BRV HARASSMENT OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CARACAS 002404

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPT PASS TO AID/OTI RPORTER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV VE
SUBJECT: BRV HARASSMENT OF POLITICAL OPPONENTS

REF: A. CARACAS 00243

B. CARACAS 02367

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Classified By: ACTING POLITICAL COUNSELOR DANIEL LAWTON
FOR REASON 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary. Despite the Christmas release of retired
Army General Francisco Uson from a military prison, the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (BRV) continues to use the
judicial system to intimidate its high profile opponents.
The BRV recently initiated hearings against ex-judge Monica
Fernandez in connection with the temporary departure from
power of President Chavez in April 2002. At the same time,
the case against the three former police commissioners and
eight Caracas Metropolitan police officers accused of firing
on demonstrators during April 2002 will resume in early 2008.
One of the commissioners was not present at the
demonstration and the other ten defendants argue that they
were protecting protesters and were ambushed. Prosecutors
are recently charged former Miranda state governor Enrique
Mendoza with illegally closing a government television
station during April 2002. Civil society organizations have
urged Chavez to issue a general amnesty for those implicated
in the events of April 2002, but the BRV is unlikely to grant
pardons in these cases. End Summary.

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Uson Released at Christmas
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2. (C) The Venezuelan government granted retired Army General
Francisco Uson conditional release from the Ramo Verde
military prison on Christmas Day, several weeks after his
mid-November release eligibility date. The General had
served three years and six months. Military officials had
reportedly blamed his continued detention on administrative
delays. The conditions for his release include not leaving
greater Caracas and reporting to the court every 15 days.
Uson is also prohibited from participating in demonstrations
or commenting on his case to the media.


3. (SBU) Uson was arrested in 2004 and charged by a military
tribunal with slandering the Venezuelan armed forces. The
charges against Uson stem from a television show appearance
where he gave a technical description of how a flame-thrower
was potentially used in a fire that broke out in military
barracks (and was allegedly tied to disciplining recruits).
Uson's case was one of the nine politically motivated cases
highlighted in a recent Human Rights Foundation campaign to
increase awareness about the BRV's persecution of political
opponents.

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BRV Takes Monica Fernandez to Court, Again
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4. (SBU) On December 5, just days after President Chavez'
failed efforts to change the Constitution of 1999, the BRV
initiated a new series of judicial hearings against Monica
Fernandez, a former judge and outspoken critic of the
government. Fernandez ordered the preventive arrest of
former Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez during the
short-lived coup against Chavez in April 2002. In 2005, the
Caracas Court of Appeals annulled Fernandez' ruling against
Rodriguez on grounds that she had exceeded her authority. On
July 20, the Attorney General indicted Fernandez for her
actions in 2002. (Note: Fernandez freed Rodriguez the
following day and he reportedly thanked her subsequently for
her fair treatment. End Note).


5. (C) Fernandez told Poloff December 20 that although the
Attorney General's office reactivated the case against her in
July, preliminary hearings have been repeatedly delayed
because Rodriguez has failed to appear in court. Fernandez
said she invited international observers to her hearings but
the judge barred them from entering the courtroom. She also
noted that her right to travel has been indefinitely
suspended because the judge considers her a flight risk. She
said that the measure is illegal because it impedes her from
earning a living as a lecturer on judicial procedures and
human rights. (Note: In 2007, Fernandez traveled outside of
Venezuela more than 30 times to serve as a guest speaker at
conferences. End Note).


6. (C) Fernandez speculates the BRV re-activated her case in
response to her political activism, particularly through Foro
Penal, a judicial NGO she directs. Foro Penal provided legal

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assistance to university demonstrators in 2007. Fernandez
and her organization have been harshly critical of the BRV's
efforts to politicize the judiciary and have strongly opposed
the National Assembly's recent appointments to the Moral
Council (Ref B ).

