Venezuela: The Responsibility of Those in Charge

Chief General Vladimir Padrino López. Minister of the Popular Power for Defense and the Strategic Operational Commander of the Armed Forces. The Bolivarian National Guard, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and bystanders, and military co
Chief General Vladimir Padrino López. Minister of the Popular Power for Defense and the Strategic Operational Commander of the Armed Forces. The Bolivarian National Guard, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and bystanders, and military courts, which have been prosecuting civilians, report to Padrino López.  © 2016 Reuters
Mayor General José Antonio Benavides Torres. Head of the Bolivarian National Guard, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and bystanders. © 2013 AP Images
Mayor General José Antonio Benavides Torres. Head of the Bolivarian National Guard, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and bystanders. © 2013 AP Images © 2013 AP Images
Mayor General Nestor Reverol. Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Relations, Justice and Peace, and former head of the Bolivarian National Guard (2014-2016). The Bolivarian National Police, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and by
Mayor General Nestor Reverol. Minister of the Popular Power for Interior Relations, Justice and Peace, and former head of the Bolivarian National Guard (2014-2016). The Bolivarian National Police, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and bystanders, reports to Reverol.  © 2017 Reuters
General Carlos Alfredo Pérez Ampueda. National Director of the Bolivarian National Police, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and bystanders.
General Carlos Alfredo Pérez Ampueda. National Director of the Bolivarian National Police, which is implicated in abuses against demonstrators and bystanders.  © 2017 Caraota Digital
Major General Gustavo González López. Director of the Bolivarian Services of National Intelligence, which is implicated in arbitrary arrests and abuses against detainees, and accused of failing to release detainees who obtained judicial orders for their
Major General Gustavo González López.  Director of the Bolivarian Services of National Intelligence, which is implicated in arbitrary arrests and abuses against detainees, and accused of failing to release detainees who obtained judicial orders for their release.  © 2015 Reuters
Captain Siria Venero de Guerrero (in picture, with Defense Minister Padrino López). Military Attorney General. Venero de Guerrero is the top official in charge of military prosecutions. Under Venezuelan law, the military attorney general has powers to ins
Captain Siria Venero de Guerrero (in picture, with Defense Minister Padrino López). Military Attorney General. Venero de Guerrero is the top official in charge of military prosecutions. Under Venezuelan law, the military attorney general has powers to instruct military prosecutors which cases to take and to reject cases in which they should not be involved if they are incompetent, which she does not appear to be doing in cases in which civilians are being prosecuted by military courts. Twitter/@SiriaVenero

High-level officials of the Bolivarian National Guard, the Bolivarian National Police, the Bolivarian National Intelligence Services, and the Military Attorney General’s Office have failed to take adequate steps to prevent or punish human rights violations committed by their subordinates On June 6, 2017, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López acknowledged for the first time that members of the National Guard had committed abuses, stating, “I don’t want to see another member of the National Guard committing an atrocity on the street.” He also said that those who fail to respect human rights and act unprofessionally “must assume their responsibility.” This is a radical departure from previous statements in which he claimed that operations had been carried out with “absolute respect for human rights,” and rejected the Attorney General’s Office’s findings implicating members of the National Guard in the death of a protester. Allegations of abuse have continued since then.

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