Allegations of torture against a 16-year-old girl and her father in order to obtain statements in Caracas

Allegations of torture and ill-treatment/ Threats andacts of intimidation/

Serious fear for safety and personal integrity

The International Secretariat of the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT interventionin the following situation in Venezuela.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has beeninformed by Red de Apoyo por la Justicia y la Paz (REDAPOYO) amember of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about allegations of torture andill-treatment inflicted on the teenage girl Francis Daniela Núñez Martínez,16 years old, and her father Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez, aiming atextracting information, and about serious fear for the safety and, physical and psychological integrity ofthe aforementioned girl, her father and all other members of her family. Theevents happened in the community of Brisas de Petare, in the city of Caracas.

According to the information received, on 29 January 2011, abirthday party for Francis Daniela Núnez Martínez was being held in Mr. Daniel AntonioNúñez’s house. According thesame information, a group of approximate 80 persons gathered around the house,although they had not been invited to the party and were unknown to the family.Around 3.30 a.m.gunshots were heard outside the house. It was known afterwards that a younggirl, whose name remains unknown, and who had not been invited to the party andwas unknown to anyone of Francis Daniela’s family, was shot. The girl diedafterwards in the Domingo Luciani Hospital.

The following day, on 30 January 2010, around 11.30 a.m., a group of six to eight uniformed membersof the investigative police (Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales yCriminalísticas (CICPC)) arrived atMr. DanielAntonio Núñez’s house and started to make questions regarding the previousnight’s events. They noted down Mr.DanielAntonio Núñez’s, his daughter FrancisDaniela Núnez Martínez’s and Jesus Alberto Vivas’, a cousin of hers, personal data and a summoning was handed over to them toappear the very same day to testify at the CICPC quarters.

Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez, Francis Daniela Núnez Martínez and Mr. Jesus AlbertoVivas went to CICPC quarters around 12 o’clock, where they were separated and put inseparate rooms. Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez remained seated for around two hours until he wasordered to clear his trouser pockets. Mr. Núñez’s mobile phone was also seized.Afterwards two other members of the investigative police arrived asking him what he had seen and who hadshot at the young girl. Mr. Núñez answered that he didn’t know, because hewasn’t present at the place where the events occurred. He was subsequentlygrossly insulted and taken to yet another office.

After being ordered totake off his shoelaces and his belt, members of the investigative police, started again to ask Mr.Núñez who had shot the girl, insisting that he did know who the perpetratorwas. Mr. Núñez repeated that he didn’t know, following which he was beaten onthe neck and several times in the face. They went on threatening him withraping his daughter, putting afterwards a black bag over his head, having ropedhis hands before, so as to asphyxiate him. Finally, Mr. Núñez signed and puthis digital prints on a statement after having read it.

In the meantime, inanother room, Francis DanielaNúñez Martínez was being interrogated by three male members of the investigative police without the presenceof her mother or of a prosecutor of the Attorney General’s Office, despitebeing a minor. She was asked who wore a short-sleeved, black and whitechequered shirt. When she answered that she didn’t know, the members of the investigative police went on with theinterrogation, and after binding her hands together with a belt, they asked thesame questions again. The girl denied again any knowledge and consequently the members of the investigative police threatened her toaccuse her of drug-dealing. Francis Daniela Núñez Martínez, after hearing thather father was being beaten in the other room, declared that she did see theyoung man with the shirt near the fence at the house taking out a gun. FrancisDaniela signed and put her finger prints on a statement that she did not read.

There is currently no information on what happenedwith Mr. Jesus Alberto Vivas.

The International Secretariat of OMCT firmly condemnsthe allegations of ill-treatment and physical and psychological tortureinflicted on Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez and the minor Francis Daniela NúñezMartínez. OMCT is deeply concerned about their safety and physical andpsychological integrity and that of other members of the Núñez Martínez family, of Mr. Jesús Alberto Vivas, and of all witnesses of theabove-mentioned events, and as such, calls on the highest competent authoritiesof Venezuela to take the necessary steps to guarantee these.

