ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE REQUIRES DIP NOTE FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 002734

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2014
TAGS: PHUM PREL VE
SUBJECT: ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE REQUIRES DIP NOTE FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS INFORMATION

Classified By: A/DCM ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) Alis Boscan, Director of the Office for the
Protection of Fundamental Rights at the Attorney General's
office, told PolOff August 26 that the Embassy would have to
make a formal request to the Attorney General to get
information for the Human Rights Report. Boscan promised to
begin compiling the information as soon as we faxed her a
copy of the Dip Note formally requesting assistance. Boscan
said the Dip Note should include the specific cases we wanted
information on, and a request for statistics on human rights
violations by public officials. End Summary.

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The Cold Shoulder
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2. (C) PolOff went to see Alis Boscan, Director of the
Office for the Protection of Fundamental Rights at the
Attorney General's office, on August 26 to request her
cooperation in providing statistics on human rights abuses in
Venezuela. Boscan's office is in charge of overseeing
investigations into human rights abuses by public officials
in Venezuela. Boscan was extremely defensive, asking for
proof that the office had cooperated in the past, and
accusing the State Department of taking statistics off the
internet and claiming they came from the Attorney General's
office.

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With Or Without You
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3. (C) PolOff explained to Boscan that the report is a
professional document and that we do not misattribute
information. PolOff explained the origin of the report as a
congressional mandate, and made it clear to Boscan that the
report could and would be written with the contribution of
human rights groups and newspaper reports if the Attorney
General's office did not wish to contribute.

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Dip Note
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4. (C) Boscan said that she understood our request, and that
we would have to make a formal request to the Attorney
General for statistics on human rights abuses, and
information on specific cases. Boscan said we could fax her
the note and she would begin to prepare the information while
the official request made its way through the bureaucracy.

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Comment
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5. (C) It will not be easy to get GOV officials to cooperate
in the elaboration of the human rights report. Boscan was
clearly nervous about having to deal with the Embassy, and
was defensive and negative from the start. We expect similar
reactions from the Ministry of Interior and Human Rights
Ombudsman's office.
McFarland


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2004CARACA02734 - CONFIDENTIAL