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Title: Venezuela Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
VENEZUELA
Venezuela is a republic with an active multiparty democratic system, a
free press, well-established unions, and a longstanding commitment to
democracy. These factors enabled the country to withstand two attempted
coups in 1992 and the impeachment of a President in 1993. Over three
decades of two-party dominance ended in 1994 when former President
Rafael Caldera was sworn in as President with the support of a coalition
of small and medium-sized parties. Four major political groupings now
comprise the Congress. On July 6, the Government reinstated
constitutional guarantees which it had suspended in June 1994, allegedly
because of the need to combat subversion and to address the country's
financial crisis. The freedoms from arbitrary arrest and detention and
search without warrant were restored, as were freedom to travel, to
pursue profitable activities, the right to own private property, and to
receive compensation for assets confiscated by the State. However,
three of the constitutional suspensions remained in effect in some
border areas.
The security apparatus comprises civilian and military elements, both
accountable to elected authorities. The National Guard, a branch of the
military, has arrest powers and is largely responsible for guarding the
exterior of prisons and key government installations, maintaining order
during times of civil unrest, monitoring frontiers, and providing law
enforcement in remote areas. It also supplies the top leadership for
the Metropolitan Police, the main civilian police force in and around
Caracas, and for various state and municipal police forces. The
Interior Ministry controls the State Security Police (DISIP) which is
primarily responsible for protecting public officials and investigating
cases of subversion and arms trafficking. The Justice Ministry controls
the Judicial Technical Police (PTJ) which conducts most criminal
investigations. Both police and military personnel were responsible for
human rights abuses.
The public sector, including the petroleum industry which accounts for
some 22 percent of the gross domestic product, dominates the economy.
In response to a financial crisis, the Government maintained control
over half the banking sector. Although the Government sharply devalued
the national currency on December 11, it retained foreign exchange and
price controls and continued to restrict severely the availability of
foreign exchange. Continuing fiscal and monetary difficulties, as well
as a drop in international reserves, led Venezuela to begin negotiations
on an economic stabilization program with the International Monetary
Fund in late 1995.
The Government's human rights record continued to be poor in certain
areas and included extrajudicial killings by the police and military,
torture and abuse of detainees, failure to punish police and security
officers accused of abuse, arbitrary and excessively lengthy detentions,
corruption and severe inefficiency in the judicial and law enforcement
systems, deplorable prison conditions, and a lack of respect for the
rights of indigenous people. Violence against women, abuse of children,
and discrimination against the disabled are problems. The Government
did not take effective action to punish abusers except in a few highly
publicized cases, such as the killing of a peasant farmer and torture of
22 others by the military near the Cararabo marine outpost and the
execution-style killing of a student by the Caracas police.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of targeted political killings, but extrajudicial
killings, primarily of criminal suspects, by the security forces
continued. The Venezuelan Program of Action and Education in Human
Rights (PROVEA), one of the country's most respected human rights
organizations, documented 126 extrajudicial killings from October 1994
through September 1995. The killings involved summary executions,
indiscriminate or excessive use of force, death resulting from torture
and mistreatment while in custody, and death resulting from abuse during
military or public service. According to PROVEA, the municipal police
carried out 44 of the killings; the state police 29; the PTJ 20; the
DISIP 12; the National Guard 9; the armed forces 5; and other branches
of the security apparatus or a combination of branches 7.
The perpetrators of extrajudicial killings act with near impunity, as
the Government rarely prosecutes in such cases. The police often fail
to investigate crimes allegedly committed by their colleagues and
characterize incidents of extrajudicial killings as "confrontations,"
even though eyewitness testimony and evidence strongly indicate
otherwise. In addition, the civilian judicial system remains highly
inefficient and sometimes corrupt, and military courts are often
strongly biased in favor of members of the armed forces accused of
abuse. A special pretrial summary phase called "nudo hecho," used in
cases involving public officials, often shields members of the security
forces from prosecution, since cases can languish in that phase for
several years. In the small number of prosecutions in which the courts
convict perpetrators of extrajudicial killings and other abuses, the
sentences issued are frequently light, or, more commonly, the
convictions are overturned on appeal. Unlike common prisoners, members
of the security forces charged with crimes rarely spend much time in
prison.
