Foro Penal’s arbitrary detentions database counted 1,270 arbitrary detentions in Venezuela from January 2019 to June 2021. CDJ’s stigmatization acts database counted around 350 acts in the same period.
By Amnesty International
Feb 10, 2022
- Within this period, the most common sources of stigmatization were “Con el Mazo Dando”, “Misión Verdad” and “Lechuguinos”.
- Many sources of stigmatization are state-financed media outlets, some are reproduced on official public websites, and others share the same columnists as the aforementioned outlets.
- The Bolivarian National Guard had a prominent role in carrying out arbitrary detentions in 2019 and 2020.
- The Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) was one of the two security forces that carried out the most arbitrary detentions in 2019, 2020 and the first half of 2021.
- The Bolivarian National Police’s Special Action Forces (FAES) became the security force that carried the most arbitrary detentions in 2021, up from the fifth most in 2019 and the third most in 2020.
- In 2019 the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by the intelligence services DGCIM and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) reached 74%.
- In 2020 the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by security forces under the Bolivarian National Police (including FAES) reached 92%.
- Between January and June 2021, the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by decentralized security forces – the Bolivarian National Police, FAES, PNB, municipal police forces and Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations Corps – reached 92%.
- At least during 2019, courts with jurisdiction over terrorism were used more frequently to prosecute those arbitrarily detained for political reasons, and there was a correlation of 68% between these cases and the stigmatization carried out by “Misión Verdad”.
- There was a correlation of 65% between the actions of the military courts and the stigmatization driven by “Con El Mazo Dando”, during the entire period analyzed and especially when military security forces carried out the arbitrary detentions. This correlation reached 94% in 2020.
- Repression peaked in specific periods when human rights violations were reported to international organizations, as well as announcements by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Independent International Mission for Venezuela and the International Criminal Court, with correlations ranging between 70% and 88%.
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Read More: Amnesty International – Facts and figures: Calculated repression in Venezuela
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