Freedom of Expression
Press Release R232/19
Office
of the Special Rapporteur condemns that communicators Pedro Jaimes and Jesús
Medina have served one year in prison in Venezuela without being convicted
September
18, 2019
Washington,
D.C.- The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expresses severe concern over
the prolonged detention in prison of communicators Pedro Jaimes and Jesús
Medina in Venezuela based on norms that arbitrarily criminalize the exercise of
freedom of expression, as established by the IACHR in its latest report on the
human rights situation in Venezuela. Likewise, the Office of the Special
Rapporteur condemns that none of the communicators has been brought before a
judge and their health condition have worsened given the current detention conditions.
Jaimes, who
has been issued precautionary measures by the IACHR, was arrested without a
warrant by the SEBIN on May 10, 2018 when he was at home. After spending 33 days without communication at SEBIN he was
charged with the offenses of interference with aeronautical operations,
computer espionage, and revelation of political secrets, based on the fact that
he published the trajectory of the presidential plane on an account on aeronautical
issues (@aerometeo) on the social network Twitter. The publication, without
comments or additions, reproduced a photo of an open and public website that
daily publishes the trajectories of all airplanes that circulate in the
airspace. During his detention, Jaimes would have been beaten on several
occasions and one of his ribs was fractured. The preliminary hearing to examine
the charges against him has been deferred 7 times.
On the other
hand, photographer Jesús Medina, who was collaborating with different
informative portals, was arrested on August 29, 2018 at Plaza Venezuela of the
Caracas Metro, after making a report on the situation of the University
Hospital of Caracas. Since then, he has been detained in the Ramo Verde
military jail awaiting a judicial hearing, and various organizations have
denounced the worsening of his physical and health condition. Initially, the
crimes imputed to him were money laundering, fraudulent use against acts of the
public administration, instigation to hatred, and association to commit crimes.
However, when he was sentenced to pretrial detention, only the charges of
"hate speech" and "criminal association" were maintained.
To date, the oral trial against him has not started.
The Office
of the Special Rapporteur and the IACHR have warned on various occasions about
the use of vague and ambiguous criminal figures that do not meet the
international law requirements to criminalize journalistic work, the defense of
human rights, and expressions of criticism through social networks. Similarly,
the IACHR in its Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression established
that prison sentences to sanction expressions on public officials or issues of
public interest are contrary to the inter-American legal framework. "These
processes in Venezuela aim to criminalize journalism, as well as complaints and
expressions on social networks protected by the American Declaration of Human
Rights and other international instruments, this, together with the prolonged
use of pretrial detention, has the goal of generating a broad chilling effect
in Venezuela "said The Special Rapporteur Edison Lanza.
The Office
of the Special Rapporteur and the IACHR had already expressed their grave
concern about the provisions approved by the so-called National Assembly in
Venezuela through the "Law Against Hate, for Peaceful Coexistence and
Tolerance", which would have been approved to protect "peace, public
tranquility, and the nation," and that established exorbitant criminal
sanctions and granted powers to state agencies to censor traditional media and
Internet platforms, as well as make it possible to imprison those who express
themselves on the Internet, contradicting international standards on freedom of
expression.
In both
cases, the communicators should face a fair trial, enjoying their personal liberty,
taking into account the type of crimes they are charged with, which are
contrary to the international standards and the lack of due process that the
IACHR has indicated occurs in cases of political detention in Venezuela.
The IACHR
and its Office of the Special Rapporteur understand that according to Article
13.5 of the American Convention, States may sanction by law the discourse that advocates
for violence or incites violence for discriminatory or hateful reasons, however,
these norms cannot be drafted in ambiguous terms that prevent knowing what the
prohibited conduct is, and they cannot be used against dissenting or critical
voices.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of
Expression was created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
with the aim of encouraging the defense of the right to freedom of thought and
expression in the hemisphere, given its fundamental role in consolidating and
developing the democratic system.
R232/19