The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) considered the Venezuelan State responsible for a massacre in 2018 in which seven people were killed by security forces of the Nicolás Maduro dictatorship.
According to a statement released by the IACHR on Tuesday (26), the Venezuelan State was responsible for violating the rights to life, personal integrity, judicial guarantees, freedom of conscience and religion and judicial protection.
In December 2017, members of the National Equilibrium Movement, founded by an agent of the Venezuelan Scientific Police and critic of the Chavista regime, Oscar Pérez, entered a Bolivarian National Guard barracks in San Pedro de Los Altos, in the Caracas region, from where they took rifles and pistols.
According to the IACHR, Pérez then published a video of the incident on his Twitter account, which led dictator Nicolás Maduro to order the use of force against the group, which he described as “terrorist”.
In January 2018, around 500 security agents attacked the house where Oscar Pérez and six other people were staying. “Although, as shown in several videos recorded by Oscar Pérez, the victims surrendered and expressed their willingness to start negotiations, state authorities entered the house, using heavy weapons. All victims lost their lives during the operation,” reported the IACHR.
The commission added that autopsies and photos published in the press indicated that the seven people were victims of executions. Families were intimidated and the state did not allow them to hold proper funerals.
“In a report, the Inter-American Commission concluded that the use of lethal force by the State was incompatible with international obligations and considered that the principle of absolute necessity was not complied with, nor were less harmful measures adopted, which resulted in the extrajudicial action of execution of seven people already neutralized. The commission noted that the victims were cornered and subsequently executed, which highlights the violation of the right to life and personal integrity,” said the IACHR statement.
“Regarding judicial guarantees, the commission observed, among other elements, the lack of documentation relating to the opening of an investigation, together with the demolition of the location of the events and the lack of preservation of evidence,” said the commission.
The IACHR recommended three measures to the Chavista regime: reparations to the families of the victims; carry out investigations to identify and punish those responsible; and take measures to ensure that similar cases do not occur in the future, such as training police and military agents and establishing adequate accountability mechanisms in situations of abuse committed by security forces.
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