Case history: Marino Alvarado
On 1 October 2015, at approximately 5:30 pm, human rights defender Mr Marino Alvarado, along with his nine-year-old son, was subjected to an aggravated robbery in his home.
The incident follows public declarations by the President, Nicolas Maduro, against the human rights defender made on television in August 2015.
Marino Alvarado is the former general coordinator of human rights organisation Programa Venezolano de Educación y Acción en Derechos Humanos – PROVEA (Venezuelan Programme for Education and Action in Human Rights). PROVEA is an internationally respected human rights organisation that was founded in 1988 and works independently to promote and defend human rights in Venezuela. It aims to educate people about human rights and to promote the diffusion of human rights principles.
On 1 October 2015, at approximately 5:30 pm, human rights defender Mr Marino Alvarado, along with his nine-year-old son, was subjected to an aggravated robbery in his home.
The incident follows public declarations by the President, Nicolas Maduro, against the human rights defender made on television in August 2015.
On 1 October 2015, Marino Alvarado and his son were at their home in Caracas when three armed persons entered their home and tied them up for forty minutes. The assailants took with them two laptops, a tablet, two telephones, a camera and some money. Marino Alvarado received blows to the head which required medical attention afterwards. The human rights defender has made a formal complaint to authorities.
Marino Alvarado had submitted a request for protection measures from the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights before this event had taken place, owing to the constant harassment and intimidation to which he has been subjected by high-level officials of the Venezuelan state.
On 21 August 2015, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared on national television and made hostile statements against Provea, in which he labelled them a right-wing political organisation that presents itself as a human rights organisation, and which is financed by the National Endowment for Democracy, an organisation funded by the US government.
In fact, Provea does not receive funding from this programme, nor does it carry out political work. The President also stated that he personally knows Marino Alvarado and that he is Colombian, at a time when anti-Colombian sentiment was high in the country. Provea has also indicated that Marino Alvarado has been subjected to false accusations linking him to Colombian paramilitarism, the illicit receipt of money and of conspiratorial and destabilising acts against the country.
The declarations by Mr Maduro came in the context of an evaluation by Provea of the new national security plan, which is known as Operativo de Liberación del Pueblo (Operation Free the People). Provea has highlighted the negative implications of this programme, which has been implemented by state security forces, mainly in poorer sections of society, and which has resulted in serious human rights violations.
Since November 2014, human rights defenders in Venezuela have faced defamation on national television on the programme “Con el mazo dando”, presented by Diosdado Cabello and which is transmitted weekly. Indeed, the climate for human rights defenders in Venezuela grows more difficult by the day.
In May 2015 Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal regarding the interception of communications between human rights defenders, including that of Marino Alvarado. Front Line Defenders also issued an urgent appeal regarding intimidation and threats against human rights defenders following their return to Venezuela after attending a session of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights in March.
On 21 August 2015, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appeared on national television and made hostile statements agsinst human rights organisation Programa Venezolano de Educación Acción en Derechos Humanos – PROVEA, (Venezuelan Programme for Education and Action in Human Rights), in which he labelled them a right-wing political organisation, financed by the United States government.
In his declarations, made on the programme Último Minuto broadcast on television channel Telesur, the President stated that Provea presented itself as a human rights organisation so that it could garner funding from programmes such as that of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and later pursue political ends with this funding. While Provea does receive funding from US-based philanthropic foundations, it does not receive funding from NED.The President also responded to what he claims is a campaign against him by Provea in which he was allegedly labelled anti-Colombian. He further commented that he would not be stopped by anyone.
The declarations by Mr Maduro come in the context of an evaluation by Provea of the new national security plan, which is known as Operativo de Liberación del Pueblo (Operation Free the People). Provea has pointed to the negative implications of this programme, which has been implemented by state security forces, mainly in poorer sections of society, and which has resulted in serious human rights violations such as arbitrary detentions, extra-judicial killings by police officers, illegal raids, mistreatment of detainees and a campaign of xenophobia against Colombians living in the country.
Since November, human rights defenders in Venezuela have faced defamation on national television on the programme “Con el mazo dando”, presented by Diosdado Cabello and which is transmitted weekly. Indeed, the climate for human rights defenders in Venezuela grows more difficult by the day. In May Front Line Defenders issued an urgent appeal regarding the interception of communications between human rights defenders, including that of Marino Alvarado. Front Line Defenders also issued an urgent appeal regarding intimidation and threats against human rights defenders following their return to Venezuela after attending a session of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights in March.
On 27 May 2015, representatives of Venezuelan human rights organisations Provea and Espacio Público filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor denouncing the illegal interception of their communications by the Venezuelan government.
The complaint was filed by the Coordinator of Provea, Mr Rafael Uzcátegui, and Mr Carlos Correa, Director of Espacio Público, following statements made by Mr Diosdado Cabello, President of the Venezuelan National Assembly, on his national television programme. The statements, broadcast on 13 May 2015, recounted explicit details of trips planned by the organisations in April 2015 to meet other Latin American human rights organisations in Chile and Peru. Although information of travel itineraries and scheduled meetings with non-governmental organisations may have been publicly accessible, a planned meeting of representatives of Provea and Espacio Público with Mr Marino Alvarado, a member of the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict who currently resides in Brazil, could only have been discovered through illegal surveillance. The organisations had only been in contact with Marino Alvarado electronically, indicating the monitoring of their online correspondences.
Provea and Espacio Público have been among many civil society organisations who have faced governmental harassment through state controlled means of communication, in particular Diosdado Cabello's weekly television show, 'Con el Mazo Dando'. The attempted criminalisation and discrediting of their work has been augmented by harassment of individual members of the organisations. On 22 March 2015, Rafael Uzcátegui was followed upon arrival at Simón Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetía.
The human rights organisations have based their complaint on Article 48 of the Venezuelan Constitution, which guarantees the inviolability of all forms of private communications, and prohibits its violation except by court order in due process of law.
