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 CARACAS 00002404 001.2 OF 003 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. -------------- Uson Released at Christmas -------------- ¶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. -------------- BRV Takes Monica Fernandez to Court, Again -------------- ¶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 CARACAS 00002404 002.2 OF 003 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 ). -------------- 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. -------------- 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. -------------- Civil Society Urges Amnesty -------------- ¶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 CARACAS 00002404 003.2 OF 003 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. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶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