RESULTS OF JUDICIAL REFORM IN VENEZUELA: MOVING

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 003677 SIPDIS NSC FOR CBARTON USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KJUS VE SUBJECT: RESULTS OF JUDICIAL REFORM IN VENEZUELA: MOVING FORWARDS OR BACKWARDS? Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d ) -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The administration of justice in Venezuela faces criticism on two principal grounds. The first is the claim, voiced by the political opposition, NGOs, judges, and the World Bank, that the justice system is not politically neutral, and that prosecutors and judges are acting according to political orders from the Executive Branch. The second complaint is that the justice system is not efficiently protecting citizens from crime, and that impunity can be bought through money or influence. These complaints call into question ten years of judicial reform programs (described septel). This cable looks at the present situation of Venezuela's justice system and areas for future improvement. End Summary. -------------- Judicial Independence -------------- ¶2. (C) Human Rights Watch released a report in June calling Venezuela's Supreme Court Law a danger to judicial independence. The law expanded the number of justices from 20 to 32 and made it easier for sitting judges to be removed or suspended by other branches of government. Given the structure of the Venezuelan judiciary, the law is widely seen as an attempt to ensure the political reliability of the judiciary. The report also focused on the Supreme Court Judicial Committee's firing of temporary and provisional judges without due process. The report cited the fact that over 80% of judges in Venezuela are provisional or temporary, and alleged that the Judicial Committee has removed many of them for apparently political reasons. -------------- With Us or Against Us? -------------- ¶3. (C) Beatriz Perez, a trial judge in the penal courts of Caracas, told PolOff August 4 that a fellow judge, ideologically identified with the GOV, had asked her, "Are you with us, or against us?" Perez speculated that she was asked the question because she had not signed the petition for the Presidential recall referendum. Perez, who tried a case against Chavista street leader Lina Ron in 2000, described an atmosphere inside the Caracas courts where judges did not talk to their colleagues, for fear of political retaliation. Vicente Mujica, alternate Appeals Court judge and a law professor at the Central University, told PolOff November 5 that judges went to work afraid, knowing they would have no support from their judicial superiors if they took decisions against the political interests of the GOV. Mujica complained that only judges politically loyal to Chavismo are assigned to training. -------------- This is Political! -------------- ¶4. (C) Caracas 9th Appeals Court Judge Cesar Sanchez told PolOff June 3 that, in reference to the cases arising from the Feb-March disturbances, a colleague had told him, "This is not judicial, its political." Sanchez criticized the firing of tenured judges on a technicality, after a ruling freeing an opposition leader arrested in March. Sanchez said judges get around the political pressure by delaying cases, and trying to get themselves taken off political cases. Caracas 2nd Appeals Court Judge Jesus Ollarves told PolOff June 21 that he received threats after ruling on the same case. Ollarves, nonetheless, returned to the Court recently to take two high profile decisions against the apparent wishes of the GOV. -------------- TSJ Solution SIPDIS -------------- ¶5. (C) Candido Perez, head of Administration at the Supreme Court, and Ricardo Jimenez, head of IT at the Court, told PolOff November 8 that corruption and the tenure of judges would be addressed in a new Judicial Reform proposal the Supreme Court was proposing to the World Bank. Jimenez said the new proposal would solve the problem of provisional judges by creating a National School of Magistrature (ENM). All prospective judges would be evaluated to determine if they should be admitted, trained for 18 months, and then given an exam, on the basis of which they would be assigned as tenured judges, alternate judges, or judicial assistants. Edgar Lopez, judicial correspondent for El Nacional, told PolOff November 21 that Supreme Court Justice Ivan Rincon rejected a proposal to have a respected jurist lead the ENM, allegedly to reserve the position for himself, or someone else who would screen applicants politically as well as academically. -------------- World Bank Doesn't Buy It -------------- ¶6. (C) David Varela, resident representative of the World Bank, told PolOff November 16 that a Supreme Court proposal for a Judicial Modernization project had been rejected by the Bank due to concerns about judicial independence. Varela cited the Supreme Court Law, and the high percentage of provisional judges as reasons the plan was rejected. Varela said that the Bank could not accept the idea that the Supreme Court would use the loan to solve these problems, when it had taken no steps to do so during this year. He said there was no prospect of any but low level World Bank involvement with