Freedom of Expression
Venezuela
25. In 2004, the IACHR published a report on the situation of human rights in Venezuela[1] that included a chapter of the situation of the freedom of expression in Venezuela, which was prepared by the Office of the Special Rapporteur at the Commission’s request. The Office of the Special Rapporteur is concerned that many of the situations described in that report and in the Annual Report on 2003 are continuing to recur. Some of these led the IACHR to issue precautionary measures or to seek the adoption of provisional measures by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to protect the fundamental rights of media workers.[2] Therefore, Venezuela continues to be a country of special concern for the Office of the Special Rapporteur.
26. This year, threats against and assaults on social communicators who were covering political demonstrations and elections continued. In addition, public messages were repeated, at the highest levels of the State, particularly from President Hugo Chávez, against the media, and which could be misinterpreted by his followers.[3] The Office of the Special Rapporteur reiterates, as it did in its report for 2003, that the government’s perceptions about the lack of impartiality and political motivations in the coverage of some media, particularly on political events, in no way justify restrictions or attacks on the freedom of expression.
PRINCIPLE 4 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Access to information held by the State)
27. The Office of the Special Rapporteur received information that the Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (PROVEA) had brought five amparo actions before the Supreme Court to invoke the right of petition. These included one against the Human Rights Ombudsman of Venezuela, who in September had refused to provide information on human rights violations.[4]
PRINCIPLE 6 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Compulsory membership in an association prescribed by law for the practice of journalism)
28. On July 27, 2004, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of the BolivarianRepublic of Venezuela handed down a resolution upholding the compulsory membership in a professional association for the exercise of journalism. The decision declared inadmissible a motion for annulment brought against several articles of the Law on the Exercise of Journalism. The Office of the Special Rapporteur issued a press release expressing its concern over the decision of August 2, 2004, and recalling that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in its Advisory Opinion OC-5/85 on the compulsory membership of journalists stated: “…a law licensing journalists, which does not allow those who are not members of the ‘colegio‘ to practice journalism and limits access to the ‘colegio’ to university graduates who have specialized in certain fields, is not compatible with the Convention. Such a law would contain restrictions to freedom of expression that are not authorized by Article 13(2) of the Convention and would consequently be in violation not only the right of each individual to seek and impart information and ideas through any means of his choice, but also the right of the public at large to receive information without any interference.”
PRINCIPLE 7 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Prior conditioning of truthfulness, impartiality, or timeliness by the states)
29. In April 2004 the political organization Un Solo Pueblo asked the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL) to institute an administrative proceeding against Canal 8, state-owned, for not transmitting accurate information.[5]
30. On concluding its 121st regular session, in October 2004, the IACHR reiterated its concern over the Draft Law on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television, which at that time was being debated in the National Assembly of Venezuela. As the IACHR indicated at that time, several articles of the law did not reflect the international standards for the protection of human rights, the caselaw of the inter-American system on the subject, or the recommendations of the IACHR.[6] Despite these observations by the IACHR and the recommendations that have been made since 2003 in several press releases, letters, and reports of the Office of the Special Rapporteur and the Commission,[7] the National Assembly of Venezuela adopted the draft law, known as the “Law on Contents,” in November. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in a press release of November 30, after receiving a report from the Office of the Special Rapporteur on the law, stated its concern over the adoption of the legislation, as it contains conditions on accuracy and timeliness of information programs. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in its advisory opinion on Compulsory Membership in an Association Prescribed by Law for the Practice of Journalism of 1985 (OC-5/85), noted: “One cannot legitimately rely on the right of a society to be honestly informed in order to put in place a regime of prior censorship for the alleged purpose of eliminating information deemed to be untrue in the eyes of the censor.” The law in question establishes extensive limitations on the content of radio and television programs that could undermine provisions of the American Convention. In addition, as the IACHR indicated, the use of vague terms, together with the existence of sanctions that could be excessive, may have a chilling effect on the informational work of the media and journalists, limiting the flow of information to Venezuelan society on matters of public interest. The IACHR also expressed its concern over the creation of a Bureau of Social Responsibility (Directorio de Responsabilidad Social) and a Council on Responsibility (Consejo de Responsabilidad) with very broad powers. The Commission concludes that, as it is a bill that imposes numerous sanctions, the powers it grants to the oversight and sanctioning organs, the majority of whose members are state representatives, may limit the full exercise of the freedom of expression.[8]
31. The Office of the Special Rapporteur echoes the concern of the Commission and the disquiet of many international organizations for the promotion of the freedom of expression[9] as it calls on the Venezuelan authorities to review that legislation in light of the standards set forth in many reports, decisions, opinions, and judgments of the organs of the inter-American system for the protection of human rights in regard to the freedom of expression.
