By Ricky Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTA, Colombia – The arbitrary detention of Venezuelan Judge, Maria Lourdes Afiuni, is a blow to judicial independence and the rule of both Venezuelan and International Law, says the Special Rapporteur on the Independence for Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Carina Knaul de Albuquerque e Silva.

In December of 2009, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions declared the pre-trial detention of Venezuelan banker, Eligio Cedeño, to be arbitrary. Pursuant to the Working Group’s findings, Judge Afiuni conditionally released him. Minutes after issuing her decision, she was arrested for upholding Venezuelan and International Law.

Chavez’s government is seeking corruption charges against the Judge even though prosecutors explicitly stated that Afiuni had not received any payment or promise of payment. Afiuni remains in pre-trial detention.

The Venezuelan military police have also detained Cedeño’s defense lawyer and have held him under arrest without charges at intelligence headquarters.

“Afiuni’s decision to release Cedeño was expressly authorized in Article 264 of Venezuela’s Code of Criminal Procedure, which requires control judges to review periodically all pretrial preventative measures and grants judges complete discretion to modify pretrial detention for less stringent measures,” reports London-based attorney, Robert Amsterdam.

“Throwing a judge in prison for doing her job and issuing a decision that upholds fundamental rights protected under both Venezuelan and International Law is not something you’d expect in a functioning democracy,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch. “Once again the Chavez Government has demonstrated its fundamental disregard for the principle of judicial independence,” he added.

Vivanco noted that Afiuni’s detention, taken together with the dramatic erosion of judicial independence in Venezuela under Chavez, makes it highly likely that she will receive an unfair trial

Human Rights Watch reports that on January 11th, the Inter American Commission on Human Rights ruled that Afiuni was entitled to protective measures and ordered Venezuela to be proactive in protecting Afiuni’s life and physical integrity and to transfer her to a safe place. The Venezuelan Government has yet to comply with the order.

In 2004, President Chavez and his supporters executed a political takeover of the Supreme Court. Since then, the Court has not been able to be a check on Executive power as it has since been comprised of government supporters. The result has been that the Court has failed to uphold fundamental rights of the Venezuelan constitution in cases involving government efforts to limit freedom of expression and association – fundamental rights.

For more information, please see:

HRW – Venezuela: Human Rights Watch Oral Statement Before the Human Rights Council – 03 June 2010

HRW – Venezuela: Stop Attacks on Judicial Independence – 08 April 2010

Robert Amsterdam – Judge Maria Afiuni’s Decision Cited UN Working Group Opinion – 15 December 2009

By Ricky Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – Gulnara Shahinian, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery has called Brazil to strengthen efforts to close legal loopholes which effectively undermine incentives to discontinue the practice of slavery or forced labor in the nation’s rural areas.

During a recent visit to Brazil, Shahinian found that while the country has made efforts to abolish the practice of slavery or forced labor, the laws contain legal loopholes which some violators exploit, effectively allowing them to escapes criminal prosecution.

While civil penalties have been enforced, Shahinian found that “criminal penalties are more difficult to carry out due to jurisdictional conflicts and delays in the judicial system resulting in the lapsing of the statute of limitations.” She also noted that “although forced labor is considered a serious crime, first-time offenders might only face house arrest or community service.” Any incentive to discontinue such practices is effectively void.

During her visit, Shahinian met with many victims of forced labor in both rural and urban areas. In Brazil’s rural areas, forced labor is usually practiced in the cattle ranching and sugar can industries. There, the victims are typically males over the age of 15. In urban areas, on the other hand, forced labor is usually found in the garment industry and the victims include both males and females including many under the age of 15.

Shahinian reports that regardless of whether the forced labor occurs in rural or urban areas, the victims all endure the same working and living conditions and threats. Victims are forced to work long hours, with little or no pay, and are threatened with or subjected to physical, psychological, and sometimes sexual violence.

While in Brazil, the Rapporteur also met and held talks with local Government authorities, international organizations, and private sector and non-governmental organizations. She expressed her concerns over the effects of the legal loopholes and urged for the adoption of schemes that would counteract these loopholes. The largest and most basic concern is that those most vulnerable to forced labor can enjoy basic rights such as the right to food, water, and education.

Shahinian emphasized that “the strongest message that the Brazilian Government can send to Brazilians to show that the crime of slavery will not go unpunished is to pass the constitutional amendment which would allow for the expropriation of land where forced labor is used.” She added that the passage of such an amendment “will show that Brazil is indeed strongly committed to fighting slavery.”

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune – UN Official: Slavery Continues in Brazil Despite Government Efforts – 01 June 2010

NewKerala – Brazil: UN Urges Efforts to Fight Slavery – 30 May 2010

UN News Centre – Brazil: UN Rights Expert Urges Stepped Up Efforts to Fight Slavery – 29 May 2010