A/HRC/45/CRP.11
Findings
997. Based on the facts above, the Mission has reasonable grounds to believe that Karen
Palacios was subject to arbitrary detention, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
DGCIM officers were involved in the arrest, detention, and cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment of Ms. Palacios within the DGCIM Boleíta detention facility. Information collected
from other former Boleíta detainees has provided reasonable grounds to believe that
conditions in the facility may amount to torture or cruel inhuman and degrading treatment.
CHAPTER IV. VIOLATIONS IN A SECURITY OR
SOCIAL CONTROL CONTEXT
I.
Background
998. A number of human rights violations that the Mission has been mandated to
investigate have taken place within the context of security operations. In this context, the
Mission has investigated human rights violations falling within two main groups: (1) those
during large-scale joint police and military security operations called the Operations for
People’s Liberation (Operaciones de Liberación del Pueblo, OLP) and Operations for
People’s Humane Liberation (Operaciones de Liberación Humanista del Pueblo, OLHP); and
(2) those during more targeted security operations implemented either by a single State
security force, or in small combined operations.
999. In total, the Mission independently investigated 16 cases to establish facts. Of these,
5 related to violations in the framework of the OLP/OLHP, involving the deaths of 57
individuals and the detention of approximately 1,420 individuals. Eleven cases investigated
related to killings by State police forces, in particular the PNB/FAES and the CICPC, which
resulted in the death of 18 individuals.
1000. The Mission also analyzed information reported in reliable secondary sources,
including information from Venezuelan NGOs, international organizations and press articles
between 2014 and 2020. These referred to 135 OLPs/OLHPs and 2,417 cases of killings in
other contexts caused by security forces. The Mission considers that the review provides a
strong indication that the specific cases investigated in detail form part of a wider pattern of
conduct.
1001. Public statements by high-level Government officials related to security policies,
statements by other persons with inside knowledge, and information from persons who have
documented this type of conduct by state forces, are also referenced throughout. The Mission
also accessed interviews with police officers collected by reliable sources, as cited.
A.
Violent Death Rate
1002. Venezuela faces a serious situation of insecurity. By all available indicators, the rates
of violent deaths are among the highest in the world.1741 Since 2014, the Public Prosecutor’s
Office has reported numbers of violent deaths only for 2015 and 2016. In 2015, the Public
Prosecutor’s Office documented 17,778 intentional homicides (a rate of 63.5 per 100,000). 1742
In 2016, it documented 21,752 intentional homicides (70.1 per 100,000).1743
1741
1742
1743
See UNODC homicide rates by country (2017), available at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/dataand-analysis/gsh/Booklet2.pdf.
See Annual Report of the Public Prosecutor’s Office 2015, p. 45, available at:
https://transparencia.org.ve/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Informe-Anual-2015-fiscalia.pdf. See also
Acceso a la Justicia, Informe sobre el Desempeño del Ministerio Público (2000-2018), p. 64.
See Annual Report of the Public Prosecutor’s Office 2016, p. 12, available at:
https://lortegadiaz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/INFORME-ANUAL-2016_web.pdf.
195
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