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BRV Targets Former Governor Mendoza
--------------


7. (C) The BRV also pressed charges against former Miranda
State governor Enrique Mendoza in early December, alleging
Mendoza illegally closed the government television station,
VTV, during the April 2002 coup. In a television interview
at that time, Mendoza reportedly said, "It's time to take
that trash off the air." Alex Vivas, a former aide to
Mendoza and COPEI Deputy Secretary General, told Poloff
December 12 that the BRV charges against Mendoza are
politically motivated, stressing that Mendoza coordinated the
opposition's successful efforts in the "No" campaign in the
recent constitutional referendum and headed Rosales' campaign
in Miranda in 2006. Vivas said prosecutors confided to
Mendoza's supporters that they have insufficient evidence to
pursue a case against Mendoza but were complying with
political pressure to do so.


8. (C) Mendoza's defense team is accumulating video evidence
to show that well before Mendoza made his statement, VTV
management declared on the air that keeping the station
running was unsustainable. Mendoza's defense team will try
to demonstrate that Mendoza did not incite anyone to take
over VTV, but rather VTV employees and security personnel
decided to abandon the station and its transmission
facilities. Mendoza's lawyer told the media December 26 that
the former governor is prepared to turn himself in after
courts reopen on January 9. In January 2007, the then Human
Rights Ombudsman, German Mundarain, barred Mendoza from
holding an elected post for three years for alleged
misappropriation of government funds. Mendoza has been the
subject of several BRV investigations, including a failed
attempt to link him to the incidents at the Cuban Embassy on
April 2002.

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Longest Trial in Venezuelan History Continues
--------------


9. (SBU) The case against the three former police
commissioners Ivan Simonovis, Henry Vivas, and Lazaro Forero
and eight Caracas Metropolitan police officers charged with
firing on demonstrators during the events of 2002 will resume
January 8, 2008. Simonovis was not present at the site of
the unrest, and the other defendants maintain that they were
protecting the protesters and were ambushed. The local media
reported that the last scheduled hearing of the year was
canceled December 20 because the defendants were not
transported from their DISIP (police intelligence) holding
cells to the courtroom. Jose Luis Tamayo, a lawyer for the
former commissioners, told the media that delay tactics, such
as the one used December 20, are common. In the 21 months
since the case commenced, 32 trial dates were scheduled, of
which only nine hearing were carried out, Tamayo said.


10. (C) Excessive delay tactics, changes of venue, and the
failure to transport prisoners has made this the longest case
in Venezuelan history. The prosecution presented roughly 500
witness, none of whom linked any of the accused to the
shootings. The defense only began presenting its case in
mid-October and plans to conclude in January or February

2008. The defense has focused on presenting evidence that
proves the victims were shot by snipers.

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Civil Society Urges Amnesty
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11. (C) Civil society groups recently urged Chavez to issue a
general amnesty for those implicated in the events of April

2002. The Catholic Bishop's Conference (CEV) pressed the
government to grant the country's political prisoners amnesty
on December 19. Caracas Cardinal Urosa told the media that
he welcomed the conditional release of retired Army General
Uson, but reiterated the CEV's interest in the release of
remaining political prisoners as well. The hard-line
opposition National Resistance Command (CNR) urged Chavez to
decree a blanket amnesty via the Enabling Law, noting that
the Venezuelan president was himself pardoned following the

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February 1992 coup. A number of opposition party leaders
told us recently that their parties plan to devote more
attention to the plight of political prisoners in 2008.

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Comment
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12. (C) The conditional release of retired Army General Uson
aside, the BRV continues to target political opponents via
the politicized judiciary. Many, if not all, of the
politically motivated cases relating to the events of April
2002 remain in legal limbo. Given Chavez' defeat at the
polls in the December 2 constitutional referendum, it is
unlikely that the BRV will grant pardons in these cases or
cease dragging these politically motivated cases out in 2008.
Nevertheless, civil society groups and opposition political
parties, emboldened by the "No" victory in the constitutional
referendum, appear determined to generate greater public
interest -- and pressure -- in these cases.

DUDDY