Five killed in December protests as repression continues

Peaceful Assembly

Several recent protests in Venezuela have been subjected to serious repression at the hands of the police In mid-December, five people died during demonstrations against food scarcity and lack of liquidity in the state of Bolívar however nobody has so far been held accountable for these deaths. 405 people were arrested for looting during the protests.

On 23rd January, supporters of the opposition coalition marched against the government of President Nicolás Maduro, urging the National Electoral Council (CNE) to set a date for presidential elections. Following the CNE decision to reject their calls for a recall referendum, opposition leaders claim that the government has become a dictatorship because it has refused to let the popular vote decide its fate. The march in late January was meant to end in front of the CNE building, but was stopped by a police barricade before it could reach that point.

Expression

According to the latest report by Espacio Público (Public Space), a Venezuelan civil society organisation, 355 freedom of expression violations - an average of one a day and a 28% increase on 2015 - were documented in 2016. The most frequent violations included intimidation (123 cases), censorship (61), physical aggression (54), threats (38), verbal harassment (29) and administrative restrictions (27).

Over the past month, the most common violations included attacks on reporters covering protests, legal actions against journalists and media outlets, and operational restrictions caused by lack of print paper and constant increases in the minimum wage, as reported by the Instituto de Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS, Press and Society Institute). IPYS, a domestic organisation dedicated to documenting restrictions on the freedom of expression, recorded 37 cases of violations since the last Venezuela update on the CIVICUS Monitor.

Association

Despite the recent decision by the Venezuelan government to release four political prisoners, welcomed as a sign of improvement in state-society relations, on 12th January three civilians and five members of the military were sentenced to between five and ten years in prison on charges of “taking part in a rebellion” for allegedly plotting a coup against President Maduro. Subsequently, on 14th January, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights acknowledged the continuing difficulties faced by opposition activists by issuing precautionary measures in favour of several members of the Voluntad Popular political party.

On 31st January, during a meeting organised by Provea, a Venezuelan human rights organisation, reports were presented of illegal arrests, firings, and harassment against trade union members in state-owned companies. Members of the Catholic Church have also reportedly been harassed, aparently due to a statement published by the highest catholic authority in the country, demanding the release of political prisoners.

As a result of these increasing restrictions, Freedom House has recently downgraded Venezuela from “partly free” to “not free”. Cuba is the only other country in the region in this category.