No human rights in Venezuela [View all]

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/121124/no-human-rights-in-venezuela

Everyday, eleven citizens who live in the Metropolitan area of the capital city will not be lucky enough to come back home or will be killed in their own homes. The same prediction is applicable for 53 Venezuelan citizens from other cities.

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The UN Office on Drugs and Crimes places Venezuela as one of the countries with the highest violence rate in the world. In 1995, Venezuela's murder rate was 12 homicides per one hundred thousand habitants, whereas in 2011, we reached the leading places with a number of 45.1 homicides per one hundred thousand habitants. Nevertheless, the number provided by the UN is quite conservative, if we take into consideration that this organization bases its data by establishing an average in the data estimated by the NGOs and the official state-run organizations. In contrast, the National Statistics Institute (INE) records a much higher rate for 2011. According to its calculations, Venezuela recorded 75 homicides per every one hundred thousand habitants. "This is insane" upholds the president of NGO Cofavic a human rights advocate. The expert indicates that the UN considers a rate above 10 as an "epidemic."

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In 2011, the Attorney General's Office received 8,813 new cases of human rights violations. They officially assume that these are denounced cases. Then, what happens? Well simply put that, 97% ended up dismissed and stored in prosecutor files, which constitutes a rising 4%. In this sense, only 3% was taken to court, but there are not numbers of conviction. "This shows a trend to reduce justice in Venezuela," Ortega points out.

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Another aspect highlighted in the report provided by Cofavic before the Inter-American Commission is the participation of police officers in the so-called extrajudicial executions. The Venezuelan Government estimates that between 20 % and 25 % of the police officers have been involved in criminal activities. In the same sense, the very Public Ministry indicates that between 2000 and 2008, a number of 1,000 annual cases of deaths due to abuse of authority were recorded. In the meantime, in 2010, the very Ministry of Interior and Justice recorded 3,492 cases of killings perpetrated by the police.

It is worth noting that these rising deaths are not added to the homicide numbers, as most cases are identified as "resisting arrest."