San Francisco Frontiers - Stop holding opponents incommunicado, UN experts tell Venezuela

The UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela highlighted the case of lawyer and rights campaigner Eduardo Torres. He disappeared for five days before prosecutors announced Tuesday he was being held on suspicion of terrorism and treason.

"Targeted detentions are part of a deliberate plan by the State's repressive apparatus to silence opposition figures or those perceived as such ... and to instill fear among the population," said the investigators.

"The holding of opponents in conditions of isolation and incommunicado detention is an illegal and perverse practice that can constitute an international crime," mission chair Marta Valinas said in the statement.

This "politically orchestrated" practice was directed "from the highest levels of authority", said the investigators, who while mandated by the UN Human Rights Council do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

"The lack of effective legal protection mechanisms is alarming and reflects the absence of a true rule of law."

It cited in particular at least 20 suspected cases in which habeas corpus, or the right of a person to challenge their detention in court, had been denied.

- Arrested over 'conspiracy' -

After Torres disappeared last Friday, "family members and attorneys waited for hours outside the Palace of Justice, unable to submit a habeas corpus petition due to the presiding judge's refusal", said the experts.

The petition was finally received on Monday, but there was no word yet on a decision, they added.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Torres had been arrested "for his links to a conspiracy aimed at generating violence" during regional and legislative elections set for May 25.

He will face charges of conspiracy, terrorism and treason, Saab said in a statement sent to AFP.

The experts stressed that "imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental international legal norms, torture, and enforced disappearance" could amount to "crimes against humanity" if part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.

"These acts are being committed in Venezuela as part of the crime against humanity of political persecution," mission member Francisco Cox said in the statement.

The experts called for the unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained in Venezuela.

According to Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal, 894 people are being held for political reasons in the country, including several activists.

C.Diaz--SFF