In January five members of the Caracas Metropolitan Police were arrested
for killing three young men in the Los Anaucos neighborhood. In
addition, there were some other arrests of police officers accused of
extrajudicial killings and other abuse. In April a member of the Aragua
state police was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a
protesting student. The officer was released after 1 month, but in June
six other arrest warrants were issued in connection with the case. In
May three members of the Metropolitan Police were arrested for the
alleged extrajudicial killing of Marcos Antonio Vivas Sayago in July
1994. In September four members of the PTJ were arrested in connection
with the death of 21-year-old student Hector Rojas, who was shot twice
in the chest while in handcuffs. A police officer was charged with the
murder of 17-year-old student Joseph Moreno during a demonstration in
Merida in September. These cases are in a prolonged investigatory
phase; nearly all other incidents of extrajudicial killings and other
abuse went unpunished and often uninvestigated.
There were no prosecutions or new revelations surrounding the discovery
of a common grave in April 1994 in the Sierra de Perija region of Zulia
state. Forensic experts provided no count of the number of bodies found
in the grave, but human rights groups placed the number at around 15.
At least one of the bodies showed signs of execution-style killing.
Although members of a special rural contingent of the Zulia state police
were alleged to have committed the killings, there were no arrests. A
number of persons have come forward with credible testimony in recent
years that there are additional common graves in the Sierra de Perija
and Catatumbo regions as a result of killings by security forces,
although subsequent government investigations were inconclusive. Human
rights groups reported that local farmers and indigenous people are
afraid to come forward with additional information for fear of
reprisals. Likewise, the authorities never prosecuted or held anyone
responsible for the November 1992 killing of at least 63 prisoners at
Catia prison. The National Guard--erroneously claiming that coup
leaders had distributed arms there--stormed the prison, opened cells,
and fired on inmates. The majority of bodies found were reportedly shot
at close range, suggesting summary executions. Apart from the
officially recorded 63 prisoners killed, the fate of 25 others remains
unknown--either their bodies were not found or they escaped during or
near the time of the killings. The Committee of Family Members of the
Victims of the Unrest (COFAVIC) continued to seek prosecutions and a
thorough investigation of the Catia prison killings and other incidents
of human rights abuse.
Minimal progress was made towards resolving some 300 alleged
extrajudicial killings by security forces during and after the civil
unrest of February-March 1989. There has been only one prosecution: a
police officer was found guilty in 1991 of killing 18-year-old Eleazor
Ramon Mavares, shot by several police officers some 18 times at close
range. The courts released the officer from prison 1 year later. In
negotiations held with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) in March, the Government agreed to initiate a new investigation
of the Mavares case, punish those responsible, and provide indemnities
to the victim's family. COFAVIC referred some 40 cases surrounding the
1989 killings to the IACHR, asserting that the Government had not
ensured justice.
In September the Inter-American Court of Human Rights agreed to decide
the case brought against Venezuela for the killing of 14 fishermen in
1988 by military and police officers near the border town of El Amparo.
The military originally claimed that the deaths were the result of
action taken against Colombian guerrillas, but the Government later
acknowledged responsibility and said that it would pay indemnities to
the survivors and the victims' families. The IACHR, which brought the
case to the court, is also demanding appropriate sanctions against those
who ordered and carried out the attack. In August 1994, a military
tribunal overturned the conviction of 16 defendants in the case despite
strong evidence that they had participated in a planned ambush.
b. Disappearance
PROVEA documented six cases of persons who disappeared in 1995 after
reportedly being detained by the security forces. They are Julio Rafael
Tovar, Fidel Ernesto Croes Aleman, and Luis Martin Sanches Vargas,
detained by the National Guard; Marco Tulio Briceno Escalona and Juan
Daniel Monsalve, detained by the PTJ; and Jose Ramos, detained by two
armed and uniformed officers and one civilian of an unknown security
force.
