BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA: ARBITRARY DETENTION OF MARCO ANTONIO GARCÉS CARAPAICA

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to take all the necessary measures to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 27/2024 concerning Marco Antonio Garcés Carapaica, asking the Government of Venezuela to immediately and unconditionally release Marco Antonio Garcés Carapaica and to accord him an enforceable right to  compensation  and  other  reparations  in  accordance  with  international law.

Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Marco Antonio Garcés Carapaica (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela): Opinion 27/2024.

ARBITRARY DETENTION OF A STUDENT FOR ALLEGED ASSISTANCE OF ESPIONAGE

Marco Antonio Garcés Carapaica is a national of Venezuela residing in Maracay. He was an engineering student and aged 24 at the time of his arrest.

On 9 September 2020, Mr. Garcés Carapaica was arrested by the National Bolivarian Guard alongside the other persons travelling with him in the car, whom he had only met on that day. They were all detained when the guards realized the presence of a foreigner in the vehicle, and they showed no arrest warrant nor other form of judicial decision. On 20 September 2020, the Attorney General to the Republic issued a public statement informing that Mr. Garcés Carapaica had been detained on terrorism charges for having allegedly assisted a US spy. According to the source, the President of the Republic also commented on Mr. Garcés Carapaica by mentioning his link to the alleged US spy. At no point during this period was Mr. Garcés Carapaica’s family informed of his whereabouts, they were only allowed a visit months later in December 2020. During this visit, Mr. Garcés Carapaica’s family observed he had been subjected to different forms of torture including beatings, exposure to cold temperatures, and food and sleep deprivation. According to the source, despite contracting COVID-19 during his detention he was not provided with any form of medical assistance. Throughout the judicial proceedings, the hearing arraignments were reconvened on 29 occasions, and despite an opening of the trial in front of the Third Tribunal of First Instance with National Jurisdiction over Terrorism-Related Crimes of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas on 6 July 2021, the Tribunal issued the interruption of the trial on 27 September 2022. Finally, Mr. Garcés Carapaica was liberated on 18 October 2023 in the context of negotiations between the Government and the Unitary Platform (Plataforma Unitaria).

The Venezuelan Government was given the opportunity to respond to the source's allegations, which it did on 27 February 2023.

ARRESTED WITHOUT PROPER LEGAL BASIS

Regarding Mr. Garcés Carapaica’s arrest, the source claimed that he was not presented with a warrant by the police nor found in a situation of flagrant delicto. On this point, the Government indicated that Mr. Garcés Carapaica had been arrested due to an ongoing investigation against him for alleged crimes of treason as well as the presence of firearms and cash in the vehicle which effectively placed him in a situation of flagrant offense according to article 44 of the Constitution and article 234 of the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure. The Working Group highlighted that Mr. Garcés Carapaica was subjected to forced disappearance and held incommunicado for 11 days, that he had not been properly informed of the charges pressed against him, and that he had not been presented to a judge within 48 hours. In light of these elements, it found that the Government failed to establish a proper legal basis for Mr. Garcés Carapaica’s arrest, thus violating article 9 of the Covenant, article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 10 of the Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Therefore, considering all the above, the Working Group found that Mr. Garcés Carapaica’s arrest and detention lacked legal basis, rendering his deprivation of liberty arbitrary under category I.

DISRESPECT FOR THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE, INDEFINITE DELAY OF TRIAL PROCEEDINGS AND SUBJECTED TO TORTURE

According to the source, the rules of due process were not respected for Mr. Garcés Carapaica’s accusation considering the extremely vague nature of the terrorism and treason charges found under article 128 of the Penal Code. The Working Group expressed concerns regarding the use of overly general terrorism charges in order to justify arrests and acts of torture in Venezuela. The Government did not comment on these elements. As such, the Working Group transmitted the present case to the Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment.

Furthermore, public statements regarding the alleged guilt of Mr. Garcés Carapaica by the Attorney General and the President of the Republic circumvented with the accused’s right to presumption of innocence. Thus, the Working Group found that these public statements violated article 14 of the Covenant and article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Finally, the fact that the final hearing for the confirmation of the charges was reconvened 29 times effectively subjected Mr. Garcés Carapaica to a prolonged detention. Therefore, the Working Group found that the Government violated articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights relating to the right to an impartial and timely trial.

In light of these elements, the Working Group established that the violations of Mr. Garcés Carapaica’s right to a fair trial were of such gravity as to give his detention an arbitrary character under category III. 

CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTIONS

In  light  of  the  foregoing,  the  United  Nations  Working  Group  on  Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Marco Antonio Garcés Carapaica was arbitrary and fell under categories I and III because his deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 3, 6, 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 9, 14 and  of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

The Working Group urged the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to take all the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Garcés Carapaica without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms. In light of the circumstances, the appropriate remedy would be to accord Mr. Garcés Carapaica an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, and to take the all necessary measures against the persons responsible for the violations of his rights.