(Caracas, June 17, 2004) — The Venezuelan
government is undermining the independence of the country’s judiciary ahead
of a presidential recall referendum that may ultimately be decided in the
courts, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. President
Chávez’s governing coalition has begun implementing a new court-packing law
that will strip the Supreme Court of its autonomy.
The 24-page report, “Rigging the Rule of Law: Judicial Independence Under
Siege in Venezuela,” also examines how the new law will make judges more
vulnerable to political persecution and help ensure that legal controversies
surrounding the recall referendum are resolved in Chávez’s favor.
“In the 2002 coup, Venezuela’s democratic order was attacked by some of
Chávez’s opponents,” said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the
Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. “But today the biggest threat to
the country’s rule of law comes from the government itself.”
The new law, which President Chávez signed last month, expands the Supreme
Court from 20 to 32 members. It empowers Chávez’s governing coalition to use
its slim majority in the legislature to obtain an overwhelming majority of
seats on the Supreme Court. The law also gives the governing coalition the
power to nullify existing judges’ appointments to the bench.
Chávez’s supporters in the National Assembly have announced their intention
to name the 12 new justices by July and remove sitting justices whom they
identify with the opposition. The Supreme Court will have jurisdiction over
any legal challenges surrounding the recall referendum, which is scheduled
for August 15.
A political takeover of the Supreme Court will also compound the damage
already done to judicial independence by policies pursued by the Court
itself. The Supreme Court, which has administrative control over the
judiciary, has suspended a program that would reduce the large number of
judges who do not have security of tenure. It has summarily fired judges
after they decided politically controversial cases. And the Supreme Court
has allowed the country’s second highest court to shut down by failing to
resolve the legal appeals of its dismissed judges.
Chávez’s allies justify the measures as a response to the intransigence of
President Chávez’s opponents. They insist that many judges decide cases
based on their political convictions rather than the dictates of the law. As
an example, they cite the Supreme Court’s failure to convict alleged
participants in the 2002 coup.
“Chávez should be working to strengthen the rule of law in Venezuela,” said
Vivanco. “Instead his government is rigging the justice system to favor its
own interests.”
What makes the developments in Venezuela even more alarming is their
potential impact on the country’s already explosive political situation,
particularly the tensions surrounding the successful effort of President
Chávez’s opponents to call for the national referendum that could end his
presidency.
When the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE) disqualified hundreds of
thousands of signatures on a petition to authorize the referendum, thousands
of people joined street protests, which culminated in violent confrontations
with state security forces that left 13 people dead, scores wounded, and
hundreds more in police detention. In May, after voters were given the
opportunity to verify disqualified signatures, the CNE announced that enough
signatures had been collected to force the recall vote.
Whether the current crisis is resolved peacefully and lawfully will depend
in large part on the country’s judiciary. It is the courts that must
ultimately determine whether the CNE’s decisions are valid—as well as
whether the actions of Chávez’s supporters and opponents, in the streets and
elsewhere, are legally permissible.
The report offers recommendations to the Venezuelan government for salvaging
the independence of the judiciary. Human Rights Watch urged President Chávez
to instruct his supporters in the National Assembly to suspend
implementation of the new court-packing law immediately and eliminate the
provisions that undermine the independence of the judiciary. The Venezuelan
Supreme Court should strike down the provisions of the court-packing law
that subject the court to the political agenda of the governing coalition.
The high court should also take steps to ensure that lower court judges are
not subject to political persecution.
The Organization of American States (OAS) should closely monitor the
situation of the Venezuelan judiciary. Unless concrete steps are taken
immediately to reverse these threats to judicial independence, the secretary
general of the OAS should use his authority under the Inter-American
Democratic Charter to address the issue. Article 18 authorizes the secretary
general to take actions, with the prior consent of the government concerned,
to analyze threats to a country’s “democratic political institutional
process,” and seek a collective response from the OAS.
During Venezuela’s 2002 coup, the Charter was crucial in mobilizing member
states to join the chorus of condemnation that helped restore President
Chávez to office. “The Charter helped save Venezuelan democracy from
Chávez’s foes during the 2002 coup,” said Vivanco. “Now it could help
protect Venezuela from this new threat.”