A/HRC/45/CRP.11 CASE 12: Detentions of private citizens for statements on social media perceived as critical of the Government 691. Between 2014 and 2019, at least 18 private citizens were detained for statements they published on Twitter. Many were detained in SEBIN and DGCIM facilities for long periods despite being charged with relatively minor offences. The detainees alleged suffering torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, poor conditions of detention, and due process violations including being held incommunicado or after judicial release orders were issued. The Mission documented three of these cases in detail. An additional case is included in the section on DGCIM, below.1353 692. On 12 June 2014, the National Commission on Telecommunications (CONATEL) sent a dossier to SEBIN Director Gustavo González López with detailed information about prominent Twitter users, including their IP addresses and server locations. The report focused on @williamsDPV123 and @AnonymusWar, according to documents leaked to journalists.1354 These documents indicate that CONATEL collaborated with law enforcement and intelligence officers to identify and locate social media users and surveil their private messages.1355 “Tweeters of Terror” 693. Late 2014 saw an increase in arrests of social media users critical of the Government compared to previous years. From August to October 2014, SEBIN officers detained at least eight people tweeting about social or political topics. Most arrests occurred shortly after 1 October 2014, when unknown persons murdered Robert Serra and his assistant Maria Herrera.1356 Mr. Serra was a prominent PSUV congressional representative. High-ranking Government officers made public declarations linking Twitter users to the murder, although none faced charges in connection to the crime.1357 694. Following Mr. Serra’s death, Twitter users tweeted derogatory statements about Mr. Serra, and on 10 October 2014, one user published leaked autopsy photographs of Mr. Serra’s body. Over the following days, SEBIN officers arrested seven Twitter users in connection with Mr. Serra’s death. CONATEL also blocked the news portal Infobae.com, which published material related to Mr. Serra’s murder, including the leaked photos of his body.1358 The seven individuals detained were: 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358 150 See below, Case 19: Karen Palacios (2019). RunRunes, @Conatel elaboróelaboreelabore informes para el @SEBIN_OFICIAL sobre tuiteros detenidos, 3 July 2015, available at: http://bit.ly/1GXrDwA. On 21 August 2014, Twitter user @AnonymusWar, was detained by SEBIN and charged with incitement to hate, conspiracy, outrages and improper access for allegedly hacking a number of accounts belonging to politicians. His detention was announced by Diosdado Cabello on his program “Con El Mazo Dando” on 21 August 2014. Mr. Cabello read the names of the detainees’ contacts aloud on television, alleging his connection with Leopoldo López. See YouTube Video, Noticias Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello anuncia la detencion de Leonel Sanchez Camero (@anonymuswar), available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=jJH2DGIDEro&feature=emb_logo Mr. Serra and Ms. Herrera’s murders were widely covered by the press, and multiple theories circulated about the material and intellectual authorship of the crimes. See, for example: BBC, Venezuela lawmaker Serra's murder blamed on far right, 3 October 2014, available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-29472975; Notimerica, ¿Quién asesinó a Robert Serra?, 1 October 2014, available at: https://www.notimerica.com/politica/noticia-quien-asesinorobert-serra-20171001072000.html; ABC, El macabro asesinato del diputado chavista Robert Serra en Venezuela, 7 Octgober 2014, available at: https://www.abc.es/internacional/20141006/abci-macabroasesinato-diputado-chavista-201410061635.html. Mission Interview with Inés González on 26 June 2020; Mission Interview with Lessi Marcano on 30 June 2020; Interview with Víctor Ugas on 30 July 2020. https://twitter.com/planwac/status/520642853954125824