Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CARACAS443
2009-04-06 22:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Caracas
Cable title:  

PRO-CHAVEZ COURT SENTENCES POLICE COMMISSIONERS TO

Tags:  PHUM KDEM PGOV VE 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0973
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHCV #0443/01 0962207
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 062207Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY CARACAS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2873
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000443 

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2029
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV VE
SUBJECT: PRO-CHAVEZ COURT SENTENCES POLICE COMMISSIONERS TO
30 YEARS

REF: A. 08 CARACAS 00515

B. 08 CARACAS 00514

C. 08 CARACAS 00073

D. 07 CARACAS 00147 AND PREVIOUS

CARACAS 00000443 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ
FOR REASON 1.4 (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CARACAS 000443

SIPDIS

HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/06/2029
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV VE
SUBJECT: PRO-CHAVEZ COURT SENTENCES POLICE COMMISSIONERS TO
30 YEARS

REF: A. 08 CARACAS 00515

B. 08 CARACAS 00514

C. 08 CARACAS 00073

D. 07 CARACAS 00147 AND PREVIOUS

CARACAS 00000443 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR FRANCISCO FERNANDEZ
FOR REASON 1.4 (D)


1. (C) Summary. A pro-Chavez court handed down harsh
sentences on April 3 ending the politically motivated trial
of three former Caracas police commissioners and eight other
police officers charged with the deaths of pro-Chavez
supporters during an April 2002 coup attempt. Former Caracas
Metropolitan Police Commissioners Ivan Simonovis, Henry
Vivas, and Lazaro Forero were each sentenced to 30 years in
prison. Of the eight police officers charged, seven were
found guilty and were given sentences of 3-30 years. The
accused have long been considered enemies of Chavez and have
been mentioned in US Human Rights Reports as political
prisoners. Their sentences contrasts to the amnesty
governing Chavez supporters who were caught on video firing
at the crowds of anti-Chavez demonstrators. This decision,
combined with recent jailing and corruption charges against
opposition leaders, marks the most aggressive actions taken
by Chavez against the opposition since coming into power.
End Summary.

--------------
PRO-CHAVEZ COURT PUNISHES POLICE
--------------


2. (SBU) The politicized trial of three former Caracas
Metropolitan Police commissioners and eight police officers
ended on April 3 in a stunning defeat for Venezuela's
beleaguered human rights community. The ex-commissioners
were accused of ordering Caracas police officers to fire on
pro-Chavez supporters during the events of April 11, 2002
that temporarily removed Chavez from office. Former
Caracas metropolitan police chief Henry Vivas, former deputy
chief Lazaro Forero, and then security chief for the city
government Ivan Simonovis, were each sentenced to 30 years in
prison. The men were convicted of being accomplices to
murder of two pro-Chavez demonstrators and accomplices to the
attempted murder and wounding of 29 others during 2002
clashes between pro-Chavez supporters and opposition

protesters.



3. (C) The pro-Chavez judge, Marjorie Calderon, handed down
equally harsh sentences to the eight rank and file police
officers involved in preventing clashes between during the
2002 coup attempt. Of the eight police officers charged,
seven were found guilty and were given sentences ranging from
3-30 years. One police officer was acquitted. Local media
reports claim that Yesenia Fuentes, a member of the
pro-government Association of April 11 Victims said she was
pleased with the sentence. Fuentes opined, "It set a
precedent" there won't be a police officer who messes with a
Venezuelan citizen and doesn't go to jail."

-------------- --------------
HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNITY CLAIMS POLITICAL PERSECUTION
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Family members of the defendants have vowed to
continue to fight to exonerate their loved ones and were
quick to claim their innocence immediately following the
judge's verdict. The verdicts follow four years of
detention, an apparent violation of a Venezuelan law
requiring the release of the suspects if not convicted in two
years, numerous trial delays, and a politicized decision in
January 2008 not to extend a December 2007 amnesty decree to
the accused (REFTELS). During a radio interview on April 3
vice-president of the Catholic Conference of Bishops (CEV),
Monsignor Baltazar Porras referred to verdict by saying,
"This is a black and sad day for Justice in Venezuela." The
accused have long been considered enemies of Chavez by
members of the human rights community and opposition leaders
alike, and have been repeatedly mentioned in US Human Rights
Reports as political prisoners.


5. (C) The charges stem from an opposition march led by
police during the civil unrest on April 11, 2002. As the
march approached a pro-Chavez demonstration in Caracas, shots
were fired resulting in several deaths and multiple injuries.
Both supporters of Chavez and opposition protesters were

CARACAS 00000443 002.2 OF 002


killed or injured in the civil unrest that ensued. While
pro-Government supporters claim police fired upon the crowd,
opposition supporters blame the violence on the national
guard and claim Chavez supporters were actually shooting at
the police from a nearby bridge. Note: Film footage of the
disturbance implicated pro-Chavez supporters in the shooting,
however due to the December 2007 amnesty decree pro-Chavez
supporters were never held responsible for their involvement
in the deaths. End Note.


6. (SBU) Media reports that Defense lawyer Jose Luis Tamayo
condemned the sentence, calling it "A trophy for President
Chavez." Tamayo claimed that prosecutors used photographs of
several officers holding guns rather than forensic evidence
linking them to the killings. Immediately following the
verdict Tamayo argued, "They've convicted a big group of
Venezuelan citizens here without proof... the prosecutors
didn't prove the metropolitan police's weapons were fired."
Nubia Vivas, a sister of the former police chief told
reporters, "I expected this sort of sentence because this is
a political trial."


7. (C) Comment. The opposition is calling the verdicts the
clearest case yet of what they call the "escalation of the
judicialization of politics." While Chavistas welcome the
verdict as a sign of justice for those killed or injured
during the attempted coup, opposition circles bemoan the slow
death of Venezuelan democracy in light of the April 2 arrest
of former Defense Minister General Raul Baduel, the upcoming
trial of opposition Mayor Manuel Rosales, and the Friday
verdict against the police commissioners. While the families
of the sentenced are trying to maintain the story in the
media, the opposition has called for Venezuelans to come out
and protest on April 13, after the Holy Week holiday. With
the judicial system completely under Chavez's control, he has
made clear his willingness to harass, detain, and selectively
jail any political opponents regardless of the validity of
the charges. End Comment.
CAULFIELD