At 22 years of one of the most gruesome and dark of Venezuelan society, many families seek justice for the hundreds of dead and missing in February and March 1989, when so inhuman then President of the Republic, Carlos Andres Perez, ordered to repel the protest actions that generated economic adjustment "recommended" by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The June 7, 1999, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights submitted to the Court the application in this case, in which it invoked Articles 50 and 51 of the American Convention on Human Rights, the Commission submitted it to the Court to determine if a violation, by Venezuela, articles 4.1 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Treatment), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8.1 (Fair Trial), 25.1 and 25.2.a. (Judicial Protection) and 27.3 (Suspension of Guarantees) in accordance with Articles 1.1 (Obligation to Respect Rights) and 2 (Duty to Enact Law), of the American Convention on account of the events during the months February and March 1989 in Caracas, Venezuela.
In the application shows that on 16 February 1989 the then President of Venezuela, Carlos Andrés Pérez, announced a series of economic adjustment measures, which were implemented on 27 of the same month year, the day of economic adjustment, a sector of the Metropolitan Police was on strike, why not intervene promptly to control the riots. According to statements by the then President of the Republic, published in the daily El Nacional on 10 June 1990 (...) "there was no organization to prevent and tackle, at the beginning, what was happening" and in that statement also noted that (...) "after returning from the city of Barquisimeto, when passed through an area near the Presidential Palace Caracas called El Silencio, [saw] the shattered shop windows, on reaching Miraflores called the Minister of Defense and ordered him to mobilize the troops "
In statements by senior military officers, former Minister of State and Former President of the Republic It is clear that the armed forces were not prepared to take over law enforcement and youth who were sent by his youth and inexperience, were a danger to life and physical integrity of persons. Similarly, it appears that these young people were equipped with assault weapons (FAL light automatic rifles, 7.62mm) to control the civilian population and AMX-13 armored vehicles. The officers used high-powered guns 9mm;
The victims included seven children and five women. Of the 44 cases, 18 occurred on March 1, 1989 or later, when the events had ceased since 28 February of that year when, according to reports the government of Venezuela, was completely controlled the situation; 11 victims were killed in their homes, five of these during curfew hours and the other seven cases were typical of extrajudicial executions. With regard to the circumstances of the deaths, 14 victims died from gunshot wounds in the skull, three of them were hit in the neck, 14 in the chest or abdomen, and five were shot in the back. Four other victims disappeared in the area controlled by the Army and the Metropolitan Police, but to date have news of his whereabouts. Furthermore, 32 of these cases were pending before military courts or were heard by military courts (subject to Some of them also being processed in the civil courts) and in no case has there been a statement that identifies those responsible and establish the corresponding penalties.
Where the subject of this application, there was a common pattern of behavior characterized by the disproportionate use of armed force in the neighborhoods.
took more than nine (09) years, the case was postponed using delaying tactics by the Venezuelan State, was the November 10, 1999, when the State has decided to recognize the violations and consequently, assumes the repair and compensation to victims, and also undertook a thorough investigation which is in the process, this case is not concluded Venezuela just took over the responsibility for all victims, and part of that responsibility is to get to the real results research aimed at clarifying the facts and punish the guilty.
Ultimate.
The June 7, 1999, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights submitted to the Court the application in this case, in which it invoked Articles 50 and 51 of the American Convention on Human Rights, the Commission submitted it to the Court to determine if a violation, by Venezuela, articles 4.1 (Right to Life), 5 (Right to Treatment), 7 (Right to Personal Liberty), 8.1 (Fair Trial), 25.1 and 25.2.a. (Judicial Protection) and 27.3 (Suspension of Guarantees) in accordance with Articles 1.1 (Obligation to Respect Rights) and 2 (Duty to Enact Law), of the American Convention on account of the events during the months February and March 1989 in Caracas, Venezuela.
