A/HRC/45/CRP.11 intervening in the factors that favour or promote crime”.506 It also states that the police will act in strict compliance with human rights507 and work under a principle of citizen participation.508 The revised bylaw of the Organic Law of the Police Service and the National Police was adopted in March 2017.509 The competencies of the police include in the areas of public order, transit, migration, tourism, close protection, anti-corruption, organized crime, anti-kidnapping, irregular armed groups, among others.510 201. The PNB depends on the Ministry of the Interior and its director is appointed by the Minister.511 The previous five directors were former GNB generals. Within the reporting period, this included Brigade General Manuel Pérez Urdaneta (January 2014 to April 2015); Major General Juan Francisco Romero Figueroa (April 2015 to September 2016); Major General Franklin García Duque (September 2016 to March 2017); Brigade General Carlos Anfredo Pérez Ampueda (March 2017 to May 2019); and Brigade General Elio Estrada Paredes (May 2019 to present). The Special Action Forces of the PNB (FAES) 202. The Special Action Forces (FAES) were created in April 2016 as an “elite” tactical force within the PNB, coinciding with the phasing out of the Operations for People’s Liberation (OLP) and the Operations for People’s Humane Liberation (OLHP) (see Chapter IV, below). However, there are no publicly available documents on its creation. The first official reference of the FAES was on 14 July 2017, when President Maduro announced that the FAES had been created “combat against crime and terrorism”.512 203. At national level, the FAES was under the authority of Director Rafael Bastardo until May 2019, after which Miguel Dominguez Ramirez (alias “Miguelito”) assumed national responsibility.513 There are also FAES Directors for different regions. The regions may comprise one or more states. Some have said that the FAES was derived from an elite military force, which was used for special operations.514 204. The FAES has been described by several sources as “unprofessional” and lacking training. As one fomer military officer said, the “FAES is a group of uniformed criminals at the disposal of the Government, not a professional police force”. 515 The FAES quickly became the most lethal police institution in Venezuela, responsible for 64.5 per cent of the deaths the Mission reviewed in 2019 (see Chapter IV). The Mission has not been able to locate official documents or other publicly available information in relation to FAES, including operation manuals, since its creation. The Scientific, Criminal and Criminological Investigator Corps (CICPC) 205. The CICPC is Venezuela’s largest national police agency and is responsible for criminal investigations and forensic services. It replaced the former Technical Corp of 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 available at: http://www.policianacional.gob.ve/index.php/resena/. A proposed reform of the Organic Law has been debated in the National Assembly since 2015. See: https://transparencia.org.ve/project/proyecto-de-la-ley-de-reforma-de-la-ley-organica-del-servicio-depolicia-y-del-cuerpo-de-policia-nacional/. Ibid., art. 5. Ibid., art 12. Ibid., art. 16. Decree No. 2765 of 21 March 2017, available at: https://pandectasdigital.blogspot.com/2017/03/reglamento-general-de-la-ley-organica.html Ibid., art. 37. See police organization chart at http://www.policianacional.gob.ve/index.php/organizacion/. See YouTube Video, Luigino Bracci Roa, Maduro en la graduación en la UNES de la Policía Nacional Bolivariana, 14 July 2017, minute 1:32:00, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ43MSRCeUA. Mission Interview SCHH06 in June 2020. See also Runrun.es, Miguelito el nuevo jefe de las FAES fue miembro de un colectivo y está sancionado por EEUU; 6 May 2019, available at: https://runrun.es/noticias/380036/miguelito-el-nuevo-jefe-de-las-faes-fue-miembro-de-un-colectivoy-esta-sancionado-por-ee-uu/. Mission Interview SCHH04 in June 2020. Mission Interview SCHH02 in June 2020. 55