IACHR condemns Venezuela on disappearances


The Inter-American Court on Human Rights (IACHR) found that the Venezuelan State violated the rights to life, physical integrity, personal freedom, legal guarantees and legal protection set forth under the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.

Amid a natural disaster hitting coastal north central Vargas state in 1999, police corps performance resulted in the forced disappearance of Oscar José Blanco Romero, Roberto Javier Hernández Paz and José Francisco Rivas Fernández.

IACHR assessed claims of abuses committed by police and military officers when cracking down on lootings and other vandal acts that took place amid chaos resulting from serious landslides in Vargas state in December 1999. Blanco Romero, Hernández Paz and Rivas Fernández were arrested by Army officers, handed over to the Directorate for Intelligence, Security, and Prevention (Disip) and then they disappeared.

Relatives unsuccessfully file legal actions in Venezuela. Backed by human rights organization Cofavic and the human rights vicarage of the Caracas Archdiocese, they subsequently took their case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and then to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights.

IACHR ruled that Venezuela should conduct unbiased investigations to clarify these events and penalize the culprits. Venezuela also has the obligation to find Blanco Romero, Hernández Paz and Rivas Fernández, and in the event that they are dead, to deliver their remains to relatives.

The Venezuelan State will have to compensate relatives with USD 45,000 (Blanco Romero), USD 47,000 (Hernández Paz) and USD 65,000 (Rivas Fernández) for lost profits. It will also have to pay USD 1,000 in each case for emerging damages, as well as USD 40,000 in each case for the concept of attorneys' fees, among other compensations.