Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05CARACAS1983
2005-06-30 20:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW JUDICIAL NGO

Tags:  PHUM PGOV KJUS VE 
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302035Z Jun 05
C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001983 

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2015
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS VE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW JUDICIAL NGO


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d
)

-------
Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 001983

SIPDIS


NSC FOR CBARTON
USCINCSO ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2015
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS VE
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH NEW JUDICIAL NGO


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ABELARDO A. ARIAS FOR REASONS 1.4 (d
)

--------------
Summary
--------------


1. (C) Members of the newly constituted Venezuelan judicial
NGO "Foro Penal" (Penal Forum) briefed the Ambassador June 23
on their organizational goals and informed him of the group's
work to date. The group released a report June 6 criticizing
the politicization of the justice system in Venezuela and
filed a motion with the Supreme Court June 27 condemning the
March reform of the penal code. Leaders of the group told
poloffs they intend to continue focusing attention on the
deterioration of the rule of law in Venezuela. End Summary.

--------------
Foro Penal
--------------


2. (C) Foro Penal was founded by a group of Venezuela's
most prominent defense lawyers, supported by alleged
political prisoners and their family members. The group
announced its formation at a June 6 press conference called
to release a report criticizing the politicization of the
Venezuelan justice system, and was formally constituted as an
NGO on June 22. Monica Fernandez, founder of the Venezuelan
judicial NGO Foro Penal (Penal Forum),briefed the Ambassador
June 23 on the origins of the group. Three of the 13 defense
attorneys who helped her establish the group, plus the wife
of the former Secretary for Security of metropolitan Caracas
under Mayor Alfredo Pena being held on allegedly political
charges, accompanied Fernandez. Fernandez told the Ambassador
the group was apolitical and committed to providing proof of
the deterioration of the rule of law in Venezuela. She stated
that the group had an ambitious agenda and limited resources.
The Ambassador recommended that the group work to support
broad concepts and principals, rather than focusing on
individual cases. He suggested that the group seek
broad-based funding and support, and suggested they present a
specific proposal for AID funding, provided they were aware
of the associated risks.

-------------- --------------
Justice System Report - Three Prosecutors Share the Pie
-------------- --------------


3. (U) Foro Penal's June 6 report criticizes the

politicization of the justice system in Venezuela. Fernandez
said Foro Penal delivered its report to President Chavez and
the heads of public institutions. During the news conference
releasing the report, Fernandez alleged that the judicial and
prosecutorial authorities in Venezuela had progressively
undermined the rule of law in Venezuela since the events of
April 2002. For example, Fernandez said, Foro wanted to draw
the public's attention to the abuses committed in the
prosecution of over 400 persons for their alleged
participation in the events of April 2002.


4. (U) Foro Penal's report summarizes the various criminal
proceedings opponents of President Hugo Chavez allege to be
political, and documents violations of judicial and
prosecutorial independence, including firings. Using graphs,
the report demonstrates that less than 1% of Venezuela's
prosecutors have all the political cases, and that three
prosecutors are involved in all of them (Gilberto Landaeta,
Luisa Ortega and Jose Benigno Rojas). The graphs also
indicate that the government is concentrating political cases
in only three out of 49 Control Judges and two out of ten
appeals courts, now under the rubric of the "anti-terrorism"
jurisdiction established following the assassination of
prosecutor Danilo Anderson.


5. (C) Fernandez told the Ambassador June 23 that GOV
reaction to the report so far has been limited. The only
official response has been Attorney General Isaias
Rodriguez's accusation that the report is tied to the
opposition since Foro Penal's members represent many of the
alleged political prisoners. She said a pro-government
legislator had warned them that what was coming was worse,
and that the group had heard rumors of detentions and
prohibitions to leave the country in the near future.

--------------
Penal Code Motion

--------------


6. (U) In its second action, Foro Penal filed a motion June
27 with the Supreme Court (TSJ) arguing that the National
Assembly's March 16 modification of the penal code is
unconstitutional. The motion identifies approximately 30
articles in the reform that directly conflict with the
current constitution and therefore make the reform, according
to Foro Penal, impossible to apply. The group has also
publicly criticized the National Assembly's additional
modifications of the penal code which passed a first reading
June 21 for further limiting constitutional guarantees and
conflicting with five laws currently in effect.


7. (C) Fernandez told the Ambassador she believed the TSJ
would reject the motion. Nonetheless, she said, it is
important to create a public record of what was happening
before it caused an implosion of the rule of law. She
reported that Foro Penal had traced every article in the
reform to a specific political event - strike, marches, etc.

--------------
Plans for the Future
--------------


8. (C) The group informed the Ambassador that they plan to
request the resignation of Attorney General Rodriguez,
because of his self-proclaimed inability to do his job and
his politically partisan behavior. They also have two studies
in the works. The first is a national census of victims of
political persecution via criminal proceedings. So far the
group claims to have documented 600 cases, but believes the
figure many go as high as 1000. The second study involves the
actions of judges in political cases that would track how
many defense motions were rejected and how many prosecution
motions were accepted. Foro Penal suggested that the figure
was 95% rejected for the defense and 95% accepted for the
prosecution. The group also plans to hold forums, especially
among law students.

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Comment
--------------


9. (C) The Foro Penal has gotten off to a good start. After
months of failings and setbacks in their cases, and
ineffectually protesting in the press that the GOV was
abusing the rule of law, this group of lawyers formed common
ground. The use of graphs to display the concentration of
political cases in the hands of just a few prosecutors and
judges was a dramatic success. The key to Foro's future
success will be its ability to spread the message about the
poor, politicized state of Venezuela's justice system.
Fernandez is a convincing advocate, with an astute command of
the facts. Herself a victim of the politicization of
Venezuela's judiciary, having been suspended without pay
earlier this year for her handling of a case related to the
April 2002 events, she decided to put the focus on the larger
picture and brought together the baker's dozen of defense
lawyers whose individual efforts on political cases was
diffuse. The project they have embarked upon is new territory
for all of them. We will maintain contact to see how we can
help this, and other emerging groups call attention to the
threat to the rule of law in Venezuela.
Brownfield


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2005CARACA01983 - CONFIDENTIAL