EL UNIVERSAL

In a report submitted Tuesday to the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly in Santo Domingo, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) lamented the inability to stay in Venezuela since 2002.

"The Commission should inform that in the course of 2005 no confirmation of dates to pay a visit to Venezuelan was received," IACHR president, Paraguayan Evelio Fernández, told representatives of the OAS 34 member states.

"It should be noted that since the visit in 2002, the Commission has requested follow-up unsuccessfully," the IACHR chair added.

In its report, the Commission claimed to have paid "special attention to the conditions related to justice administration."

Cases included the temporary incumbency of judges and public prosecutors, and use of military justice to prosecute civilians.

The document also mentioned "the situation of impunity, procedural delays in investigations, particularly those related to allegations of extrajudiciary executions and human rights violations."

The IACHR also stressed that "some actions have been taken to enforce decisions" made under international human right protection instruments. For example, it expressed satisfaction with the fact that the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has publicly and internationally recognized responsibility in connection with a case heard by the IACHR.

"The Venezuelan State fully accepted its international responsibility for violating the rights to life, humane treatment, a fair trial, and judicial protection, among others, enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights, the Inter-American Convention on Forced Disappearance of Persons, and the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture. The case alleged the detention and subsequent forced disappearance of Oscar José Blanco Romero, Roberto Javier Hernández Paz, and José Francisco Rivas Fernández, at the hands of state agents, in the days following the December 1999 mudslides in Vargas."

As a positive issue, the report underscored the adoption of the Law Approving the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Protocol of San Salvador), adopted by the National Assembly on March 29, 2005.