(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 6 December 2002 CPJ letter to President Hugo Chávez Frías: December 6, 2002 His Excellency Hugo Chávez Frías President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Palacio de Miraflores Caracas, Venezuela Via facsimile: 58-212-806-3221 Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the numerous attacks against Venezuelan […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 6 December 2002 CPJ letter to President Hugo Chávez Frías:
December 6, 2002
His Excellency Hugo Chávez Frías
President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Palacio de Miraflores
Caracas, Venezuela
Via facsimile: 58-212-806-3221
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is alarmed by the numerous attacks against Venezuelan journalists during the last three weeks. The two latest incidents, which occurred this week during a strike by the political opposition, the country’s largest workers’ union and an association of businesses, are particularly worrying because state security forces were either involved in the
aggressions or did little to stop them.
We are particularly concerned about the following incidents:
* On November 19, journalists from the state-run channel Venezolana de Television (VTV) were attacked while trying to cover an opposition demonstration in the Caracas neighbourhood of Altamira. Reporter Zaida Pereira and cameraman Eduard Escalona were preparing to broadcast a report when opposition members blocked their access to the area. As Pereira protested and Escalona began filming, the opposition members beat Escalona and took his camera, which had recorded part of the assault. The camera was returned half an hour later without the tape and on the condition that Pereira and Escalona leave the scene.
* On December 3, National Guard troops attacked several journalists while they covered an opposition demonstration near the Caracas headquarters of the state oil company, PDVSA. According to journalists contacted by CPJ, the security forces fired rubber bullets and threw tear gas grenades at journalists and other civilians. Fernando Malavé, a photographer with the Caracas daily 2001, was arguing with guards who were preventing him from taking photos when one guard shot him point-blank with a rubber bullet gun, said 2001 reporter Ángel Arráez. Although he was wearing a bullet-proof vest, Malavé suffered a serious wound to his ribs. In another attack, security forces kicked Rafael Fuenmayor, reporter with the Caracas-based TV channel CMT; and José Antonio Dávila, a CMT technician, was hit with rubber bullets in the neck, face and back after a guard shot him at point-blank range. According to local news reports, troops also beat Luis Alfonso Fernández, a reporter with the Caracas-based TV channel Venevision; and Aymara Lorenzo, a reporter with the news channel Globovision. National Guard generals and other government officials justified their actions, claiming that the journalists had attacked National Guard troops despite evidence that the opposite had occurred. The Public Prosecutor’s Office and the People’s Ombudsman have criticized the National Guard’s violent and disproportionate actions.
* On December 4, government supporters in the city of Barquisimeto, in northeastern Lara State, attacked several journalists. The journalists were covering an opposition protest when government supporters began throwing bottles and stones at them and the protesters. Later, clashes broke out, and government supporters assaulted some journalists. José Rodríguez, a photographer for the Barquisimeto daily El Impulso, was hit with a sharp object in the head and suffered a concussion. Clara Reverol, a reporter with Caracas-based TV channel Televén, was hit in the forehead. Martín Urteaga, a photographer for the Barquisimeto daily El Informador was hit in the head as were Julio Torres and Gustavo Escalona, cameramen with TV channel Venevision. Cristian Rodríguez, a reporter for the Barquisimeto-based TV channel Promar TV, was kicked in the abdomen, while her cameraman José Barreto had the lens of his camera smashed. Reporter Yelina Torrealba and cameraman Miguel Ángel Lopez for Barquisimeto TV channel Telecentro, were beaten. Erika Paz, a reporter with Caracas-based TV channel RCTV, was also beaten, while her cameraman Samuel Sotomayor was beaten and had his camera kicked and destroyed. According to local news reports, the police stood passively while journalists were being harassed and attacked.
CPJ believes that your administration has not taken firm and decisive action to investigate attacks against journalists and media outlets. The Public Prosecutor’s Office has little to show for its investigations into previous attacks. Often, the journalists file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, but the initial investigations are not completed. The government’s failure to conduct thorough inquiries has reinforced the impunity that has long prevailed in Venezuela and has encouraged those who have perpetrated assaults on journalists.
We urge you to do everything in your power to ensure those responsible for attacking journalists are brought to justice, regardless of their political affiliation or sympathies. We also urge you to demonstrate your active support for press freedom by condemning all attacks on the Venezuelan press and by creating a climate in which journalists may fulfill their professional duties without fear of reprisal.
Sincerely,
Ann Cooper
Executive Director
CC:
José Vicente Rangel, Vice President
Diosdado Cabello, Minister of the Interior and Justice
Isaías Rodríguez, Prosecutor General
Eduardo Bertoni, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (OAS)
American Society of Newspaper Editors
Amnesty International
Article 19 (United Kingdom)
Artikel 19 (The Netherlands)
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression
Freedom Forum
Freedom House
Human Rights Watch
Index on Censorship
Inter American Press Association
International Center for Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International PEN
International Press Institute
Lorne W. Craner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Alain Modoux, director, UNESCO Freedom of Expression Program
The Newspaper Guild
The North American Broadcasters Association
Overseas Press Club
Reporters sans frontières
Sergio Vieira de Mello, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Society of Professional Journalists
World Association of Newspapers
World Press Freedom Committee
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to:
His Excellency Hugo Chávez Frías
President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Palacio de Miraflores
Caracas, Venezuela
Fax: +58 212 806 3221
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
