Monday March 27, 2023
  • Venezuela
  • Mexico
  • Colombia
  • Chile
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • Podcast
Versión Español
PanAm Post
  • Home
  • Regions
    • South America
    • North America
    • Central America
    • Caribbean
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Authors
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Regions
    • South America
    • North America
    • Central America
    • Caribbean
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Authors
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
PanAm Post
No Result
View All Result

Home » Feckless Judiciary Leaves Venezuelan Human Rights on the Chopping Block

Feckless Judiciary Leaves Venezuelan Human Rights on the Chopping Block

Helena Ball by Helena Ball
April 12, 2015
in Free Speech, Ideology, Opinion, Society, South America, Venezuela
FacebookTwitterTelegramWhatsapp
Venezuelans protesting in Caracas to express their frustration with an unaccountable government. (<a href="https://flic.kr/p/qU2f9m" target="_blank">Carlos Díaz</a>)
Venezuelans continue to protest their brutal and unaccountable government. (Caracas, January 2015, Carlos Díaz)

EspañolIn February a mayor in Venezuela was arrested — again. The country’s intelligence police agency stormed the office of the metropolitan mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma, and placed him behind bars with charges of plotting a coup against the government.

Last year, several former mayors were also detained after allegedly inciting violence against the government, including prominent opposition leader Leopoldo López. Their true crime, however, was disagreeing with the Maduro administration’s policies. According to the Association of Mayors for Venezuela, 43 percent of the country’s mayors have open court proceedings against them, while the total political-prisoner count is now only two short of 100.

RelatedArticles

The night Chris Rock turned into a 12-year-old whiny bully victim

The night Chris Rock turned into a 12-year-old whiny bully victim

March 26, 2023
The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US

The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US

August 21, 2021

The legal plight of these political detainees provides a clear representation of the broken judicial system in Venezuela. The protection of human rights depends on the ability of the judiciary to uphold the rule of law and castigate wrongdoers. Yet for more than a decade now, Venezuelan officials have used their complete control of the three branches of government to not only violate human rights without repercussions but to gradually legalize the forceful repression of their own citizens.

Hugo Chávez gave a fatal blow to the country’s democratic institutions in 2005, when he packed the Supreme Justice Tribunal (TSJ) with politically like-minded judges. The president added a dozen posts to the existing 20, making the small number of dissenting voices left in the court obsolete.

The concentration of power was further evidenced in 2009, when Mayor Ledezma’s only recourse to oppose the creation of a shadow mayoral office, that stripped him of his powers, was to embark on a life-threatening hunger strike. That same year, Chávez publicly called for Judge María Lourdes Afiuni to be condemned to 30 years in jail for granting conditional freedom to a government opponent who had been long detained without trial.

More recently, magistrates of the tribunal have publicly adhered to the goals of the socialist state plan. In last year’s opening statements, TSJ President Gladys Gutierrez said the institution’s mission is being adjusted to fit the nation’s second socialist plan, the Simón Bolívar National Project.

The rule of law has thus ceased to exist in Venezuela without a judicial branch to enforce it; only lackeys of the presidency remain, who legalize brutality instead of condemning it. To make matters worse, the country was left with little international recourse to justice when Venezuela officially withdrew from the Inter-American Court for Human Rights in 2014, four years after Chávez expelled members of Human Rights Watch.

The country is still part of the United Nations, and its Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but is in violation of most of its articles. These allude to the right to liberty, a fair and public trial, and freedom of speech, along with prohibitions on arbitrary arrests or mistreatment. These rights are also present in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, but with no one to enforce them.

The absence of an independent judicial system in the country created powerlessness among the citizenry, which in turn fueled the ongoing protests that climaxed in February 2014. As a result of the brutal repression that ensued, the government of Venezuela is responsible for dozens of its own citizens’ deaths and hundreds of arrests that sought to dissipate the public dissent.

To legitimize their actions, the Ministry of Defense issued a decree in January dubbed “shoot to kill,” wherein the armed forces are officially allowed to use deadly weapons against protesters on the streets.

Thousands of students who led many of the demonstrations have been jailed and tortured, many without receiving a trial. Some have even been kept in isolation in the intelligence agency’s prison that is five floors underground, with no light and no hope for justice. In fact, Rodolfo Gonzalez, charged with criminal conspiracy against the government, was found dead last month, having allegedly committed suicide after being held for 10 months without trial.

The United Nations, the European Parliament, President Barack Obama, and former presidents of several nations have recently urged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to end human-rights violations. These may be ignored, as those in government continue to unfold their plan for a socialist Bolivarian republic, but the pleas will likely add flames to the fire of indignation in the streets.

Despite the Chavista government’s attempts to take hold of Simón Bolívar’s legacy, the Liberator’s words are on the side of Venezuelan citizens who clamor for freedom: “March swiftly to revenge the dead, to give life to the dying, to free the oppressed, and to give liberty to all.”

Edited by Fergus Hodgson.

Tags: Hugo Chávezhuman rightsnicolás maduro
Helena Ball

Helena Ball

Helena is managing editor of the PanAm Post. She previously worked at Inc. Magazine, the Financial Times' fDi Magazine, and London-based business newspaper City A.M. Helena holds a master’s degree in business and economic reporting from New York University and a bachelor's degree in economic history from the London School of Economics. Follow her @helemball

Related Posts

The night Chris Rock turned into a 12-year-old whiny bully victim
Columnists

The night Chris Rock turned into a 12-year-old whiny bully victim

March 26, 2023
The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US
Columnists

The new socialist supremacisms: a maoist cultural revolution undermines the US

August 21, 2021
GETTR: the powerful weapon of Trump and international right wing
United States

GETTR: the powerful weapon of Trump and international right wing

July 13, 2021
News

Maduro’s Trial Falls Behind Despite Coordination Between Interim Government and ICC

June 15, 2021
Three Signs That Elon Musk Has the World at His Fingertips
Columnists

Trump Against Suppression of Human Rights

February 1, 2021
Three Key Moments to Remind Us That the UN Is a Nest of Oppressive Regimes
Analysis

Three Key Moments to Remind Us That the UN Is a Nest of Oppressive Regimes

January 29, 2021
Next Post
Cuban Intel Chief Leads Brawl against Dissidents in Panama

Cuban Intel Chief Leads Brawl against Dissidents in Panama

Subscribe free and never miss another breaking story

  • Venezuela
  • Mexico
  • Colombia
  • Chile
  • Brazil
  • Argentina
  • Podcast

© 2020 PanAm Post - Design & Develop by NEW DREAM GLOBAL CORP. - Privacy policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Regions
    • South America
    • North America
    • Central America
    • Caribbean
  • Politics
  • Economics
  • Opinion
  • Podcast
  • Authors
  • Contact

© 2020 PanAm Post - Design & Develop by NEW DREAM GLOBAL CORP. - Privacy policy

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Privacy and Cookie Policy.