Alvarado cautioned 
against "obsessing over the numbers" when the GOV's use of 
violent repression was clear. 
 
6. (C) Jose Gregorio Guarenas, Director of the Catholic 
Church's Human Rights Office (Vicaria), told poloff March 10 
that his staff gathers documentation of the alleged 
violation, such as medical reports, pictures of injuries, and 
witness statements.  The staff member then accompanies the 
alleged victim to the Attorney General's Office to file the 
complaint, supported by the documentation.  According to 
Guarenas, the Vicaria works closely with COFAVIC, another 
human rights NGO. 
 
7. (C) Guarenas and Correa both acknowledged the importance 
of making the official complaint, and Guarenas thought it was 
a good sign that Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez had 
announced the opening of investigations into 11 torture 
cases.  Guarenas told poloff, however, that the Attorney 
General's Office was clearly acting on behalf of the GOV when 
it released ballistics results on the Jose Vilas shooting 
without first informing his family.  Guarenas also asserted 
that GN officers were definitely the shooters in the Vilas 
case, based on witness and video evidence. 
 
8. (U) Carlos Nieto, General Coordinator of the prison 
watchdog group "A Window to Liberty" said in a March 10 press 
statement that nine detainees in La Planta prison were being 
treated well and were being kept in an area away from the 
general prison population.  However, based on his interviews 
of the detainees, Nieto said they had been "savagely and 
inhumanely tortured by the National Guard" before being 
transferred to the prison. 
 
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SELLING THE IMAGE: FULL COURT PRESS 
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9. (U) Amid the allegations of human rights abuses, the GOV 
has mounted its own campaign, not only to blame the 
opposition for injuries among the security forces, but also 
for the alleged abuses suffered by the opposition.  One day 
after the March 1 shooting of opposition protester Jose 
Vilas, the Attorney General's Office released ballistics 
results purporting to prove that the GN could not have shot 
the protester, though eye witnesses disagree.  Interior and 
Justice Minister Lucas Rincon and Scientific and 
Investigative Police (CICPC) Chief Commissioner Marcos Chavez 
said in a March 9 joint press conference that none of the 
deaths since February 27 can be attributed to the GN, 
claiming that the type of bullet, weapon, or both are not GN 
standard issue.  Information and Communication Minister Jesse 
Chacon charged that the private media instigated the 
violence. 
 
10. (C) Alejandro Carrillo, Director of Inter-Institutional 
Affairs for the Ombudsman, told poloff March 9 that the 
opposition has been engaging in violence since February 27, 
which gives the GOV the right and duty to respond with force. 
 Carrillo claimed the Ombudsman has pictures of demonstrators 
carrying guns and molotov cocktails during the February 27 
march to the G-15 meeting and asserted that burning garbage 
in the streets is "a type of violence."  "The National 
Guard," he said, "is permitted by law to respond to any 
violent demonstration with tear gas and plastic bullets," and 
he denied that the GN had used metal bullets or other 
excessive force. 
 
11. (C) After asserting that the GOV has the right to defend 
itself against a violent opposition, Carillo then admitted to 
poloff that the Ombudsman couldn't really say with certainty 
that opposition marchers had instigated violence.  He said 
 
the opposition paid contract killers (sicarios) to shoot 
demonstrators and create "chaos and anarchy" but offered no 
proof.  He declined to comment on opposition allegations of 
torture and arrest without due process, saying only that they 
are criminal matters under the Attorney General's 
jurisdiction.  The Ombudsman's only role in such matters, he 
explained, is to take statements from the alleged victims and 
pass them to the Attorney General. 
 
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COMMENT 
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12. (C) The magnitude and credibility of witnessQnd video 
accounts of human rights abuses contrasts sharply with the 
GOV's attempt to blame the opposition for its own violent 
acts.  Alvarado's point is well taken: we should not allow 
ourselves to become overly preoccupied with bean counting or 
allow lack of firm statistical data to prevent us from 
recognizing the obvious.  The GOV started crossing a 
discernible line between applying legitimate and appropriate 
force in crowd control and indiscriminately attacking 
protesters on February 27 and sprinted past it in the ensuing 
days. 
SHAPIRO 
 
 
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      2004CARACA00890 - CONFIDENTIAL