Extrajudicial executions of 23 people by State security agencies, which occurred on January 8, 2021 in La Vega, Caracas, in the context of a series of security operations, remain unpunished. This was revealed by a report presented by the NGO Provea and the Gumilla Research Center, through their Lupa por la Vida project.
In the document titled One year after the La Vega massacre: Those responsible must be held accountable to justice, denounced that said extrajudicial executions could constitute crimes against humanity, according to article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
A policy underpinned by structural impunity that favors the repetition of violations with the full knowledge of the highest authorities of the Venezuelan State, the report said.
The organizations indicated that after family members filed formal complaints with the Ombudsman’s Office and the Public Ministry, no progress has been made in the investigations so far.
Almost all of the 23 victims were first arrested and later killed in front of their relatives or in nearby places, according to the report, where the identity of some of the officials who participated in the operations was also revealed.
The official version of these events indicated that all those wounded and killed during the operations were alleged criminals who died in clashes with security agencies.
Alfredo Infante, parish priest of the San Alberto Hurtado de La Vega church and a member of the Gumilla Center, assured that despite the magnitude of the events, neither the ombudsman, Alfredo Ruiz, nor the attorney general of the Republic, Tarek William Saab , have spoken after 12 months and have not opened any investigation that is known.
Marino Alvarado, Provea’s Investigation Coordinator, stressed that the Ombudsman’s Office must summon and accompany the relatives in demanding justice, exhorting and cooperating with the Public Ministry in the corresponding investigations.
The organizations called on the Venezuelan authorities to investigate the perpetrators and the chain of command with responsibility for the crimes perpetrated in La Vega, in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the government of Venezuela and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Criminal Court International.
In addition, they ask that the Special Actions Forces (FAES) of the Bolivarian National Police be dissolved due to their extensive record of serious human rights violations.
Finally, they point out that each of the families affected by serious human rights violations must be compensated.