There were no developments in connection with the 1994 disappearances of
Elsida Ines Alvarez, Benjamin Vasquez, or Fidel A. Sanabria; or the 1993
disappearance of Yolanda Landino. All had reportedly been detained by
security force members prior to their disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The law prohibits torture, but credible human rights groups report that
security forces continue to abuse detainees physically. This abuse most
commonly comprises beatings during arrest or interrogation, but there
have been incidents when the security forces used near suffocation and
other forms of torture that leave no telltale signs. Most victims come
from the poorest and least influential parts of society, but political
activists, student leaders, and members of grassroots organizations have
also been victimized for their activities.
PROVEA documented 99 cases of torture from October 1994 through
September 1995. Probably a large number of cases were never reported
because the victims feared retribution. According to PROVEA, the armed
forces were responsible for 35 of the reported torture incidents; the
DISIP 24; the PTJ 16; the National Guard 13; the state police 8; and the
municipal police 3. Almost half of these cases were in border areas
where constitutional protections were suspended.
In February after Colombian guerrillas attacked the Cararabo marine
outpost, members of the military tortured about 23 local rural workers,
burying some of them to the neck for long periods. The military began
an investigation of four of its members, but the results of the
investigation, if completed, were not made public.
Torture, like extrajudicial killings, continues because the Government
does not ensure the independent investigation of complaints needed to
bring those responsible to justice. In addition to lack of vigor by the
judiciary, the fact that the Institute of Forensic Medicine is part of
the PTJ also contributes to a climate of impunity, since its doctors are
unlikely to be impartial in their examinations of cases where torture by
members of the PTJ may be involved. Very few instances of torture have
resulted in convictions. According to the Support Network for Justice
and Peace, a respected human rights organization, the military tortured
at least 19 peasant farmers of the village of La Victoria in Apure state
in July, after the mayor of the nearby town of Guasdalito had been
kidnaped by guerrillas. The alleged victims, mostly elderly, said that
they had been nearly suffocated with plastic bags, forced to sit in
excrement, threatened sexually, and beaten. Some were reportedly held
incommunicado for as long as 12 days. The Defense Minister said that
the allegations were totally false and that one of the alleged victims
had links with the guerrillas. There was no formal investigation of the
incident despite detailed and credible evidence pointing to torture.
In October the Attorney General ordered an investigation of a PTJ unit
in Caracas, which had allegedly beaten four youths with a hockey stick
and threatened them with "Russian roulette" in order to extract a
confession.
Prison conditions continued to be deplorable due to underfunding, poorly
trained staff, corruption among prison staff and National Guard members,
and overcrowding so severe as to constitute inhuman and degrading
treatment. As of December 13, the 31 prisons administered by the
Ministry of Justice held 24,928 inmates, of whom the courts had
sentenced only 7,269. The prisons operate on average at 190 percent of
designed capacity. Inadequate diet, minimal health care, a prisoner to
guard ratio as high as 40 to 1, and physical abuse by guards and by
other inmates led to many prison riots. Inmates often have to pay
guards as well as each other to obtain necessities such as space in a
cell, a bed, and food. Guns, knives, and illegal drugs are easily
smuggled into most prisons, and violence between prisoners is very
common.
In June two inmates in a PTJ jail for minors killed a 17-year-old inmate
during a protest over not having had any food for a period of 4 days.
The PTJ did not punish any of its members for gross neglect of their
duties. Numerous riots and incidents of violence resulted in deaths in
prisons almost daily. Seven inmates in Catia prison were killed and 27
injured when violence broke out in September during a police search for
weapons. Inmates claimed that they were gunned down without provocation
by police and the National Guard. PROVEA registered a total of 116
prisoners killed and another 288 wounded as a result of violence from
October 1994 through September 1995.
There were no prosecutions of public officials for the corruption and
neglect that contributed to the January 1994 riot at Sabaneta prison in
Maracaibo. Inmates killed 105 fellow prisoners and wounded scores of
others. Prison staff and the National Guard were generally unwilling to
enter the facility in the months leading up to the riot, allowing a
state of near anarchy to develop. In addition, during the riot, the
National Guard allegedly waited for at least 2 hours before entering to
restore order. As a result, the number of casualties increased
unnecessarily.
