Post by rmarks1 on May 5, 2014 15:19:02 GMT -5
THE late President Hugo Chávez was wont to describe his “twenty-first-century socialist” regime as “the pretty revolution”. Unlike the socialist revolutions of the last century, he claimed, his was both peaceful and democratic. He always made it abundantly clear, however, that if peaceful revolution were blocked, violent revolution would ensue. And as time wore on, respect for democratic practices such as observance of minority rights and the separation of powers grew ever more tenuous.
Since Chávez’s death last year from cancer, the pretty revolution’s make-up has begun to peel. His successor, Nicolás Maduro, has none of the comandante’s famous charisma, and growth in oil income has stalled. Anger over food shortages and uncontrolled violent crime spilled over in February into nationwide protests. The government’s response has been a harsh crack-down that has seen over 2,500 people detained so far. Human-rights groups say excessive use of force, beatings and denial of due process have been routine.
In the first detailed report* on the subject by an international body, released on May 5th, Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based lobby group, complains of a “pattern of serious abuse” it says goes far beyond excesses by a few over-zealous riot police. It accuses police and national-guard members of “routinely” using unlawful force against armed protesters. This has included not only severe beatings but “firing live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas canisters indiscriminately into crowds” and even firing rubber bullets at point-blank range, “including, in some cases, [at] individuals already in custody”.
The widespread nature of these abuses caused HRW to conclude that they formed “part of a systematic practice by the Venezuelan security forces”. The report also condemns what it terms complicity on the part of prosecutors and judges, who both “turned a blind eye’ to human-rights violations and deliberately hindered detainees’ access to their families and lawyers.
Although the government claims the opposition is to blame for most of the 41 deaths it attributes to the unrest, HRW points out that it has “not made public evidence to support this claim”. There are “strong reasons”, it says, to believe that security forces and armed, pro-government gangs are responsible for some of them. In what is certain to be one of its most controversial findings, the report says security forces not only repeatedly allowed these gangs (commonly referred to as “colectivos”) to attack protesters but “in some cases…openly collaborated” with them.
www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2014/05/human-rights-venezuela
Since Chávez’s death last year from cancer, the pretty revolution’s make-up has begun to peel. His successor, Nicolás Maduro, has none of the comandante’s famous charisma, and growth in oil income has stalled. Anger over food shortages and uncontrolled violent crime spilled over in February into nationwide protests. The government’s response has been a harsh crack-down that has seen over 2,500 people detained so far. Human-rights groups say excessive use of force, beatings and denial of due process have been routine.
In the first detailed report* on the subject by an international body, released on May 5th, Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based lobby group, complains of a “pattern of serious abuse” it says goes far beyond excesses by a few over-zealous riot police. It accuses police and national-guard members of “routinely” using unlawful force against armed protesters. This has included not only severe beatings but “firing live ammunition, rubber bullets and teargas canisters indiscriminately into crowds” and even firing rubber bullets at point-blank range, “including, in some cases, [at] individuals already in custody”.
The widespread nature of these abuses caused HRW to conclude that they formed “part of a systematic practice by the Venezuelan security forces”. The report also condemns what it terms complicity on the part of prosecutors and judges, who both “turned a blind eye’ to human-rights violations and deliberately hindered detainees’ access to their families and lawyers.
Although the government claims the opposition is to blame for most of the 41 deaths it attributes to the unrest, HRW points out that it has “not made public evidence to support this claim”. There are “strong reasons”, it says, to believe that security forces and armed, pro-government gangs are responsible for some of them. In what is certain to be one of its most controversial findings, the report says security forces not only repeatedly allowed these gangs (commonly referred to as “colectivos”) to attack protesters but “in some cases…openly collaborated” with them.
www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2014/05/human-rights-venezuela
Bob