In the application shows that on 16 February 1989 the then President of Venezuela, Carlos Andrés Pérez, announced a series of economic adjustment measures, which were implemented on 27 of the same month year, the day of economic adjustment, a sector of the Metropolitan Police was on strike, why not intervene promptly to control the riots. According to statements by the then President of the Republic, published in the daily El Nacional on 10 June 1990 (...) "there was no organization to prevent and tackle, at the beginning, what was happening" and in that statement also noted that (...) "after returning from the city of Barquisimeto, when passed through an area near the Presidential Palace Caracas called El Silencio, [saw] the shattered shop windows, on reaching Miraflores called the Minister of Defense and ordered him to mobilize the troops "
In statements by senior military officers, former Minister of State and Former President of the Republic It is clear that the armed forces were not prepared to take over law enforcement and youth who were sent by his youth and inexperience, were a danger to life and physical integrity of persons. Similarly, it appears that these young people were equipped with assault weapons (FAL light automatic rifles, 7.62mm) to control the civilian population and AMX-13 armored vehicles. The officers used high-powered guns 9mm;
The victims included seven children and five women. Of the 44 cases, 18 occurred on March 1, 1989 or later, when the events had ceased since 28 February of that year when, according to reports the government of Venezuela, was completely controlled the situation; 11 victims were killed in their homes, five of these during curfew hours and the other seven cases were typical of extrajudicial executions. With regard to the circumstances of the deaths, 14 victims died from gunshot wounds in the skull, three of them were hit in the neck, 14 in the chest or abdomen, and five were shot in the back. Four other victims disappeared in the area controlled by the Army and the Metropolitan Police, but to date have news of his whereabouts. Furthermore, 32 of these cases were pending before military courts or were heard by military courts (subject to Some of them also being processed in the civil courts) and in no case has there been a statement that identifies those responsible and establish the corresponding penalties.
Where the subject of this application, there was a common pattern of behavior characterized by the disproportionate use of armed force in the neighborhoods.
took more than nine (09) years, the case was postponed using delaying tactics by the Venezuelan State, was the November 10, 1999, when the State has decided to recognize the violations and consequently, assumes the repair and compensation to victims, and also undertook a thorough investigation which is in the process, this case is not concluded Venezuela just took over the responsibility for all victims, and part of that responsibility is to get to the real results research aimed at clarifying the facts and punish the guilty.
Ultimate.
The day 24 Feb. 2010, in the vicinity of the Attorney General's Office, Carmen Julieta Centeno, National Coordinator CICPC Forensic Sciences, in the company of specialists, Francisco Javier Fernandez, Anthropologist the UCV, Charles Martin, Director of the School of Anthropology of the UCV, and Ely Duran, Forensic Pathologist, conducted a press conference to inform the Venezuelan people the results of the exhumation of corpses related to the events of February 27, 1989 known as the Caracazo.
Carmen Julieta Centeno said that studies have been conducted by an interdisciplinary team, which have yielded results in 47 of the bodies have been exhumed, in fact people are who died at the age of unfortunate events of the Caracazo.
Centeno also said that another 27 cases studied, belong to people who died long before the events of the Caracazo, and the rest remain under consideration.
Experts noted, that this is a very complex and detailed, consisting of three phases: the first is the field phase, where skeletal remains are rescued, the second phase laboratory, which determines the size, age, sex and the DNA of the victims, and finally the third phase, which deals with the identification process, that is, give name and surname of each other.
For this last phase requires the participation of the families of the victims, why, researchers are calling on the relatives to make to the Attorney General of the Republic deliver all the information you have in detail about their relatives, since it is indispensable to achieve higher and more accurate results.
Finally, they said you can not specify a stipulated time for completion of studies, but said the investigation continues.
Bibliography.
Joseph F. Monaza M.
Graduated from the Universidad Nacional Experimental "Rómulo Gallegos" SUCRE FOUNDATION MISSION
Monaza17@hotmail.com