PRINCIPLE 8 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Right of every social communicator to keep confidential his or her sources, notes, and personal and professional files)
32. On June 11, 2004, there was a search of the offices of the Venevisión television network by officials from the Investigations Division (División de Investigaciones) of the National Guard, based in La Guadalupana, in Caracas. The search was part of a follow-up on investigations into the incursion of Colombian paramilitaries into Venezuelan territory.[10] On June 23, 2004, a commission formed to investigate the search suspended 11 agents of the intelligence service known as the DISIP (Dirección de los Servicios de Inteligencia y Prevención) for having acted beyond the scope of their authority when they carried out the search of the television station in a search for weapons,[11] and for having allowed the place to be contaminated on allowing the television press that was present to enter the place searched.[12]
PRINCIPLE 9 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Murder, kidnapping, intimidation of and/or threats to social communicators, as well as the material destruction of communications media)
33. In February and March 2004, the groups that constitute the opposition to the government of President Hugo Chávez Frías organized many demonstrations in different parts of the country, several of which led to confrontations between sympathizers of the Government and the opposition. In this context, several journalists and media workers were assaulted or threatened. The Office of the Special Rapporteur received reports that more than 20 social communicators, media, and media workers in general received some sort of threat during the demonstrations and disturbances. While it is true that in some cases reported one cannot conclude that the assaults were aimed directly against the journalists who were covering those events, in other cases one can conclude that they were. This situation led the Inter-American Commission to issue a press release on March 3, 2004, expressing its concern over the acts of violence and urging the authorities to guarantee the security of the journalists and media workers so that they could continue their work of informing Venezuelan society. On March 8, 2004, the Public Ministry of Venezuela issued measures of protection for 27 individuals–15 journalists, five cameramen, and seven photographers–who were injured or assaulted while covering incidents from February 27 to March 3, 2004.[13] Following are some of the incidents reported to the Office of the Special Rapporteur.
34. On February 12, 2004, journalist Víctor Sierra, of the daily Cambio de Siglo, was assaulted by antiriot police while covering a demonstration[14] of university students who asked the National Electoral Council to respond positively to the request for a referendum to revoke the presidential mandate.
35. On February 27, 2004, in the context of a march in opposition to President Hugo Chávez, cameraman Carlos Montenegro of the Televen network suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, in the Bello Monte area of Caracas.[15] Photographer Luis Vladimir Gallardo of the regional daily El Impulso was wounded by shot in the back and face when a tear-gas bomb hit him in the back. These two cases occurred when the National Guard tried to disperse a demonstration in opposition to the government using tear gas and shot.
