In the early hours of July 29, the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that Nicolas Maduro The opposition’s favorite unitarian candidate won re-election Edmundo Gonzalez UrrutiaThe authority also said that its systems were hacked and have since been has not published the official minutes that demonstrate the alleged victory of the Chavista leader.
On the contrary, the opposition gained access to more than 80% of the proceedings through the table witnessesThese documents, which were published online, give the victory to Gonzalez about Ripe by more than 30 points (67% vs. 30%).
On the same July 29th, Spontaneous peaceful protests broke out in popular neighborhoods of Caracas and other cities of Venezuelapreviously considered bastions of Chavismo, to denounce fraud against the opposition candidate. The demonstrations were repressed by security forces and armed civilians.
The Bolivarian National Guard moves away from tear gas in the Chacao neighborhood as opponents of President Nicolas Maduro participate in a demonstration, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Juan Calero/AFP)
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Human Rights Watch He said he has documented that Venezuelan authorities and the Chavista armed groups known as colectivos have committed widespread abuses, including killings, arbitrary arrests and prosecutions, and harassment of critics.
The NGO said that received credible information about 24 murders in the context of protests by independent local organizations, including the Penal Forum, Justice Encounter and Forgiveness, Victims Monitor and Provea. It also verified cases on social media.
Human Rights Watch He said he independently documented 11 cases of killings, reviewing death certificates, verifying videos and photographs and interviewing 20 people, including witnesses and other local sources. Many relatives, witnesses and others did not want to be interviewed for fear of government reprisals, he noted.
HRW added that to compile these documents, it “analyzed and verified 39 videos and two photographs” of the protests found on various social networks or sent directly to investigators by people close to the victims, organizations and local journalists.
HRW researchers confirmed the “exact locations where these videos were filmed; they analyzed shadows, weather patterns, and dates of uploads to social media to determine the time at which the events occurred.”
They also consulted with forensic pathologists and weapons experts, who analyzed the wounds of the victims and the weapons identified in the videos and photographs.
A riot police officer uses tear gas against demonstrators during a protest by opponents of the government of Nicolas Maduro, in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas, on July 29, 2024. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP)
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According to Venezuelan authorities, more than 2,400 people have been arrested in connection with the protests.. While the Penal Forum has registered 1,581 “political prisoners” who have been arrested since July 29, including 114 minors.
Venezuelan prosecutors have charged hundreds of people with crimes that carry harsh penalties, including inciting hatred, resisting authority and terrorism, HRW said.
Besides, The court has ordered the arrest of Gonzalez Urrutiaafter accusing him of the alleged crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, instigation to disobedience of laws, conspiracy, sabotage of systems and crimes of association.
Among other repressive tactics implemented by the Chavista regime, Human Rights Watch mentions the Cancellation of passports of critics to prevent them from leaving the countryis encouraging citizens to report protesters and carrying out abusive raids, especially in low-income communities.
He also mentions the recent law passed by the National Assembly which gives the government broad powers to control and close non-governmental organizations, especially those defending human rights.
“The repression we are seeing in Venezuela is outrageously brutal,” “The affected governments must take urgent measures to ensure that people can protest peacefully and that their vote is respected,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.
Regarding the July 28 elections, HRW said the United Nations Technical Electoral Team and the Carter Center said the process lacked transparency and integrity and questioned the official result. They said, however, that the voting records made public by the opposition were reliable.
The new patterns of repression
Opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government protest in the Catia neighborhood of Caracas on July 29, 2024. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ / AFP)
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Andres CanizalezVenezuelan writer, journalist and university researcher, told The Trade Unlike other times when there were waves of repression in Venezuela, such as in 2014 and 2017, this time the number of arrests has been very high. “At one point the government said it had arrested 2,200 people in ten days, that was half of all those arrested in 2017 during eight months of protests. There is a different pattern there marked by the massiveness of arrests. This It is part of a political strategy to break early any attempt by the opposition to take to the streets.a very exemplary message was given.”
Another different pattern, he points out Cañizález, is the arrest of more than 100 adolescents.
“I also think it is important to point out that the government openly endorsed the repression, by issuing a number of messages from Nicolás Maduro justifying it publicly and openly. Here I also see a change, with nuances, in relation to the past. Although the chain of command of the repression in the past leads to Maduro, and the president has decorated the main repressors, he had not issued a statement of approval to the point of giving figures of detainees, for example.”Cañizález stressed.
The journalist also indicated that there is no investigation into the security forces or groups for the deaths of civilians in the protests that broke out after the elections. “The authorities have not admitted any excess, so it is an issue that has not even been addressed by the courts. I think that another chapter is going to open in relation to the role that international justice can play, because it seems to me that what has also become evident to everyone is that in Venezuela we do not have institutions: the Prosecutor’s Office is subservient to the Government, as is the Supreme Court of Justice. Unfortunately, I do not see any prospects for justice within Venezuela for what happened in 2024.”
Regarding international justice, Cañizález says that although it is assumed that the timeframes of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are long, it seems striking to him that it has remained silent regarding the current repression of demonstrations, which is precisely the basis of the investigation that it launched regarding what happened in 2014 and 2017. “It strikes me that they have not at least said that they are going to investigate, that they are going to see if this is connected to what they are already investigating.”
“The ICC, for reasons unknown to me, has been extremely cautious on the issue of Venezuela. I observe the positions of the Court’s Prosecutor with other countries, where it is much more blunt, much more open, but in the case of Venezuela I always feel it is cautious. The prosecutor’s discourse suggests that it does not want to reach the trial stage, but rather that it wants to achieve reparation with the internal justice systems of Venezuela. The ICC has even been negotiating for a long time the opening of an office in Venezuela. But I believe that what has happened now ruins any intention of amendment that the Maduro government may have expressed to international justice,” Cañizález pointed out.
Members of the riot squad of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) detain a man during a demonstration called by the opposition in the Chacao neighborhood, in Caracas, on July 30, 2024. (Photo by Juan Calero / AFP)
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The lawyer Darrin Gibbsa member of the legal team of the NGO Defiende Venezuela, told The Trade that the repression has been marked by the disproportionate use of force and the participation of armed civilians called colectivos.
Gibbs added that compared to the past, there are now more journalists detained and that opposition leaders close to María Corina Machado are being arbitrarily persecuted.
Regarding the role of the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office, Gibbs said that the only line of investigation it maintains is that there is a conspiracy against the government, and it has not opened any investigation into the security forces or the groups for the 24 deaths in the protests.
“The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the deaths are the responsibility of María Corina Machado and Edmundo González,” it said.
On international justice, Gibbs stressed that the ICC Prosecutor’s Office has been investigating Maduro for six years and has in its hands important, documented and truthful information about the deaths resulting from Chavista repression. “The question that arises is what is the prosecutor Karim Khan waiting for before taking action and requesting the International Criminal Court to initiate the corresponding judicial process. There is no explanation as to why this has not happened. If we compare the case of Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas and Vladimir Putin, we see a clear difference that is inexplicable.”
“It is important and necessary that the ICC and international organizations continue this work of calling, continue the work of documentation, investigation and continue supporting the guarantee of rights in Venezuela, because we see that repression has been increasing.”he added.
