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