36. That same day, Berenice Gómez, a journalist with the Caracas daily Últimas Noticias, was beaten along with the driver (unidentified) from the same daily.[16] Three workers (two of them minors) from the community radio station Radio Perola, of Caracas, who had received death threats by telephone and email, were assaulted by eight individuals, who allegedly belonged to the organizations Bandera Roja, Acción Democrática, and Primero Justicia, which oppose the government of President Chávez.[17]
37. On February 28, 2004, Jorge Ortuño, photographer with the regional daily Avance, was threatened by directors of the National Guard (GN: Guardia Nacional) while covering protests in the area of San Antonio de los Altos, near Caracas, and had to leave the place while working after receiving an order from a soldier. Tito Díaz was hit by shot fired by GN officers after witnessing how some officials were assaulting an individual.[18] In that same place, another Avance photographer, Juan Calabres, also had to maneuver to avoid being hit by shot. On March 1, Antonio González, photographer with Avance, had guns trained on him and was threatened by military personnel.[19]
38. On Sunday, February 29, 2004, photographer Billy Castro and journalist Wilmar Rodríguez, both of the daily Impacto,[20] were attacked. That same day Janeth Carrasquilla, correspondent for Globovisión, received a head injury in the city of Valencia when she was covering an opposition demonstration that turned violent when the protesters confronted the GN.[21]
39. On February 29, 2004, Juan Barreto, photographer with Agence France Presse (AFP), received a bullet wound while covering disturbances in the Plaza Altamira in
Caracas.[22] That same day Felipe Izquierdo, cameraman for the international television network Univisión, received a bullet wound in the foot while covering a protest staged by the opposition to the government of President Hugo Chávez near the Plaza Francia in Altamira, in eastern Caracas.[23]
40. On March 1, 2004, journalist Jhonny Figarrella of the Globovisión television network was threatened with a weapon while covering a demonstration in opposition to President Chávez that turned violent; he was later injured by a tear-gas bomb that hit him in the chest while he was working in the Caurimare district, in Caracas. That same day photographer Henry Delgado of the daily El Nacional had his camera taken from him by members of the GN while he was covering a demonstration organized by opponents to the Chávez government in the Terrazas del Ávila area of Caracas. In the same place journalist Edgar López was assaulted; he is a reporter with the daily El Nacional, for whom he was covering the demonstration.[24]
41. On March 2, 2004, Frank Molina, cameraman with Televen, was beaten and had his camera taken from him.[25] That same day Juan Carlos Aguirre, a journalist with the Caracas television outlet CMT, was wounded when beaten by GN soldiers while covering protests in opposition to the government of Hugo Chávez in Altamira, in eastern Caracas. Along with Aguirre was the cameraman for the same station, Alejandro Marcano, who had his equipment taken from him. After the protest, the National Guard fired tear gas and shot at them.[26]
42. On March 2, 2004, Víctor Yépez and Adda Pérez, owners and hosts of Radio Máxima FM, in the city of Ojeda, in the northeastern part of the department of Zulia, were attacked by sympathizers of the opposition to the government of Hugo Chávez, who were participating in a protest. Yépez and Pérez sought precautionary measures from the IACHR, which were granted on March 11, 2004.[27]
43. On March 2, 2004, the main facility of the state-owned television station Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) was attacked, as denounced by the company in a press conference. According to the information received, the persons responsible had been opponents to the government of Hugo Chávez; they shot several times and threw bottles, stones, and Molotov cocktails at the offices of the station and at the personnel, who emerged unscathed.[28]
44. On March 3, 2004, Carlos Colmenares, cameraman with Canal Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), was injured while covering a protest in opposition to the government of Hugo Chávez, at the Plaza Francia of Altamira, in eastern Caracas. Colmenares was with other journalists when he received a gunshot wound in the right ankle.[29] Precautionary measures had previously been issued by the IACHR on behalf of Colmenares.[30]
45. On March 3, Ana Marchese, photographer with the daily Correo de Caroni, was wounded while covering a march called by the opposition in Ciudad Bolívar, capital of the state of Bolivar, in southern Venezuela. She was injured by a tear-gas canister that was fired to disperse the demonstrators.[31]
46. On March 6 and 7, 2004, several threats were made to the workers at Radio Llovizna (FM 95.7) in the city of Guayana, in the state of Bolívar.[32]
47. On May 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, and 30, 2004, the signatures of Venezuelans on petitions to request a referendum on revoking the mandate of President Hugo Chávez underwent a verification process (known as “reparos de firmas”). Several journalists were assaulted while covering that process. There were also acts of violence against journalists during the referendum held in August.