The Government acknowledged the poor state of prisons and implemented
some plans to improve conditions. Nonetheless, funding for prisons
remained extremely low, preventing significant improvement in most
penitentiaries.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
On July 6, the Government reinstated the constitutionally protected
freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention in all but 16 municipalities
along the Colombian border where guerrilla activity was a continuing
problem. In the period prior to the Government's reinstatement of the
protection against arbitrary arrest, the press and human rights groups
reported a large number of arbitrary detentions during anticrime sweeps
in impoverished areas by the Metropolitan Police, the DISIP, the
National Guard, and the PTJ. The authorities detained persons during
the sweeps for up to 2 days while they checked criminal records; most
were released without charges. PROVEA documented 13,177 people detained
during sweeps from October 1994 through September 1995.
The law provides for the right to judicial determination of the legality
of detention; however, the police may hold persons without an arrest
warrant for up to 8 days, and the courts may hold them up to an
additional 8 days in court custody. In many cases, the police abused
detainees physically and psychologically during the initial 8-day period
and illegally held them incommunicado. During the second 8-day period a
judge may, on the basis of the police investigation, order either the
formal arrest or the release of the suspect. Arbitrary arrests are
common, and authorities sometimes exceed the time limits for holding
suspects. Prison officials often illegally demand payment from
prisoners for transportation to judicial proceedings at which formal
charges are made. Those who are unable to pay are often forced to
forego their judicial hearings.
The 1939 Vagrancy Law permits the detention for up to 5 years, without
warrant, trial, or judicial appeal, of people deemed by the police to be
a danger to society even though there is no evidence that they committed
a punishable crime. This law is used chiefly against people with
previous criminal records who are detained during police sweeps. The
Interior Minister said in August that the Vagrancy Law was "the only
legal instrument" the State had in the fight against crime. The
Ministry of Justice reported there were 106 persons in jail under the
Vagrancy Law, but this figure does not reflect the total number arrested
under this law and then released.
Forced exile is illegal and is not practiced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The civilian judiciary is legally independent, but the major political
parties influence the judicial selection process as well as decisions in
particular cases. The judicial sector is made up of the Supreme Court,
which is the court of last appeal; the Attorney General, who provides
opinions to the courts on prosecution of criminal cases and acts as
public ombudsman to bring public employee misconduct or violations of
constitutional rights of prisoners or accused to the attention of the
proper authorities; the Ministry of Justice, which manages the national
police force and prisons and files complaints in criminal courts; and
the Judicial Council, which overseas the lower courts as well as the
selection and training of judges. The lower court system includes
district and municipal courts as well as trial and appeal courts which
deal with civil and criminal matters.
The law provides for the right to a fair trial and considers the accused
innocent until proven guilty in a court. The justice system, however,
is overburdened and inefficient, suffers from the corruption of some
judges, and lacks public credibility. Case backlogs and lengthy
pretrial detentions averaging 4 1/2 years are the norm. Judges are
underpaid, poorly disciplined, and susceptible to political influence.
The law provides for public defenders for those unable to afford an
attorney, but there are not enough public defenders to handle the
caseload. The Judicial Council reported that there are 159 public
defense attorneys with an average of 133 active cases each.
The judicial process is paper intensive, requiring the costly and time-
consuming production of voluminous reports at every stage by judges,
attorneys, and witnesses.
Military courts can try civilians in cases of armed subversion and
whenever armed forces members are involved. Military courts are subject
to a requirement for a speedy trial and a statute of limitations similar
to that of civilian courts. Persons convicted by a military court have
the same right of appeal to the Supreme Court as do those convicted by
the civilian system. Military courts, however, are significantly
different from civilian courts in that by law the President must review
every case after the initial investigation stage and decide if that case
will go to trial. Human rights groups assert that this gives the
executive excessive power to intervene in military cases. In addition,
the Supreme Court selects military judges from a list of candidates
provided by the Minister of Defense, a process which links the careers
of military judges to the high command. The tendency of military judges
to be responsive to the views of their military leaders, to maintain
procedural secrecy, and to act slowly in high-profile cases in which the
military is implicated make it unlikely that defendants will be tried in
an impartial or timely manner. As a result, military offenders evade
punishment for extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses.
