Thursday, February 25th 2010 - 04:56 UTC

“Political intolerance” and “citizen insecurity” rampant in Venezuela says OAS

Venezuela routinely violates the rights of its citizens, using the “punitive power of the state” to intimidate and punish people for their political opinions, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) said Wednesday.

IACHR also admits some progress in vulnerable sectors access to basic services under the administration of President Hugo Chavez

The 319-page report was published in Washington by the IACHR, which is part of the Organization of American States.

The report found that the South American country lacks an “effective separation and independence of the public branches of power” and said that “conditions do not exist for human rights defenders and journalists to be able to freely carry out their work.”

It said that violence went unpunished against media workers, trade unionists, participants in public demonstrations, people held in custody, peasant farmers, indigenous people and women.

The IACHR noted some progress, however, such as the eradication of illiteracy, the reduction of poverty and the “increase in access by the most vulnerable sectors to basic services such as health care.”

But it emphasized that economic and social progress cannot be made at the expense of “other fundamental rights.”

The report found that a climate of widespread “political intolerance” and “citizen insecurity,” combined with the other violations, “contribute to the weakening of the rule of law and democracy in Venezuela.”

The commission noted that the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez had refused to allow its members in the country to conduct first-hand research
 

Published in: Politics, Latin America.

2 comments Feed

Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.

1 Michael (#) Feb 25th, 2010 - 07:30 am Report abuse
And Chavez thiks we British are undemocratic because we have a Queen.
2 Gloria (#) Mar 04th, 2010 - 04:15 am Report abuse
The conditions are not much different from north of the US/Mexican wall, where the opinions of people with a different approach to the US' interpretation of “Freedom”, are also treated like opponents and quite often silenced even at the risk of losing their jobs or facing other forms of silent oppression. My friend lives in Caracas, and she admits that the lower class never had better services than now. These reports do not mention the “Political Intolerance” that happens daily North of the Wall, against the legal immigrants from the South. Perhaps intolerance is just a common denominator for any society where the poor tries hard to become equally self-sufficient...? Alone that this publication expects all “American countries” to type in English is another form of cultural intolerance, because most of “America” does not speak English.

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