48. Among the journalists assaulted during the coverage of that process were Sandra Sierra and Pedro Rey of the news program Notitarde, assaulted May 29.[33] Minutes later, Marta Palma Troconis and Joshua Torres of Globovisión were assaulted in the same place.[34] Nahjla Isaac Pérez and Johathan Fernández of the regional channel TVS were also assaulted in San Diego, state of Carabobo.[35]
49. On June 3, 2004, around noon, several persons attacked the facilities of Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), located in Quinta Crespo.[36] That same day, about 20 persons went to the main offices of the daily papers El Nacional and Así es la Noticia.[37]
50. During the same process it was reported that a vehicle had been burned at Plaza O’Leary in Caracas that was owned by the daily paper Meridiano[38].
51. On June 27, 2004, Romelia Matute, of the state-owned Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV), was attacked, apparently by opponents of the government of Hugo Chávez.[39] She filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office.
52. On August 11, government sympathizers attacked a team from Globovisión after their coverage, in Caracas, of a meeting between government officials and international observers on the recall referendum.[40] That same day, Spanish photographer Eduard Giménez was assaulted while photographing a political activity in opposition to President Hugo Chávez in downtown Caracas for a media outlet from Barcelona, Spain.[41]
53. In addition, the Office of the Special Rapporteur and the IACHR received information on cases of attacks on media and journalists outside of the context of the referendum process. Among those affected by acts of violence were Joshua Torres, cameraman, and Sulivan Peña, camera assistant, for Globovisión[42]; Euro Lobo, of the Mérida-based television channel OMC[43]; Félix Carmona, cameraman Jorge Santos, and driver Andrés Pérez Cova, of El Universal [44]; cameraman Daniel Díaz, and his assistant, Esteban Córdoba, of Venevisión[45]; Dariana Bracho, of La Verdad of Maracaibo[46]; Alberto Almao and Víctor Henríquez, technical staff of Globovisión[47]; Nelson Bocaranda, of Radio Onda 107.9 FM[48]; as well as a team of reporters from the state-owned Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).[49]
PRINCIPLES 10 AND 11 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Use of defamation laws by public officials and desacato laws)
54. On March 22, 2004, journalist Patricia Poleo, director of the daily El Nuevo País, went to testify before a military court on charges brought against her by the military prosecutor, Lt. Esaúl Olivares Linares, who accused her of instigating rebellion and defamation of the national armed forces after Poleo revealed a video showing a group presumably of Cuban citizens in Venezuelan military facilities. Poleo’s defense counsel asked to have the case removed to a civil court, as Poleo is not part of any military body.[50] The armed forces accused her of committing an outrage against the institution.[51]
55. On May 25, 2004, the 11th Court of Review of the Criminal Circuit for Caracas convicted Ibéyise Pacheco, a columnist with El Nacional, and sentenced her to nine months in prison for continuing and aggravated defamation. An action was brought against her by Col. Angel Alberto Bellorín, after she published her weekly column En Privado dated June 15, 2001, in which she accused Col. Bellorín of having falsified the grade of an exam when he was a law student. In addition, in February 2002, she wrote that he had obtained several promotions by irregular means.[52]
56. On October 11, 2004, retired army general Francisco Usón Ramírez was convicted and sentenced to five years and six months of prison for the crime of committing an outrage against the armed forces, provided for in Article 505 of the Code of Military Justice.[53] He was also disqualified from political participation and from receiving awards. The accusation was based on a statement made on the program La Entrevista with Marta Colomina on April 16, 2004, when he stated that the soldiers being held in the Combat Engineers Batallion at Fuerte Mara in Zulia had been burned with a flame-thrower.[54]
57. On November 11, 2004, journalist Manuel Isidro Molina, of the weekly La Razón, was notified by Chief Military Prosecutor Eladio Aponte that a case had been initiated against him for defamation and libel of the national armed forces. On November 7, Molina published a column according to which retired Air Force Col. Silvino Bustillos, who had been disappeared since November 1, had been tortured and murdered at military intelligence offices (Dirección de Inteligencia Militar) in Caracas. On November 8, Bustillos contacted his family members, informing them that he was well, but in hiding. The next day the journalist rectified the information in his column, acknowledging an “involuntary error.”[55] Notwithstanding that rectification, Molina was summonsed to the Office of the Chief Military Prosecutor on November 19.
58. The Office of the Special Rapporteur is also concerned about consideration by the National Assembly of Venezuela of a proposed reform to the Criminal Code, whose text was approved in the second round of debate during the regular sessions of December 2 and 9, 2004. This bill stiffens the penalties for the crimes of defamation and libel. As appears from the text approved thus far, the maximum prison term for the crime of defamation is increased to four years, from 18 months. As for criminal libel, in the text approved the maximum sentence was increased from one week to one year.[56]
PRINCIPLE 13 OF THE DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (Direct or indirect pressures aimed at silencing the flow of information are incompatible with the freedom of expression)
59. In May 2004, the Venezuelan Congress discussed the possibility of stripping four journalists of Venezuelan nationality. The persons in question are media entrepreneur Gustavo Cisneros, and journalists Napoleón Bravo, Marta Colomina, and Norberto Maza; the last two are of Spanish and Uruguayan origin, respectively. The proposal was made by legislator Iris Varela, who said it was based on her characterization of the journalists as anti-patriotic. A request from Congress would need to be followed up at the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic.[57]
60. In early June 2004, journalist Poleo was once again called to testify before a military prosecutor in relation to the incursion of Colombian paramilitaries in Venezuela.[58] On June 3, 2004, Poleo testified for three hours before a military prosecutor as it was presumed that she was linked to the incursion of Colombian paramilitaries into Venezuela, and on an alleged meeting to conspire against the Venezuelan government, and in which she had allegedly participated, along with some Venezuelan military officers who were also being investigated.[59] The IACHR requested information from the Venezuelan government on the situation of Patricia Poleo, to verify that there is due process in her case.[60]
[2] In the case of the television station Globovisión, on August 3, 2004, the President of the Inter-American Court granted urgent provisional measures, which were ratified by the Court on September 4. In the case of El Nacional and Así es la Noticia, the Inter-American Court granted provisional measures in a resolution of July 6, 2004.
[3] The Office of the Special Rapporteur received information that on February 14, 2004, President Hugo Chávez threatened to take control of the antennas that broadcast the signal of Globovisión and Venevisión if the opposition carried out activities similar to those of April 11, 2002, when there was a coup d’etat. After the recall referendum, the elections director, Jorge Rodríguez, stated that he would send to prison anyone who spoke of electoral fraud. After these and other statements describing any number of complaints about the referendum were published in the daily El Universal of September 26, 2004, President Chávez, in his weekly radio and television program “Aló Presidente,” stated that the editor of El Universal, Andrés Mata “has no homeland … and is playing to the transnational interests that are eager to make themselves the owners of Venezuela.”
[4] On September 23, 2004, the Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (PROVEA) brought an amparo action after the refusal of the Human Rights Ombudsman to respond to a request for information, made on May 27, 2004. PROVEA had sent a written communication to the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman requesting general information on cases of human rights violations, and some statistical data to be used by PROVEA in preparing its annual report on the human rights situation in Venezuela. On September 24, 2004, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman issued a communiqué by which it noted that the Organic Law on the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman establishes at its Article 64 that the information in the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman is confidential, and that the annual report of that office is available to the public.
[5] Globovisión, www.globovision.com, April 12, 2004, “Un Solo Pueblo solicitó a CONATEL apertura de procedimiento contra el canal 8.”
[6] Press Release 23/04 of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/ Comunicados/Spanish/2004/23.04.htm.
[7] See Informe sobre Derechos Humanos en Venezuela, at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/ listDocuments.asp?categoryID=10; Press Release 111/04 of the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showArticle.asp?artID=287&lID=2, and Annual Report of the IACHR 2003, Volume III, Chapter II, at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/relatoria/showArticle.asp?artID=139&lID=2.
[8] Press Release 25/04 of the IACHR, at: http://www.cidh.oas.org/Comunicados/Spanish/2004/25.04.htm.
[9] Reporters without Borders, http://www.rsf.fr/Article.php3?id_Article=11641, Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org; and Inter-American Press Association, www.sipiapa.com.
[10] El Universal, www.eluniversal.com, June 11, 2004.