There were no reports of political prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
Constitutional provisions prohibit arbitrary interference with privacy,
family, home, and correspondence. However, for 13 months prior to July
6, the Government had suspended the constitutional guarantee of freedom
from search without a warrant. Furthermore, the suspension remained in
effect in some border areas. Even after reinstatement of the provision,
security forces often conducted searches of homes without warrants,
especially during anticrime sweeps in impoverished areas. In recent
years, there have been some complaints of telephone surveillance, and
human rights monitors accused the security forces of illegal telephone
monitoring.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and the press, and these
liberties, along with academic freedom, were generally respected. The
press criticizes the Government and denounces government interference in
the media.
In 1994 the Congress passed and the President signed a law which forbids
persons without journalism degrees to practice and requires journalists
to be members of the National College of Journalists (CNP). Media
owners, the Catholic Church, and certain press groups continued to
criticize this law as a violation of the freedom of expression
guaranteed by the Constitution and international agreements on human
rights.
The newspaper photographer whose widely published photo of Hector Rojas
in police custody just before he was killed (see Section 1.a.) led to
the arrest of five policemen received several telephone death threats.
The newspaper, El Nacional, took the photographer off the crime beat to
limit his vulnerability to police retribution. There were no
prosecutions for the killing of two reporters, Maria Veronica Tessari
and Virgilio Fernandez, by members of the security forces while they
respectively covered a 1992 student demonstration and a 1992 coup
attempt.
When two newspapers, El Nacional and El Diario de Caracas, published a
wire service story in June about an alleged coup plot by the President's
son-in-law, directors and editors of both newspapers were called in for
questioning by the military intelligence directorate.
The Government is a significant source of advertising revenue for the
media, and there have been instances where government advertising was
apparently channeled for political ends. When the newspaper El Nacional
published articles on alleged corruption by high government officials,
the Finance Ministry withheld its public announcements in that newspaper
for a period of 2 months. Some media owners abuse the right to a free
press in their pursuit of personal political or financial advantage.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Government normally respects the constitutional provision for
freedom of peaceful assembly and association. Professional and academic
associations operate without interference, and public meetings,
including those of all political parties, are generally held unimpeded.
The Government requires permits for public marches but does not deny
them for political reasons. As a result of violence that occurred at
the Central University of Venezuela campus the day before a planned
protest march in September, the Government ordered the march to be
postponed. It was held 2 weeks later.
As in earlier years, many demonstrations turned violent and were quelled
by security forces. Hooded youths known as "encapuchados" frequently
fomented the violence. A student's death during a demonstration in
Merida in September precipitated several days of violence, and the local
governor called in the military to regain control of the streets (see
Section 1.a.). There were also a number of incidents when security
forces contained or stopped peaceful protests. According to PROVEA, 4
people were killed during demonstrations, 82 injured, and 521 detained
from October 1994 through September 1995.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, provided that a faith
does not threaten public order or violate good custom. The authorities
respect this right in practice; all religious groups enjoy freedom of
worship.
While foreign missionaries proselytize actively throughout the country,
they often have to wait many months for the processing of their
religious worker visas. For missionaries already in the country,
renewal of visas also can take months. During the period of irregular
visa status, missionaries experience harassment by authorities,
especially at military checkpoints.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
Citizens and legal residents are free to travel within the
country and to go abroad and return. Although the freedom to travel was
suspended from June 1994 to July 1995, there were no reports of the
Government actually restricting a person's travel in 1995. Exchange
controls limited the ability of individuals to obtain foreign currency
for travel abroad.
