Bolivia: HRF Will Investigate Arbitrary Detentions and Rights Violations

NEW YORK (October 24, 2008) - The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) sent a letter today to Bolivian President Evo Morales informing him of its intention to dispatch a team of research professionals to Bolivia to investigate the arbitrary detention of at least 20 people, including opposition members and at least one journalist. “Preliminary research done by our staff and reports sent to us from Bolivian civil society advocates suggest that the recent arrests of journalists and members of the opposition in Bolivia are politically motivated,” said Sarah Wasserman, Chief Operating Officer of the Human Rights Foundation. “HRF will take action to determine the veracity of these troubling accusations, which, if true, would be in violation of numerous human rights treaties that Bolivia has signed.” Footage and testimonies presented to HRF indicate that there are categorical violations of due process in the cases of the individuals—many of them vocal opposition members—who were recently imprisoned without a judicial warrant by masked men following government orders. The UNIR Bolivia Foundation has recorded 117 acts of aggression against the media from June 2007 to August 2008. This intimidation has intensified, most recently exemplified by the violent detention of journalist Jorge Melgar just five days after he made public a video of a speech by government minister Ramon Quintana. The speech preceded violence that erupted on September 11, 12 and 13 in Pando, where more than 20 people were murdered for political reasons. The video shows Minister Quintanta exhorting government sympathizers to take Pando Governor Leopoldo Fernández “to the end of the world” and “give him an epitaph: Prefect, rest in peace and live with the worms.” In a previous letter sent to President Morales, HRF expressed concern over the government’s inflammatory rhetoric, noting that it encouraged violence in the country. The same letter took issue with the investigation that emerged from the September violence in Pando, reminding President Morales that while the deaths of government supporters resulted in the detention of numerous suspects, the deaths of opposition members remain unpunished. In keeping with its policy of transparency, HRF informed President Morales of its forthcoming investigation and solicited the cooperation of diverse Bolivian civil society groups to facilitate the inquiry. HRF also plans to examine suspected human rights abuses perpetrated against indigenous peoples and rural workers in Bolivia and potential violations to Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization on the rights of indigenous peoples. HRF is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the Americas. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Armando Valladares, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.