[11] A total of 26 Smith and Wesson revolvers, one .38 caliber revolver, two pistols, one sports rifle, one FN30 carbine, and one .12 caliber shotgun were found there.
[12] El Universal, June 24, 2004, “Suspenden a 11 Disip que allanaron a Venevisión,” at: http://www.eluniversal.com/2004/06/24/ccs_art_24278F.shtml.
[13] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 8, 2004.
[14] International Freedom of Expression Exchange, February 13, 2004, and IFEX alert dated February 16, 2004, “Policías antimotines golpean a periodista,” at: http://www.ifex.org/es/content/view/full/56841/.
[15] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 5, 2004.
[16] Gómez received death threats and had his equipment taken by alleged sympathizers of President Chávez when traveling along Avenida Andrés Bello in Caracas. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 5, 2004.
[17] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 8, 2004.
[18] Initially they tried to take his camera, they then beat him with the butt of their weapons, and finally they fired shot at him.
[19] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 8, 2004.
[20] Castro was beaten and kicked by a group of persons who presumably support President Hugo Chávez, when covering a protest outside the Chamber of Commerce in the city of Anaco, in the state of Anzoátegui. Castro filed a complaint with the local prosecutor’s office.
[21] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 2, 2004.
[22] The bullet hit him in the chest but, as he was wearing a bulletproof vest, the projectile rebounded and he suffered injuries to his hand. The shot was said to have been fired by a youth who was participating in a demonstration organized by supporters of the opposition to the government of President Hugo Chávez. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 1, 2004.
[23] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 1, 2004.
[24] GN forces seized his notebook, and then a group of sympathizers of President Chávez insulted him, shouted at him, and hit him in the head and chest. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 1, 2004.
[25] Molina filmed from a distance a group of 20 hooded armed persons who were traveling in several vehicles in the area of El Marqués, in eastern Caracas, where along with another journalist he was covering protests opposing the government of President Hugo Chávez; they were firing shots in streets and buildings. The unknown persons seized the taped material. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 5, 2004, Committee to Protect Journalists, www.cpj.org, March 5, 2004.
[26] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 3, 2004.
[27] Yépez and Pérez, a couple and co-owners of the station, went to their home, in an apartment complex, in their vehicle. The opposition sympathizers blocked their way and burned tires; when they tried to enter their house the demonstrators shouted at and insulted them, saying they were pro-government, and then beat and intimidated them. Committee to Protect Journalists, www.cpj.org, April 2, 2004.
[28] Committee to Protect Journalists www.cpj.org, March 5, 2004.
[29] Based on the trajectory of the bullet, it is presumed that it came from one of the nearby buildings.
[30] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, March 4, 2004.
[31] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org , March 5, 2004.
[32] The threats were made Saturday night February 6 and/or Sunday morning February 7. A group of armed individuals appeared in front of the radio stations at approximately 10 p.m. and took aim at the people who were entering and leaving. This action continued until 10 a.m. International Solidarity Network of AMARC, of March 10, which cites the Red Venezolana de Medios Comunitarios (RVMC), which is affiliated with AMARC.
[33] On May 29, they were attacked in the municipality of Sucre, east of Caracas, by several persons who were allegedly followers of the government. After a few minutes the police arrived and after firing three shots into the air established security around the journalists. See Inter-American Press Association, Country-by-Country Reports, at: http://www.sipiapa.com/espanol/pulications/informe_venezuela2004o.cfm and Committee to Protect Journalists, http://www.cpj.org/cases04/americas_cases04/ven.html, June 9, 2004.
[34] Troconis and Torres were beaten about the head, arms, and legs by government sympathizers who wanted to keep the journalists from reporting from the location. The attack did not stop until they took Torres’s camera from him.
[35] According to the information received by the Office of the Special Rapporteur, the attacks were by government sympathizers. The journalists were pushed, beaten, and insulted, as a result of which they had to seek refuge in a commercial establishment, until the police escorted them out. See Committee to Protect Journalists, http://www.cpj.org/cases04/americas_cases04/ven.html, June 9, 2004, and Inter-American Press Association, Country-by-Country Reports, at: http://www.sipiapa.com/espanol/pulications/informe_venezuela2004o.cfm.
