Posted on Thu, Jan. 19, 2006
HUMAN RIGHTS
Chávez wants to weaken judiciary, rights group says
A human rights group accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of trying to undermine the country's judiciary and limit press freedom, partly due to a lack of economic growth.
BY RICHARD JACOBSEN
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who says he is leading a socialist revolution for the poor in his country, has teamed with allies in Congress to undermine the country's judiciary and limit press freedoms, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
In its annual report on the global rights situation, the organization said Latin America nations -- from Haiti to Argentina -- were still plagued by abuses ranging from overcrowded prisons to torture and widespread impunity.
There is growing discontent over the lack of economic growth and opportunities in the region, which has led some to turn away from democracy, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth said.
''That's one way to understand the Chávez phenomenon,'' Roth said.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Chávez wants to weaken judiciary, rights group says
A human rights group accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of trying to undermine the country's judiciary and limit press freedom, partly due to a lack of economic growth.
BY RICHARD JACOBSEN
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY - Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who says he is leading a socialist revolution for the poor in his country, has teamed with allies in Congress to undermine the country's judiciary and limit press freedoms, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
In its annual report on the global rights situation, the organization said Latin America nations -- from Haiti to Argentina -- were still plagued by abuses ranging from overcrowded prisons to torture and widespread impunity.
There is growing discontent over the lack of economic growth and opportunities in the region, which has led some to turn away from democracy, Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth said.
''That's one way to understand the Chávez phenomenon,'' Roth said.
WASHINGTON'S ROLE
But Roth was also critical of Washington's role in Latin America, saying it was polarizing the region. He noted officials in President George W. Bush's administration were treating Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales as if he were another Chávez, without waiting to see how Morales governs.
''That's not a helpful approach,'' Roth said.
The New York-based rights group expressed concern in its annual report over the state of Venezuela's democratic institutions, citing a ''packing'' of the country's Supreme Court with Chávez allies in December 2004, which it called ''a severe blow'' to the independence of the nation's judiciary.
Venezuelan legislators ''have also enacted legislation that seriously threatens press freedoms and freedom of expression,'' the rights report said.
Chávez, first elected in 1998
and up for re-election in December, insists he supports democracy. At loggerheads with Washington, he remains popular at home amid high oil prices that have funded his social programs and helped bring economic growth of 9.4 percent last year.
While raising concern over developments in Venezuela, the rights group's report said Colombia's internal conflict -- pitting government forces, guerrilla groups and paramilitaries -- is responsible for creating the region's most serious human rights and humanitarian situation, the report said.
It noted in the last three years, more than three million people, as much as 5 percent of Colombia's population, have been forcibly displaced because of the fighting. The guerrillas and paramilitaries are responsible for the bulk of Colombia's abuses, the report said.
But Roth was also critical of Washington's role in Latin America, saying it was polarizing the region. He noted officials in President George W. Bush's administration were treating Bolivia's president-elect Evo Morales as if he were another Chávez, without waiting to see how Morales governs.
''That's not a helpful approach,'' Roth said.
The New York-based rights group expressed concern in its annual report over the state of Venezuela's democratic institutions, citing a ''packing'' of the country's Supreme Court with Chávez allies in December 2004, which it called ''a severe blow'' to the independence of the nation's judiciary.
Venezuelan legislators ''have also enacted legislation that seriously threatens press freedoms and freedom of expression,'' the rights report said.
Chávez, first elected in 1998
and up for re-election in December, insists he supports democracy. At loggerheads with Washington, he remains popular at home amid high oil prices that have funded his social programs and helped bring economic growth of 9.4 percent last year.
While raising concern over developments in Venezuela, the rights group's report said Colombia's internal conflict -- pitting government forces, guerrilla groups and paramilitaries -- is responsible for creating the region's most serious human rights and humanitarian situation, the report said.
It noted in the last three years, more than three million people, as much as 5 percent of Colombia's population, have been forcibly displaced because of the fighting. The guerrillas and paramilitaries are responsible for the bulk of Colombia's abuses, the report said.
CUBAN GOVERNMENT
The report called Cuba ``a Latin American anomaly: an undemocratic government that represses nearly all forms of political dissent.''
It said Fidel Castro's government enforces political conformity through a range of measures including criminal prosecutions, mob harassment and politically motivated job dismissals.
''The end result is that Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law,'' the report said.
Mexico's criminal justice system, meanwhile, continues to be plagued by abuses, and law-enforcement officials often do not investigate and prosecute human rights violators, the report said.
''President Vicente Fox has repeatedly promised to address these problems and has taken important steps toward doing so -- establishing a special prosecutor's office to investigate past abuses and proposing justice reforms designed to prevent future ones,'' it said.
``Unfortunately, neither initiative has lived up to its potential.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/13658576.htm
The report called Cuba ``a Latin American anomaly: an undemocratic government that represses nearly all forms of political dissent.''
It said Fidel Castro's government enforces political conformity through a range of measures including criminal prosecutions, mob harassment and politically motivated job dismissals.
''The end result is that Cubans are systematically denied basic rights to free expression, association, assembly, privacy, movement, and due process of law,'' the report said.
Mexico's criminal justice system, meanwhile, continues to be plagued by abuses, and law-enforcement officials often do not investigate and prosecute human rights violators, the report said.
''President Vicente Fox has repeatedly promised to address these problems and has taken important steps toward doing so -- establishing a special prosecutor's office to investigate past abuses and proposing justice reforms designed to prevent future ones,'' it said.
``Unfortunately, neither initiative has lived up to its potential.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/13658576.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment