www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 14, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Foro por la Vida human rights umbrella group has welcomed a decision by Anzoategui State 3rd Control judge Hilda Zamora to bring Bolivar municipality police agents to trial for the summary execution of Carlos Arturo Ramos. Zamora.

The group says it supports the work done by the Anzoategui State Human Rights Foundation in highlighting police abuses and defending the family of the deceased.

"Judge Zamora has found sufficient evidence to put Rafael Jimenez, German Matey, Angel Custodio Figuera and Andres Alexander Medina Barrero in jail until they stand for trial. "

Foro por la Vida has asked the judge to ensure that the Barcelona Penitentiary meets security requirements for the police agents to protect their personal integrity or investigate the possibility sending them to another detention center that will guarantee their human rights.

• Finally, the group has criticized the Anzoategui police for launching a nasty publicity campaign to disqualify Ramos’ name.

“The protection of the right to citizen security is not incompatible with the preservation of the rule of law and respect for each human right. On the contrary, only a police force that respects those principles can guarantee citizen security.”

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, March 14, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The United Kingdom (UK)  Embassy in Caracas has replied to charges that the Venezuelan government has wasted funds for prison reform. An Embassy spokesman reports that the UK financed a numbers of workshops to train 37 prison directors during 1999-2002.

“The workshops concluded successfully and had the full support of the Venezuelan Interior & Justice (MIJ) Ministry.”

The British government continues to support a project to draw up prison administration guidelines incorporating human rights principles. Kings College International Studies for Prison Studies Professor Andrew Coyle is leading the project.

The Embassy has spent more than 200,000 pounds streling per year in human rights, governance, environment and narcotics control projects, citing as examples an agreement between the Portuguesa State Government and Red de Apoyo HR group to train police officers in human rights issues and a project with Amnesty International to train Caracas police forces in HR issues.

www.ledger-enquirer.com Posted on Tue, Mar. 11, 2003 BY MICK WALSH Staff Writer

The first meeting of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation booster club was held Monday night at Miriam's Cafe and Gallery.

Perhaps the invitation-only dinner shouldn't be called a meeting, for there were no minutes taken, motions made or votes taken.

But boosterism was indeed the main entree as more than 100 politicians, police officers, firefighters, educators and business leaders came to hear the virtues of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation praised.

Nary an SOA Watch protester was in the vicinity.

"Very impressive" was the way Col. Javier Vanegas, an institute instructor in human rights, described the party. "It's good because it allows the integration of the important people of this community and the staff and faculty of our school."

And that's the way Miriam Tidwell and her husband, Dr. Jack Tidwell, wanted it.

When asked if the institute commandant Col. Richard Downie was simply preaching to the choir, Tidwell admitted most the guests were solid supporters of what was once known as the School of the Americas.

"But I invited people here tonight to let them know how committed the folks of the school are to Columbus," she said. "The school will be heavily involved in several community activities in the weeks ahead."

Downie, who says Miriam Tidwell has more energy than even Mayor Bob Poydasheff, says he's excited about the institute's involvement in such upcoming events as the Easter Weekend 5 and 10k races to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, the late April Tour de Georgia bicycle race and springtime visits by 70 Hardaway senior Spanish students.

"I think this community pretty well knows what we stand for, and in that respect the people here tonight are our friends," he said. "But several of the projects coming up, especially our involvement in Habitat and with the high school students will enable us to talk to people who may not know our mission.

"I'm very excited about having the Hardaway students come to our school and audit courses and to meet our students."

Downie added that the more high school students he can educate about the institute, the better the chance they'll spread the message of the school when they go off to college.

"Maybe then the kids who protest each year will at least have heard both sides of the story before they come down to Fort Benning," he said.

Colonel Vanegas, on loan here from Venezuela, likes the idea of a booster club, people from the community who rally behind his school.

"I think it is very important that as many people as possible learn our mission," he said. "If we tell these people, they will tell others and so on. It's a good thing."

Contact Mick Walsh at (706) 571-8588 or mwalsh@ledger-enquirer.com

www.alertnet.org 10 Mar 2003 23:38

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - A human rights body on Monday painted an alarming picture of human rights abuses in Venezuela with accusations that armed groups were intimidating opponents with "impunity" and that the government was doing little to stop it.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States, said some police groups were involved in "extrajudicial executions" amid a backdrop of increasing political tensions there.

Venezuela is deeply divided between supporters of President Hugo Chavez, a fiery populist, and his foes, who organized an unsuccessful strike in an effort to force him to call early elections or resign.

Street clashes between the two sides have left 40 dead and over 750 wounded between March of last year and early January, according to the commission, which said the situation in Venezuela as one of "extreme political polarization."

"The commission observes ... the impunity that characterizes human rights violations in Venezuela, without consideration for state's obligation to investigate and sanction those responsible" for abuses, it said in a statement.

Failure to investigate rights violations would lead to "grave consequences" for the rule of law.

The commission's long list of concerns ranged from harassment of rights activists to a proposed bill that would curtail freedom of the press. It also said that "armed civil groups" carry out political violence and it expressed concern for "the impunity that they enjoy."

Police forces in the interior provinces of the country were involved in "extermination groups," mostly in the interior of Venezuela. Over one-hundred extrajudicial executions have been reported in the state of Portuguesa, according to the commission.

The commission is an autonomous body of the OAS, which brings together 34 countries in Caribbean, North and South America. On Friday, the commission concluded a three-week session, which included testimonies on Venezuela by civil groups, human rights organizations and government officials.

The statement comes as diplomats from six countries --Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and the United States-- met in Brasilia on Monday to find ways to give the stalled talks between the government and the opposition a new start.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Venezuelan Prisons Inspectorate is lobbying National Assembly (AN) president Francisco Ameliach to appoint a special subcommittee to investigate the critical situation in Venezuela’s prisons brought into the spotlight by hunger strikes in several prisons.

Inspectorate coordinator, Humberto Prado says the strike is a protest against delayed legal processes, scarcity of food and infrahuman searches families are subject to when they visit inmates.

“Since this administration came to power there have been 6 Justice Ministers and nine changes of prison governors all with different plans and all with no results.”

The Observatory calls on the government, public powers, the business sector, churches and NGOs to collaborate in drawing up a prison program. “I think it should go from the President down to avoid change of plans and ministerial incompliance.”