[36] A dozen government sympathizers had thrown stones and other objects at the channel’s locale, and crashed a truck into the entrance; they then set it on fire.
[37] Stones and objects were hurled at them, causing damage to the building; they burned a delivery truck, and damaged several employees’ vehicles and office equipment. The attackers were presumably sympathizers of the government of Hugo Chávez, who were protesting over the announcement of the CNE that the opposition had reached the number of signatures to require a referendum to recall the mandate of President Hugo Chávez. See Globovisión, www.globovision.com, June 3, 2003, “Disturbios en el centro de Caracas, atacan sedes de Alcaldía Mayor y medios,” Committee to Protect Journalists, http://www.cpj.org/cases04/americas_cases04/ven.html, June 4, 2004.
[38] Venevisión, www.venevision.com, June 3, 2004, and El Nacional, June 3, 2004.
[39] She was covering an activity organized by government followers who were rallying support with a view to the referendum held August 15 when, according to the reports received, she was attacked by opposition sympathizers, who took her press credential and tape recorder, and beat her. Committee to Protect Journalists, http://www.cpj.org/cases04/ americas_cases04/ven.html, July 2, 2004.
[40] According to the reports received by Office of the Special Rapporteur, Tony Vergara and Juan Camacho, technical staff of the channel, were leaving the meeting and headed to their vehicle when a group of government sympathizers took aim at them with pistols, broke the windows of their car, beat them, and sprayed them with gas. They also took their identification and a radio transmitter. The other members of the team, Ana Karina Villalba, José Umbría, and Ademar Dona, were also threatened in the incident. See Committee to Protect Journalists, http://www.cpj.org/cases04/americas_cases04/ven.html, August 24, 2004, and Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, ”Agreden a equipo de Globovsión en inmediaciones de sede de la vicepresidencia,” August 16. At: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[41] A woman and a hooded man dragged him to a motorcycle and took him away, forcibly, in the vehicle. Minutes later, GN forces set out in pursuit, to rescue him until Giménez fell from the motorcycle. See Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, ”Agreden a fotógrafo español durante acto político,” August 17, 2004. At: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[42] On January 18, 2004, a team of reporters from Globovisión television was assaulted, as stones and pipes were thrown at them, and they were shot at, as they were covering a celebration marking the anniversary of the opposition party Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS). The team emerged unscathed. According to reports received by the Office of the Special Rapporteur, a group of persons surrounded the vehicle in which Joshua Torres, cameraman, and Sulivan Peña, camera assistant, were traveling near Plaza Bolívar in the historic center of Caracas. They were filming the moment when a woman wearing an orange t-shirt of the opposition was being beaten with sticks. The team was able to get away in the vehicle, but they were struck. As they were moving away, a bullet became lodged in a one of the rear doors of the vehicle. They had apparently been attacked by men wearing government symbols. Torres and Peña filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office of Caracas. See Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, January 19, 2004, International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org, January 20, 2004, “Equipo reporteríl atacado,” http://www.ifex.org/es/content/view/full/56297, Committee to Protect Journalists, www.cpj.org, January 30, 2004.
[43] On January 29, 2004, journalist Euro Lobo was assaulted; he works for the OMC television channel in Mérida, capital of the state of Mérida, in southwestern Venezuela. The incident occurred when he was covering a protest. He said he was threatened by presumed sympathizers of the Movimiento Quinta República, who beat him in the face when he was covering a demonstration by an opposition party. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, February 11, 2004, International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org, February 13, 2004 “Golpeado periodista de televisión regional.” http://www.ifex.org/es/content/view/full/56781/.
[44] On May 10, 2004, the team from the daily El Universal, made up of reporter Félix Carmona, cameraman Jorge Santos, and driver Andrés Pérez Cova, had been assaulted and received death threats in southeast Caracas from members of military intelligence (DIM: Dirección de Inteligencia Militar) when they came upon a group of soldiers while they were covering the search of the home of a deputy from the opposition to the government of Hugo Chávez. According to the information received, the staff of the DIM had trained their weapons on and beaten the journalists, and damaged part of their equipment, which was ultimately taken from them. See Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, May 14, 2004, Committee to Protect Journalists, www.cpj.org, May 25, 2004.
