AnnualReport2012-ChapterIVVenezuela.doc

VENEZUELA I. INTRODUCTION The IACHR decided to include the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (hereinafter “Venezuela” or “the State”) in Chapter IV of its 2011 Annual Report pursuant to Article 59(1)(h) of its Rules of Procedure. Of the five criteria presented in the 1997 Annual Report of the IACHR that the Commission takes into account to identify the member states whose human rights practices merit special attention, the IACHR considers that the Venezuelan situation fits within criterion five, which refers to […] structural or temporary situations that may appear in member states confronted, for various reasons, with situations that seriously affect the enjoyment of fundamental rights enshrined in the American Convention or the American Declaration.??This criterion includes, for example: grave situations of violence that prevent the proper application of the rule of law; serious institutional crises; processes of institutional change which have negative consequences on human rights; or grave omissions in the adoption of the necessary measures which would provide for the effective exercise of fundamental rights. On December 30, 2009, the Commission approved the report titled Democracy and Human Rights in Venezuela, in which it examined developments in the area of human rights in the State. Following up on that report, the Commission continued to examine the human rights situation in Venezuela in Chapter IV of its 2010 and 2011 Annual Reports. In this section of its 2012 Annual Report, the Commission carries on its analysis of the general human rights situation in Venezuela. The IACHR’s analysis is based on what it has observed of the general human rights situation over the course of the year, through the information it obtained during its hearings and the information available from other public sources, its petition and case system, and its precautionary measures. The Commission also drew upon information supplied by the State of Venezuela in res