[NYTr] Chavez's Amnesty Decree Draws Praise, Criticism and Debate

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[The amnesty also included some ordinary criminal prisoners, including
those suffering from AIDS.  The Catholic Church and the right-wing
opposition is demanding that amnesty should to granted to all opponents,
including those who committed murder and rape during the short-lived
2002 coup and those guilty of serious economic sabotage against the oil
industry after the coup flopped.  Some of these people are still
fugitives. Chavez is not that foolish, and has refused. - NYTr]


Venezuelanalysis - Jan 3, 2008
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3030

Venezuelan President’s Amnesty for Coup Participants is Praised and
Criticised

by Kiraz Janicke

Caracas, January 3, 2008, (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez granted amnesty on Monday to a number of opposition leaders
connected to the shortlived military coup against his government in
April 2002 and a two month oil industry shutdown which caused an
estimated $10 billion dollars damage to the economy and ended in
January 2003.

Chavez said he hoped the amnesty decree would “send a message to the
country that we can live together despite our differences.”

However, he rejected opposition claims that those charged and convicted
in relation to the coup are victims of political persecution, saying,
“It is false that anyone in Venezuela is imprisoned for their political
ideas.” Among the beneficiaries of the amnesty are those who wrote and
signed the infamous “Carmona decree” of the 48 hour coup government
which dissolved a number of democratically elected public institutions
such as the Supreme Court and the National Assembly.

The measure also covers those charged with the illegal arrest and
detention of former Interior Minister, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, the
forced entry of the residence of National Assembly Deputy Iris Valera
and the illegal takeover of the Governorships of Merida and Tachira,
and the Court of Justice in Tachira, as well as those responsible for
the closure of state owned VTV, the takeover of oil tankers during the
oil industry shutdown, and those accused of inciting civil rebellion up
to December 2, 2007.

Chavez made clear that the decree does not cover “those persons who
have committed crimes against humanity, grave violations of human
rights, and crimes of war,” or “those who are fugitives from justice,
those who never wanted to recognize Venezuelan institutions.”

This rules out amnesty for businessman Pedro Carmona Estanga, who
illegally declared himself president during the coup; union boss Carlos
Ortega, who led the oil industry shutdown, and ex-governor of Miranda,
Enrique Mondoza, who closed down VTV during the coup and went into
hiding rather than face charges, ex-governor of Yaracuy, Eduardo Lapi,
and a number of Generals and other military officials.

Also excluded from the amnesty are eleven Metropolitan police officers
facing charges relating to the coup including crimes against humanity
and violation of human rights.

In an attack that triggered the coup, Metropolitan police officers
aligned with the oppostion, opened fire with long-range rifles,
sub-machine guns, and other weapons, on groups of pro- and
anti-government protesters in Avenida Baralt and Puente Llaguno, near
the presidential palace on April 11, 2002. Nineteen people were shot
dead and a futher 200 were injured during the confrontation.

Former director of the Metropolitian police, Henry Vivas and officers
Lázaro Forero and Iván Simonovis are accused of co-ordinating the
attack and a further eight Metropolitan police officers are also
charged with participating in the shootings.

The decree has sparked a debate throughout the country, with sectors of
the opposition, including the heirarchy of the Catholic Church, arguing
that although the amnesty is a “positive step” it is also
“discriminatory” and should broadened to cover the eleven police
officers as well as third parties facing charges not directly related
to the coup, such as 40 year old opposition student leader Nixon
Moreno, who is wanted in relation to the attempted rape of a female
police officer in Merida.

Cardenal Jorge Urosa said, “I believe that it is important that
Siminovis, Vivas, and Forero, who have been imprisoned for three years,
with trials that have not finished, can recuperate their liberty. The
crimes of which they are accused are very confusing.”

Mónica Fernández, representative lawyers group, Foro Penal Venezolano,
also called for the amnesty to be broadened to include “political
exiles” such as Carmona Estanga and Ortega. Fernández herself is a
beneficiary of the decree. A former judge, Fernández was charged in
December 2004

with the crimes of “illegal deprivation of liberty” and “abuse of
authority” for having ordered the illegal arrest of ex-Interior
Minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín during the coup.

Sectors that support Chavez have also rejected the decree, arguing that
the opposition sectors that carried out the coup and oil industry
shutdown have not shown any remorse or will to rectify their actions.

Manuel Rodríguez, told ABN that the president should not have signed
the decree. “Where were our human rights when they [the oppostion]
paralyzed the country?” he asked.

David Alvarado agreed, the amnesty decree should take into account the
rights of the people affected by the coup and oil industry shutdown, he
argued.

However, other sectors have manifested their support for Chavez’s
decision, saying he aims to maintain peace and promote coexistance and
peaceful debate with the oppostion.

Yesenia Fuentes, a Chavez supporter who was shot in the face by a
Metropolitan police unit during the coup, expressed relief that those
charged with crimes against humanity and violations of human rights
would not be granted amnesty.

“Our slogan since 2002 is ‘Without justice there will never be peace,’
and we will carry this banner until we see these eleven criminals,
including Forero, Vivas and Simonovis, in a maximum security prison
like common prisoners,” she said.

Antonio Molina, a lawyer representing the Association of Victims of the
April 11, 2002 coup, condemned opposition calls to extend the amnesty
to cover the eleven police officers.

The opposition campaign aims to convince public opinion that the police
officers are being discriminated against, Molina said. Rather, he
clarified, it is the serious nature of the charges, including crimes
against humanity and violations of human rights, that impedes any
amnesty.

“The Venezuelan state cannot, under any circumstance, grant any type of
beneficial treatment to these people, because that would imply
impunity,” Molina explained.

In a second decree Chavez also pardoned 36 prisoners convicted of
various crimes, a number of prisoners diagnosed with AIDS were pardoned
for humanitarian reasons and others for good behaviour and having
completed more than half their sentence.