the Venezuelan courts until steps were taken to increase independence. -------------- Political Prosecutors? -------------- ¶7. (C) The role of judges in political cases is most important in terms of their willingness to confront prosecutors who are pursuing weak cases, and their willingness to order suspects be detained. Under Venezuelan judicial procedures, prosecutors initiate investigations and accuses suspects. There are persistent claims of political prosecutions in Venezuela, largely associated with a small group of prosecutors who are assigned all controversial cases. Speaking to PolOff November 10, Danilo Anderson, one of the most active of the political prosecutors, rejected the notion that there is a political directorate in the Attorney General's office (Note: Anderson was killed November 18 - Caracas 03577). Prosecutors simply follow the orders of Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez, Anderson said. Anderson maintained that the prosecutions are simply based on the evidence, and that it was up to the judges to decide if cases have merit. Ali Marquina (protect),a prosecutor presently suspended, told PolOff August 30 that Rodriguez had removed prosecutors who were not considered loyal to the GOV. (Note: The A/G is nominally part of an independent branch of government, the Citizen Power, but Rodriguez was Chavez' Vice President in 2000.) -------------- Or Just Scared? -------------- ¶8. (C) Carmen Alguindigue, number three in the Attorney General's Office until February, told PolOff November 4 that there was virtual sit-down strike in the Attorney General's office, as prosecutors were afraid to take on any cases, since they did not know what connections those involved might have. Alguindigue claims to have been fired for failing to show loyalty to the GOV. She alleged that the chaotic internal organization of the Attorney General's Office encouraged corruption and incompetence, as there was no way to track cases to make sure they were receiving the correct treatment, or to verify that necessary investigations were being done. The result of this situation, according to Alguindigue, was ineffective criminal prosecutions, corruption, and a breakdown in public faith in prosecutors. -------------- Police Deficiencies -------------- ¶9. (C) Alguindigue also said problems with the police affected the administration of justice. They are not generally competent to carry out investigations, she asserted, or control a crime scene. Anderson made the same complaint to PolOff, and also complained about the lack of a ballistic archive in Venezuela. Alguindigue suggested that basic criminal investigative techniques should be focus of training for Venezuelan police forces. -------------- Prisons -------------- ¶10. (C) Beatriz Perez noted that one of the principal causes of delayed justice in Venezuela is the corruption in the prisons, where prisoners are forced to pay guards to take them to their hearings. If they cannot pay, according to Perez and others who have voiced these concerns, the suspects miss their hearings, which can extend cases by months. Interior Minister Jesse Chacon has acknowledged this problem in the press, and promised to solve it. -------------- What Can Be Done? -------------- ¶11. (C) Rogelio Perez Perdomo, Deacon of the Metropolitan University Law School, told PolOff November 4 that any money invested in the judicial system would be wasted in the present political situation. Perez Perdomo studied the first Judicial Modernization Project the World Bank financed (septel),and found that it did improve the efficiency of the courts, and improved public service. He said, however, that it did nothing to speed justice or improve its transparency, alleging that real problems are in the Attorney General's Office. Ligia Bolivar of the Human Rights Center at the Catholic University Andres Bello, also called on the World Bank to demand serious reforms before agreeing to finance any project. ¶12. (C) The Ambassador, meeting with Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez, suggested continued collaboration between the Embassy and the Attorney General's Office to mprove training and organization. The Ambassado also suggested that the Embassy would like to etablish ties with Venezuelan law schools to help increase understanding f the adversarial system. Rodriguez strongly endorsed both ideas. Rodriguez also suggested that the Embassy talk to Interior and Justice Minister Jesse Chacon about collaborating on projects to improve the prison system. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶13. (C) After 10 years of overlapping, ill-coordinated, incomplete reforms, the Venezuelan justice system faces a crisis of confidence over its political independence, and its overall effectiveness. The failure of judicial reform to produce a strong, effective and respected administration of justice system is a result of the politicization of the judiciary and the Attorney General's Office, and of the failure to effectively reform institutions to comply with the Penal Procedures Code. The key issue, as the World Bank found, is to what extent there is political will to institute an independent judiciary. Brownfield NNNN 2004CARACA03677 - CONFIDENTIAL