A/HRC/45/CRP.11
730. On 10 May 2018, seven days after the tweets, SEBIN officers arrested Mr. Jaimes
without a warrant as he was driving. They intercepted him as he exited his car in front of his
house. Mr. Jaimes initially refused to comply, fearing a kidnap. An officer explained they
were SEBIN and need not show orders or identification, before beating him and his sister
when she tried to intervene.1421
731. They continued to beat Mr. Jamies as they drove him to SEBIN Plaza Venezuela.
Having witnessed the arrest, that afternoon Mr. Jaimes’ sister sought information at both
Plaza Venezuela and El Helicoide, but SEBIN officers denied detaining her brother. 1422
732. At around 2 p.m. on 15 May 2018, SEBIN officers returned to Mr. Jaimes’ home in
Los Teques, Miranda with a search warrant. Officers found a Pro-94 RadioShack device and
a small antenna attached to his roof, which prosecutors later claimed was used to interfere in
the radio communications of aircrafts and airports to then reveal national secrets via
Twitter.1423
733. The Mission reviewed the device manual, confirming that it was a receiver/scanner
and could not transmit information or engage in radio communication, as prosecutors
asserted.1424 The antenna had been attached to his roof, like many other houses in his
neighbourhood, to receive TV signals and listen to AM/FM radio from Caracas, but he had
not used it for years.1425 SEBIN officers also seized all the telephones in the house, a laptop,
a camera, and personal items.1426
Interrogation
734. SEBIN officers took Mr. Jaimes to the Counter-Intelligence Division, on the tenth
floor of Plaza Venezuela, where a team of around 30-40 young officers were looking at
computer screens open to social media sites. 1427 Counter-Intelligence officers interrogated
Mr. Jaimes, asking him about his Twitter account and forcing him to provide his password.
They pressured Mr. Jaimes to implicate other Twitter users, including journalists and videoed
him making a statement.1428
735. During the interrogation, officers beat him with sticks or bats wrapped in plastic or
cloth, which did not leave marks. They placed a bag over his head and sprayed insecticide
inside, asphyxiating him. They also administered electric shocks. The beating injured his ribs.
SEBIN officers brought a doctor, who administered an analgesic injection. Mr. Jaimes
requested to speak to the doctor alone, but was denied.1429 Mr. Jaimes was held for between
24 and 36 hours on the tenth floor at Plaza Venezuela. An officer told him they planned to
1421
1422
1423
1424
1425
1426
1427
1428
1429
158
flight paths of commercial, Government and military aircraft to tens or hundreds of thousands of
followers: https://twitter.com/CivMilAir, https://twitter.com/Intel_Sky,
https://twitter.com/flightradar24, https://twitter.com/AircraftSpots. Another website, ADS-B
Exchange, will not remove such publicly available, unencrypted data unless compelled by a court
order. https://www.adsbexchange.com/.
The Mission confirmed this with Mr. Jaimes. The original statement was provided to El Diario, 22
November 2019, complete footage verified by and on file with the Mission. Excerpts available at: El
Diario, Pedro Jaimes: La tortura detrás de un tuit, 28 January 2020, available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=103&v=aHyG_OFvs4o&feature=emb_logo.
Mission Interview with Pedro Jaimes Criollo in July 2020.
Formal Accusation, MP-16303-18, p. 3, on file with the Mission.
Owners Manual for RadioShack Pro-94 1000-Channel Handheld Trunking Scanner, available at:
www.repeater-builder.com/radio-shack/misc-pdfs/pro-94-manual.pdf.
Mission Interview with Pedro Jaimes Criollo in July 2020.
The Mission confirmed this with Mr. Jaimes. The original statement was provided to El Diario, 22
November 2019, complete footage verified by and on file with the Mission; Espacio Público, “El
cuarto de Pedro lo dejaron vacío”, 20 July 2018, available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=57&v=5xqBj3Ll_FQ&feature=emb_logo.
Interview conducted by El Diario, 22 November 2019, verified by and on file with the Mission.
Ibid.
Ibid. A deformation to Mr. Jaimes’ ribs is visible in videos and photographs shared subsequent to his
release.
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