Venezuela traditionally has been a haven for refugees, exiles, and
displaced persons from many European, Caribbean, and Latin American
countries. They are given normal residence status and may be expelled
only because of criminal activities.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
The Constitution provides citizens with the right peacefully to change
their government, and citizens exercise this right through periodic,
free and fair elections held on the basis of universal suffrage. In
state and local elections held on December 3, however, an antiquated and
inefficient system for counting votes gave rise to numerous and, in some
cases, credible allegations that the political parties that dominated
state electoral councils had committed fraud.
Women and nonwhites participate fully in Government and politics but
remain underrepresented in senior leadership positions. There are 12
female deputies in the lower house of Congress (out of a total of 203),
3 female Senators (out of 53),
and 1 female governor (out of 23). Indigenous people have traditionally
not been fully integrated into the political system due to their lack of
knowledge of how it works, low voter turnout, and residency in areas far
from the capital and other cities. Few indigenous people are in the
Government, and only one is a deputy in Congress.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
A wide variety of human rights groups operate without government
restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights
cases. Government officials, though often disagreeing with their
findings, are generally cooperative.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The law prohibits discrimination based on ethnic origin, gender, or
disability. The Government, however, does not sufficiently enforce laws
which safeguard the rights of indigenous people, protect women against
societal and domestic violence, and ensure disabled people's access to
jobs and public services. Very few resources are devoted to children's
welfare; young delinquents are locked in institutions that are unsafe
and dangerous.
Women
Women face substantial institutional and societal prejudice with respect
to rape and domestic violence. The law makes rape extremely difficult
to prove, requiring at a minimum medical examination within 48 hours of
the violation. Few police officers are trained to deal responsibly with
rape victims. The PTJ received 2,599 reports of rape in the entire
country during the period from January to September 1995 compared to
1994 which had a total of 3,537 for the entire year. Women's
organizations, however, assert that this figure is very low and does not
portray an accurate picture of the problem of rape. The overwhelming
majority of rape victims do not report the incident or press charges due
to societal pressure and their own feelings of guilt.
Domestic violence against women is very common and has been aggravated
by the country's economic difficulties. According to local monitors,
the police are generally unwilling to intervene to prevent domestic
violence, and the courts rarely prosecute those accused of such abuse.
In addition, poor women are generally unaware of legal remedies and have
little access to them.
The Congress reformed the Civil Code in the 1980's to make women and men
legally equal in marriage. Women comprise roughly half the student body
of most universities, have advanced in many professions, including
medicine and law, and have gradually torn down many of the barriers to
their full participation in political and economic life. Nonetheless,
women are still underrepresented in the higher ranks of labor unions and
private industry.
The Labor Code specifies that employers must not discriminate against
women with regard to pay or working conditions, must not fire them
during pregnancy and for a year after giving birth, must grant them
unpaid leave and benefits for 6 weeks before the birth of a child and 12
weeks after, and must provide them 10 weeks of unpaid leave if they
legally adopt children under 3 years of age. According to the Ministry
of Labor and the major labor federation, these regulations are enforced
in the formal sector, although social security payments are often
delayed.
Children
Many children face hardship. According to a study by
two reputable nongovernmental organizations, one in four children is
malnourished. The Government scaled back its expenditure on education,
health, and social services, leaving many impoverished children with no
government assistance. While the law provides for universal free
education, the Government dedicates very little funding to primary and
secondary education. Many government agencies responsible for the
welfare of children are plagued by corruption, and government funding
often does not reach the children it is intended to help. In addition,
many reform institutions for young delinquents are in deplorable
condition.
According to children's rights groups, the recent increase in poverty
has raised the level of stress within families and led to a rise in the
number of abandoned children and to more child abuse. However,
neighbors often hesitate to report cases of child abuse, due to a fear
of entanglement with the authorities and ingrained attitudes regarding
family privacy. The overburdened judicial system, though very slow,
generally ensures that in most situations children are removed from
abusive households once a case has been reported. Public facilities for
such children, however, are inadequate and have poorly trained staff.
People With Disabilities
The physically disabled have minimal access to public transportation,
and ramps are practically nonexistent, even in government buildings.
