A/HRC/45/CRP.11 309. The Mission identified a pattern in which DGCIM officers failed to present arrest warrants and/or failed to explain the reason for the detention at the moment of arrest, 748 in violation of national749 and international human rights standards.750 It has reasonable grounds to believe that the practice was commonplace. 310. In all but one of the cases investigated, the Mission noted a discrepancy between the date of the victim’s last known whereabouts and the official date of detention or the official date on the arrest warrant.751 The official record usually placed the date of detention within 48 hours of the initial appearance, purportedly to appear in compliancewith the period established by law for presentation before a court following arrest. 752 For example, Mr. Rafael Acosta Arévalo’s whereabouts were unknown on 21 June 2019, as announced by his family on social media, but his official date of detention appeared as 26 June 2019, two days before he was brought for his initial appearance. 311. In each of the cases that the Mission investigated, within hours or days of arrests, high-level Government authorities made public declarations about crimes the arrestee was guilty of and sometimes showed presenting information in support of this, such as video footage collected by informants of meetings in which coup attempts were purportedly planned. 312. The Mission observes that these statements damaged the presumption of innocence while also putting pressure on the judicial actors, in violation of article 14 (1) and (2) of the ICCPR. Government representatives who often made declarations included President Maduro, Diosdado Cabello (in his television show “Con el Mazo Dando”); 753 Minister of Communications, Jorge Rodríguez Gómez;754 Minister of Defence, Vladimir Padrino López;755 and/or Minister of the Interior, Néstor Reverol.756 Enforced Disappearances 313. The Mission has reasonable grounds to believe that some military dissidents and persons associated with them were subjected to short term enforced disappearances during the period under review. Once detained, arrestees were held without any contact with the outside world, for periods ranging from five to seven days, without being permitted to call family members or lawyers to inform them of their whereabouts. 314. Detainees’ family members approached DGCIM offices to inquire about their whereabouts. In some cases, they were not provided with information and in others, DGCIM personnel denied knowledge of the detainees’ whereabouts. As indicated above, international 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 Including the cases of Case 13: Captain Luis Humberto de la Sotta, Case 14: Major Isaias Lenin Falcón, C3DD14, C3DD15, C3DD17, C3DD32, C3DD33, C3DD34. 1999 Constitution, art. 44. ICCPR, art. 9.1. Cases in which a discrepancy was observed included Case 17: Rafael Acosta Arevalo, Case 15: Colonel Oswaldo Valentin Garcia Palomo, Case 15: Colonel Jose Rommel Acevedo Montañez, Case 15: Antonio José Iabichuela and Case 14: Captain Luis de la Sotta. 1999 Constitution, art. 44. See e.g., YouTube Video, Luigini Bracci Roa, Diosdado Cabello muestra cronología y antecedentes del golpe intentado por mercenarios en lanchas, 5 May 2020, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxGy5dAxgaw YouTube Video, Luigino Bracci Roa, Jorge Rodríguez, rueda de prensa sobre Oswaldo García Palomo, 7 febrero 2019, 7 February 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emf7rsZ4yMw&t=2056s; YouTube Video, Luigino Bracci Roa, Detuvieron a García Palomo haciéndole creer que militares iban a alzarse en Caracas, 7 February 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7dGFdxl54s: YouTube Video, Luigini Bracci Roa, ¿Quién era Rafael Acosta Arévalo y por qué fue detenido? Videos mostrados por Jorge Rodríguez, 26 June 2016, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhUPlRf-ElM Press Release of the FANB, 21 January 2019, available at: http://www.mindefensa.gob.ve/mindefensa/2019/01/21/comunicado-de-la-fuerza-armada-nacionalbolivariana-13/ See e.g., YouTube Video, Luigino Bracci Roa, Néstor Reverol sobre captura de Oswaldo García Palomo, vehículo falso de FAES y sicarios, 31 January 2019, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wi7PePInGo&t=318s 83