SWEDEN'S 2005 REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN VENEZUELA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 STOCKHOLM 000214 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/BHARRIS AND WHA/PPC/RYONEOKA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2016 TAGS: PREL KPAL EUN KDEM VE SW SUBJECT: SWEDEN'S 2005 REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN VENEZUELA AND GUATEMALA REF: A. STOCKHOLM 189 ¶B. STATE 20173 Classified By: Charge Stephen V. Noble, reason 1.4 (B) & (D) ¶1. (C) We reported via reftel (A) Sweden's preliminary response to our demarche on defeating Venezuela in the 2006 election for a seat on the UNSC. Sweden has not reached a decision on which candidate country to support, and has left the door open to a Venezuelan seat, depending in part on Chavez' behaviour between now and the election. Sweden's decision on which country to support for the UNSC seat will also be colored by their views on Guatemala's human rights trends. ¶2. (U) On February 3 Sweden's Ministry for Foreign Affairs published its annual human rights report for Venezuela. Post transmits below an unofficial English translation of the executive summary of the report, which is published only in Swedish. For comparative purposes, we also attach a copy of the Guatemala report. The Swedish human rights reports can be accessed on-line at: http://www.manskligarattigheter.gov.se ¶3. (U) Begin text of executive summary of Sweden's Report on Human Rights in Venezuela 2005: Venezuela has been dominated for the past year by a strong polarization within its society between President Hugo Chavez, his party and the government on the one side and the opposition parties, mass media, business community and a large part of the labor movement on the other. The heightened tensions within the country involve risks for human rights. President Chavez is seen by many to have contributed to this polarization by his exercise of power. The constitution has been altered so that the parliamentary decisions can now be made by a simple majority. This entails that the government, which has a small majority in the parliament, can now force through its policies without the involvement of the opposition. A gradual and worrying degradation of the rights that guarantee democracy and the political freedoms has occurred recently. The military in the country has a disproportional amount of power and continues to play an ever growing role in civilian affairs. Retired and active military personnel are placed in high government positions. Security forces and the police are often involved in civilian matters and have committed a number of serious violations of human rights during the year. Many independent organizations state that the development of so-called "para-police" within the police force is a growing problem. The worsening of human rights in Venezuela is occurring despite the fact that formal protections are good. During the deliberations for the new constitution, which went into effect in December of 1999, a number of the country's independent organizations took part and were pleased with the result. Many of these organizations now look on with concern at the gradual degradation of legislation that guarantees human rights. The government has been responsible for publicly maligning individual organizations, the church, the courts and the media. Abuses and ineffectiveness in the judicial system continued during 2005. The justice system suffers from corruption and was under enormous pressure from a number of outside forces, not least from executive president power. Prison conditions are very poor. The high crime rate in the large cities, in particular Caracas where a third of the population lives, continues to be a large problem. Representatives for the Venezuelan authorities have publicly distanced themselves from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and say that it does not act in accordance with the sovereignty principle. The Venezuelan government does not recognize the preventive measures and recommendations that the Commission has issued. The proximity to Columbia entails that Venezuela is affected in various ways by the internal armed conflict there and relations between the countries are tense. There is a 2,200 kilometer border that is mostly un-monitored on both sides despite an increase in military presence by both countries in the area during the past year. The FARC and ELN guerrillas, STOCKHOLM 00000214 002 OF 003 as well as paramilitary forces in Colombia, exploit this porous border. There are strong indications that primarily the FARC hold a number of their kidnapped Colombians on Venezuelan soil. The deficiencies concerning human rights remain, and the aforementioned political polarization may well cause a further deterioration of the situation. End Text of Summary. ¶4. (U) Section 19 of Sweden's 2005 HRR on Venezuela includes the following observations on Venezuelan government treatment of organizations that have contact with the United States: Begin excerpt: There is a tendency that organizations that have the support, or other contact, with the United States, are discredited by the government. A number of representatives for national organizations that have received financial support from, among others, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), have been the subject of legal proceedings, accused of high treason. End Excerpt. ¶5. (U) Begin text of executive summary of Sweden's Report on Human Rights in Guatemala in 2005: The situation concerning human rights in Guatemala is still worrying. There are no occurrences of systematic state sanctioned violations of human rights, but the repercussions of the 36-year internal armed conflict have generated a particularly violent and insecure society. The state's inability to combat and take legal measures against the escalating crime is becoming more obvious. Armed assaults on the street and on buses are part of everyday life in Guatemala. Human rights violations by the police are increasing and include murder, torture, kidnappings, social cleansing actions and physical abuse. Attacks and threats against human rights activists, judges, prosecutors and journalists continue. Wide-spread immunity from punishment and corruption is a deep, continuing problem. After the end of the UN peace mission to Guatemala, MINGUA, and prior to the UNHCHR arriving, there was a lessening of pressure to follow the peace agreement and the drafting of legislation was affected negatively. The government has responded with a heavy-hand towards protest actions during the past year. An increasing number of human rights crimes have been conducted by unclear alliances of civil servants, businessmen, ordinary criminals, members of youth gangs and members of the police, military and private security forces. The Qistence of parallel power structures and their influence in the government apparatus undermines the government's attempts to come to terms with human rights problems. The initiative to establish an international investigation commission to map the phenomenon has been temporarily halted by the constitutional court. The economic and social rights situation, and the rights of indigenous tribes, has worsened during the past year, and the state's minimal resources are not sufficient to alter this recent trend. Extreme poverty is increasing; violence against women and the chronic under-nourishment of children is increasing; access to health care and education is still low. Powerful floods during the year exposed the economic vulnerability of the poor and their precarious living situation. The rights of indigenous peoples is the part of the peace agreement that has been implemented the least. Positive aspects are the adoption of legislation concerning discrimination and an emphasis on women's rights. There are still serious concerns regarding the rights of children, but the parliament's recent adoption of legislation in this area gives some hope. The government has assumed the political responsibility for seeing through the peace agreement, and during the past year a legal framework for implementation, which will be led by a national council with participation by elements of civil society, has been adopted. It is also positive that the country has accepted an international presence by the UN High Commission for Human Rights; that the youth gang problem has not been met with repressive legislation; and that the STOCKHOLM 00000214 003 OF 003 president has expressed his desire to abolish the death penalty. End Text of Summary. NOBLE