OMCT urges that the statements given by FrancisDaniela Núñez and her father Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez be declared null andvoid, as they were coerced with threats, ill-treatment and psychologicaltorture; if necessary, Francis Daniela Núñez Martínez should be given theopportunity to testify again in the presence of a prosecutor of the AttorneyGeneral’s Office competent in childprotection matters in order to guarantee her right. OMCTfurther calls upon the Venezuelan authorities to ensure that Francis DanielaNúñez Martínez, Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez and Mr. Jesús Alberto Vivas, be examined by a doctor to conductphysical and psychological examinations.

OMCT urges the competent authorities of Venezuela to carry out a prompt, effective,thorough, independent and impartial investigation into these events, and that its conclusions are made public, in order toidentify those responsible, to bring them before an independent, competent andimpartial civilian court, and to apply the criminal, civil and/oradministrative sanctions provided for by law.

OMCT recalls to the authorities to conform with Venezuelas’s international human rights obligations, in this case in particular, theright not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment, and to bringing to justice thoseresponsible for violating these rights.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Venezuela urging them to:

i. Take the mostappropriate measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity ofthe minor Francis Daniela Núñez Martínez, Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez, Mr. JesúsAlberto Vivas and the other members of the family, in particular of Ms. AlinaMartínez and as well asof all the other people who have witnessed theses facts;

ii. Carry out a prompt, effective,thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the aforementioned humanrights violations, the result of whichmust be made public, in order to bring those responsible before acompetent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/oradministrative sanctions as provided by law;

iii. Declarenull and void the statements given by the minor Francis Daniela Núñez Martínez and Mr. Daniel Antonio Núñez, which were as mentionedbefore obtained under coercion and physical and psychologicaltorture. If necessary Francis Danielashould be given the opportunity to testify again in presence of a prosecutor ofthe Attorney General’s Office, competent in child protection matters in orderto guarantee her rights;

iv. Guaranteethe respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the countryin accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

· President of the Republic, H.E. Hugo Chávez Frías. Palacio deMiraflores, Caracas,

Venezuela; Fax: + 58 212 806 3698 E-mail: dggcomunicacional@presidencia.gob.ve

Tel.: + 58212 806 3111 + 58 212 806 3229

· Citizen Luisa Ortega Díaz, General Attorney of the BolivarianRepublic of Venezuela, Esquina de Misericordia a Pele el Ojo. Av. México. Caracas. E-mail: mp@fiscalia.gov.ve Fax: + 58 212 575 4467 Tels.:+ 58 212 509 7211 + 58 212 509 7464

· Citizen Tareck El Aissami, Ministro del Poder Popular para las RelacionesInteriores y Justicia, Av. Urdaneta, Animas Plaza España,Centro Financiero Latino, P-28, Caracas.

Fax: + 58 212505 3157 + 58 212 505 3159 + 58 212 506 1557 + 58 212 506 1064

Tel.: + 58 212 5053153 + 58 212 505 3156

· Citizen WilmerFlores Trosel, Comisario General, Director General del Cuerpo de InvestigacionesCientíficas, Penales y Criminalísticas, AvenidaUrdaneta, de Pelota a Punceres, Edif. CICPC, Caracas. Tels.: + 58 212 443 2652

· Citizen CarlaFerreira, Fiscalía Nº 126 con Competencia en Derechos Fundamentales, EdificioSede del Ministerio Público, Esquinade Ánimas. Av. Urdaneta, Caracas, E-mail: fcaracas@fiscalia.gov.ve Fax: + 58 212 4086974

· Citizen Gabriela Ramírez Pérez, Defensora del Pueblo dela República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Av.Urdaneta, Animas Plaza España, Centro Financiero Latino, P-28, Caracas.

Fax: + 58 212 5754467 E-mail: denuncias@defensoria.gob.ve Estadirección electrónica esta protegida contra spam bots. Necesita activarJavaScript para visualizarla dmetropolitana@defensoria.gob.ve Tels.: + 58 212 505 3153 + 58 212 505 3156

· H.E. Germán Mundaraín Hernández, Permanent Mission of Venezuela to the United Nations in Geneva, 18-a, CheminFrançois-Lehmann, 1218, Geneva, Switzerland. FAX:+ 41 22 723 28 81; E-mail: mission.venezuela@ties.itu.int

Pleasealso write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of the Bolivarian Republicof Venezuela in your respective country.

Geneva,4 February 2011

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting thecode of this appeal in your reply.

[1] This is asummary of the case. For the complete case, please check the original version.