CARACAS.- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court) determined that the permanence of prisoners in the jail of the Helicoid in Venezuela constitutes per se a treatment that violates human rights, after verifying that it is a place of torture and, consequently, ordered in his judgment to the State for immediate closure.
“El Helicoide does not meet the minimum material requirements for the dignified treatment of people deprived of liberty,” stated the inter-American body in a ruling published on April 23 to establish reparations in a controversial case about torture of a detainee in 2003.
The Inter-American Court declared the State then under the control of Hugo Chávez “internationally responsible” for the violation of the human rights of the student Jorge Rojas Riera, who was detained by agents of the then DISIP (now SEBIN) while participating in a peaceful protest in the Plaza Francia in Altamira, in the east of Caracas, on September 19, 2003.
Among the rights violated to Rojas, a dog trainer, he pointed out peaceful assembly, freedom of thought and expression, political rights and personal freedom.
Torture in the Helicoide prison
Rojas Riera, subject to criminal investigation for crimes of illicit possession of a weapon of war, public intimidation and resistance to authority, was assigned house arrest, changed to Helicoide. During the process, another judge gave him a prison sentence, with precautionary measures for presentation.
According to the Inter-American Court, the student was subjected to acts of violence and torture during his detention, according to the file and statements of the victim.
“He was seated in a chair with his hands handcuffed behind his back, they “covered his face from the nose up with a pair of shorts,” they hit and kicked him during an interrogation, and since he did not give the intended information, “they removed his hood and pointed a submachine gun at his neck and verbally threatened him,” the ruling states.
Also, “they threatened to sexually abuse him, they raised his handcuffed hands behind his back until his shoulder was dislocated” and finally Rojas Riera “was taken before Prosecutor 10 of the Public Ministry and was forced to sign a document,” he adds.
Venezuela Default
When appealing the judge’s sentence on August 9, 2004, the defense urged the Public Ministry to open a criminal investigation in relation to the serious torture reported, but the prosecutor’s office refused to open the investigation in 2020, after filing its Rojas Riera case in 2009, according to the text.
After stating that the detainee “was beaten in different parts of his body and was subjected to threats and numerous humiliations” that show the intention of physical and mental harm, the Inter-American Court referred to the fact that it has heard of other similar cases in the same detention center.
By concluding that Rojas Riera was a victim of torture “when he was in the custody of the State,” the inter-American body declared Venezuela responsible for the violation of the right to personal integrity enshrined in conventions against torture and ordered the State to comply with reparation measures.
Among them, he ordered “to close the “El Helicoide” detention center; adopt a specialized protocol for judges, prosecutors and justice operators to investigate alleged acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, whether ex officio or based on complaints, and implement measures to prevent torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”
It also urged “creating and maintaining an official, centralized and updated registry of complaints, investigations and measures adopted in relation to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment allegedly perpetrated in “El Helicoide.”