According to local advocates, the disabled are discriminated against in
many sectors, including education, health care, and employment.
In 1993 the Government passed the first comprehensive law to protect the
rights of the disabled. The new law requires that all newly constructed
or renovated public parks and buildings provide access for the disabled.
Among other important provisions, the law forbids discrimination in
employment practices and in the provision of public services. However,
the Government did not make a significant effort to implement the new
law, to inform the public of it, or to try to change societal prejudice
against the disabled.
Indigenous People
Although the law prohibits discrimination based on ethnic origin,
members of the country's indigenous population frequently suffer from
inattention to and violation of their human rights. There are about
315,000 indigenous people comprising 25 ethnic groups, according to a
special 1992 census.
The Constitution provides for special laws governing "the protection of
indigenous communities and their progressive incorporation into the life
of the nation." Nonetheless, indigenous people are not able to protect
their civil and political rights or to influence decisions affecting
their lands, cultures, traditions, and the allocation of natural
resources. In February representatives of the 19 indigenous groups of
Amazonas state brought a case to the Supreme Court challenging the
constitutionality of the law which defines political boundaries and
commonly held land within their state. They claim that the law,
promulgated in 1994, jeopardizes their collective possession of
ancestral lands.
Many of the country's indigenous people live isolated from modern
civilization and lack access to basic health and educational facilities
available to other citizens. High rates of cholera, hepatitis-B,
malaria, and other diseases plague their communities. Major epidemics
of equine encephalitis and dengue fever in August and September were
particularly serious among the Wayuu indigenous group of Zulia state.
Tourists and other outsiders inadvertently introduce new viruses to
Indian populations with unprepared immune systems: the common cold
often becomes bronchitis, and chicken pox can be fatal. In addition,
few indigenous communities hold title to their lands, and many have been
displaced in recent years by government-sponsored projects. Fertilizer
and machinery have polluted rivers, while strip mining and large-scale
farming have destroyed habitats.
The Yanomami, among the most isolated of the indigenous people, have
been subject to persistent incursions into their territory by illegal
Brazilian gold miners. The miners have not only brought diseases but
social ills as well. In August 1993, miners killed at least 16 Yanomami
in a remote area of Amazonas state. An indigenous people's group
reported two similar killings in 1994. The Government began to bomb
illegal airstrips used by the miners and to use force to try to prevent
the miners' entry through the porous border. Indigenous people's
groups, however, strongly criticized the Government for not forcefully
seeking the prosecution of the perpetrators of the 1993 massacre who had
retreated into Brazilian territory.
In February 1994, members of the army shot and killed three members of
the Yucpa ethnic group after women in the group tried to block the
soldiers from taking wood they had cut. The
military allegedly responded by firing indiscriminately. To protest the
killings, a large group of Yucpas temporarily took over several ranches
and blocked roads. There were no arrests of those responsible for the
killings.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
Both the Constitution and labor law recognize and encourage the right of
unions to organize. The comprehensive 1990 Labor Code extends to all
private sector and public sector employees (except members of the armed
forces) the right to form and join unions of their choosing. The Code
mandates registration of unions with the Ministry of Labor, but it
reduces the Ministry's discretion by specifying that registration may
not be denied if the proper documents (a record of the founding meeting,
the statutes, and the membership list) are submitted. Only a judge may
dissolve a union, and then only for reasons listed in the law, such as
the dissolution of a firm or by agreement of two-thirds of the
membership.
One major union confederation, the Venezuelan Confederation of Workers
(CTV), and three small ones, as well as a number of independent unions,
operate freely. About 25 percent of the national labor force is
unionized. There are no restrictions on affiliation with international
labor organizations, and many union organizations are active
internationally. The CTV's top leadership includes members of several
political parties. The majority are affiliated with the country's
largest party, Democratic Action (AD). The CTV and the AD exercise
reciprocal influence on each other.
The law recognizes the right of public and private sector employees to
strike. However, public servants may only exercise it if it does not
cause "irremediable damage to the population or to institutions." The
Labor Code allows the
President to order public or private sector strikers back to work and to
submit their dispute to arbitration if the strike "puts in immediate
danger the lives or security of all or part of the population." During
1995 most strikes occurred among government employees. With the
exception of a slow-down by air traffic controllers and strikes by
judicial workers and university professors, the threat to strike was
sufficient in most cases to achieve a resolution satisfactory to the
workers.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Labor Code protects and encourages collective bargaining, which is
freely practiced. According to the Code, employers "must negotiate" a
collective contract with the union that represents the majority of their
workers. The Code also contains a provision stating that wages may be
raised by administrative decree, provided that the Congress approves the
decree.
The law prohibits employers from interfering with the formation of
unions or with their activities and from stipulating as a condition of
employment that new workers must abstain from union activity or must
join a specified union. Ministry of Labor inspectors hear complaints
regarding violations of these regulations, and can impose a maximum fine
of twice the minimum monthly wage for a first infraction. Under the
Code, union officials enjoy special protection from dismissal. If a
judge determines that any worker was fired for union activity, the
worker is entitled to back pay plus either reinstatement or payment of a
substantial sum of money, which varies according to his years of
seniority.
Labor law and practice is the same in the sole export
processing zone as in the rest of the country.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
There is no forced or compulsory labor. The Labor Code states that no
one may "obligate others to work against their will."
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Labor Code allows children between the ages of 12 to 14 years to
work only if the National Institute for Minors or the Labor Ministry
grant special permission. It states that children between the ages of
14 and 16 years may not work without permission from their legal
guardians. Minors may not work in mines or smelters, in occupations
"that risk life or health" or could damage intellectual or moral
development, or in "public spectacles."
Those under 16 years of age must by law work no more than 6 hours a day
or 30 hours a week. Minors under the age of 18 years may work only
during the hours between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Ministry of Labor and
the National Institute for Minors enforce the law effectively in the
formal sector of the economy but much less so in the informal sector,
which accounts for 55 percent of total employment. According to a 1993
study, some 1 million children work in the informal sector, mostly as
street vendors; there is no other occupation which comprises large
numbers of children.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Venezuela has a national urban minimum wage and a national rural minimum
wage. The monthly minimum wage was $52 (15,000 bolivars) for urban
workers and $43 (12,500 bolivars) for rural workers. In addition, most
minimum-wage workers received mandatory bonuses amounting to $59 (17,000
bolivars). Fringe benefits are added to these minimum figures; they
vary with the workers' individual circumstances, but in general increase
wages by about one-third. In the past, this combined income provided a
living wage. However, unions now argue that purchasing power has
declined enough over the last several years to warrant a doubling of the
minimum wage. The law excludes only domestic workers and concierges
from coverage under the minimum wage decrees. Under the Labor Code, the
rates are set by administrative decree, which Congress may either
suspend or ratify but may not change. The Ministry of Labor enforces
minimum wage guarantees effectively in the formal sector of the economy
but generally does not enforce them in the informal sector.
The 1990 Labor Code reduced the standard workweek to a maximum of 44
hours, and requires "two complete days of rest each week." Some unions,
such as the petroleum workers, have negotiated a 40-hour week. Overtime
may not exceed 2 hours daily, 10 hours weekly, or 100 hours annually,
and may not be paid at a rate less than time and a half. The Ministry
of Labor effectively enforces these standards in the formal sector.
The 1986 Health and Safety Law is still awaiting implementation
regulations and is not enforced. The delay is due largely to concern
that the law provides penal sanctions against management when violations
of health and safety occur and to ambiguity in the law over what
constitutes a violation. The Labor Code states that employers are
obligated to pay specified amounts (up to a maximum of 25 times the
minimum monthly salary) to workers for accidents or occupational
illnesses, regardless of who is responsible for the injury.
It also requires that workplaces must maintain "sufficient protection
for health and life against sicknesses and accidents," and it imposes
fines of from one-quarter to twice the minimum monthly salary for first
infractions. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor appear to enforce
the law effectively. Workers can remove themselves from dangerous
workplace situations without jeopardy to continued employment.
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[end of document]
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