[45] On July 12, 2004, by the Universidad de Zulia, in western Venezuela, a group of hooded persons approached Venevisión cameraman Daniel Díaz and his assistant Esteban Córdoba, and held them for several hours. While they were being held, they were threatened with 9 mm pistols and .38 caliber revolvers, and warned that “here in the university we don’t want any media.” The reporters were left in one of the schools, while their pick-up truck was looted and burned. See Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, ”Equipo periodístico de televisión atacado,” July 16, 2004. At: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[46] On July 16, 2004, journalist Dariana Bracho of the daily La Verdad of Maracaibo, in western Venezuela, reported having received seven death threats by phone in the previous two days. Bracho said she had received the threats after the Superior Military Prosecutor for the states of Zulia and Falcón, National Guard captain Gherson Francisco Chacón Paz, sent her a notice on July 13 indicating that on July 14 she should appear before the Intelligence Division of Regional Command No. 3 to explain the content of an Article published by the newspaper. The information in question described a document in which the chief of Regional Command No. 3 of the GN was prohibited from discussing the guerrillas. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, ”Amenazan de muerte a periodista del diario La Verdad de Maracaibo,” July 20, 2004. At: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[47] On September 17, 2004, they were assaulted while covering a protest by employees of a government educational program called Misión Ribas. The demonstrators, once they realized they were taping the demonstration from inside a vehicle, surrounded and insulted them. They also threw fireworks at them, damaging the vehicle. The National Guard, on hearing the explosions, arrived on the scene, dispersed the demonstrators, and allowed the workers to leave. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, ”Agreden a técnicos del canal Globovisión,” September 21, 2004. At: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[48] On October 15, 2004, Nelson Bocaranda, who directs his radio program Los Run Runes de Nelson, broadcast by Radio Onda 107.9 FM, reported having received threats due to his comments against the administration of the mayor of El Hatillo –east of Caracas- Alfredo Catalá. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, ”Amenazan de muerte a periodista por denuncias contra alcaldía,” October 20. At: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[49] On October 31, 2004, a team of reporters was covering the election in Caurimare, east of Caracas, to choose governors and mayors, when a group of persons threw objects at them. Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org, ”Agreden a equipo reporteril de televisora estatal,” November 5. At International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[50] Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad, www.ipys.org , March 26, 2004, “Venezuela: periodista imputada por fiscal militar.”
[51] Inter-American Press Association, Country-by-Country Reports, at: http://www.sipiapa.com/espanol/ pulications/informe_venezuela2004o.cfm.
[52]Reporters without Borders, May 27, 2004, “Dos periodistas amenazadas con penas de cárcel,” http://www.rsf.org/Article.php3?id_Article=10468.
[53] Article 505 – “one who in any way libels, offends, or disrespects the National Armed Forces or any of their units shall have a penalty of three to eight years imprisonment.”
[54] El Universal, General Francisco Usón fue condenado a 5 años y 6 meses de cárcel, October 12, 2004.
[55] Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS), www.ipys.org, November 18, at: International Freedom of Expression Exchange, www.ifex.org.
[56] The approved text is available at the website of the National Assembly of Venezuela. http://www.asambleanacional.gov.ve/ns2/leyes.asp?id=559.
[57] Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), May 20, 2004.
[58] El Universal, June 3, 2004 “Citan a Patricia Poleo por caso de paramilitares,” http://www.eluniversal.com/2004/ 06/03/pol_art_03108C.shtml.
[59] El Universal, June 4, 2004 “Poleo declaró durante tres horas en fiscalía Militar,” http://www.eluniversal.com/ 2004 /06/04/ pol_art_04107A.shtml.
[60] El Universal, www.eluniversal.com, oif June 14, 2004, “Abogados de Poleo denuncian violación del debido proceso.”