The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to take all necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 54/2023 concerning María Fernanda Silva Beroes and Elizabeth Silva Beroes, asking Venezuela to immediately release them and to accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning this individual: Opinion No. 54/2023.
TWO SISTERS ARRESTED AS PART OF "OPERATION TRUENO"
María Fernanda Silva Beroes and Elizabeth Silva Beroes are sisters born respectively in 1986 and 1980. They are both nationals of Venezuela, working domestic employees, and living together in Altagracia de Orituco, in the state of Guárico.
According to the source, their arrests occurred as part of “Operation Trueno,” a large-scale security operation carried out in Altagracia de Orituco from 20 April 2022 onwards, and targeting alleged collaborators of the criminal gang “Tren del Llano.” In the hours leading up to the operation, the town experienced a communications blackout that lasted several hours. That day, numerous illegal raids were conducted on the homes of local merchants and agricultural producers. During the first week of the operation, over forty arrests were made, and there were reports of individuals being subjected to torture and cruel treatment aimed at forcing confessions or incriminating others.
In this context, on 24 April 2022, Ms. María Fernanda Silva was traveling by public transportation to deliver food to her children when the vehicle was stopped by members of the National Bolivarian Police's Directorate of Criminal Investigations, following which she was arrested, her phone and handbag confiscated. Later that day, members of the 'Dirección de Investigaciones Penales' (DIP) (or 'Criminal Investigations Directorate) entered the house of the Silva sisters, and asked to see Ms. Elizabeth Silva, following which they arrested her. It appears the arrest of Ms. Elizabeth Silva was due to the message her sister had sent her earlier that day, at the time of her own arrest.
Following their arrest, both individuals were detained at the police headquarters of Alcabala del Charco, and were later informed they had been arrested because the police had found a shotgun, grenades, rifle bullets and a motorbike. Following the transfer of their case to the specialised terrorism courts located in Caracas in May 2022, both sisters were transferred to the police headquarters in Caracas.
In August 2022, they were found guilty of criminal association, under article 37 of the Organic Law against Organised Crime and Financing of Terrorism, and consequently were both sentenced to 5 years in prison.
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela was given the opportunity to answer these allegations, which it did.
ARRESTED AND DETAINED WITHOUT LEGAL BASIS
According to the source, Mrs. María Silva and Mrs. Elizabeth Silva were not presented with an arrest warrant at the time of their arrest, that is to say on 24 April 2022, nor were they informed of the reasons for it. The Government denied this, arguing both sisters were arrested in flagrante delicto on 26 April 2022, and were immediately informed of the reasons of their arrest.
Concerning the date of their arrest, the Working Group found that if both the source and Government had well-explained their versions of the facts, there were still discrepancies in the Government's account, including inconsistencies in the dates provided and the circumstances described (e.g., conflicting dates on official documents, some indicating the detention occurred on 26 April, while others pointed to 27 April). As such, the Working Group considered the Silva sisters were arrested on 24 April 2022.
Regarding the presentation of an arrest warrant, the Working Group thus found the Government's response insufficient, noting notably that this was not a case of flagrante delicto. Considering the different circumstances in which both individuals were arrested, the Working Group found neither Mrs. María Silva nor Mrs. Elizabeth Silva had their rights to be presented with an arrest warrant and to be informed of the reasons for their arrest respected, in breach of article 9 (1) and (2) of the Covenant.
The source also argued that both individuals were unable to promptly challenge the legality of their detention because, though presented in front of a court two days after their arrest, on 26 April 2022, the said court declared having no jurisdiction over their case, thus transferring them to another court. As such, it is only on 16 May 2022 that they were presented before a court that had jurisdiction over their case. The Government denied this, arguing the sisters' lawyer was able to request their release at the first hearing on 26 April 2022. According to the Working Group, the Government answered failed to specify whether the judge of the first court had the power to order their release, which is an essential aspect of a meaningful opportunity to promptly challenge detention. Hence, the Working Group found a violation of their right to promptly challenge the legality of their detention, under article 9 (3) of the Covenant, as well as a violation of their right to habeas corpus, under article 9 (4) of the Covenant.
Lastly, the source claimed that Mrs. María Silva and Mrs. Elizabeth Silva were denied the right to be released pending trial, as they were held in pre-trial detention from the day of their arrest in late April 2022 until their hearing in August 2022. Though the Government denied this, saying pre-trial detention was ordered in this case based on their domestic law, the Working Group found it to be insufficient to justify pre-trial detention, which should remain exceptional. As such, the Working Group found a violation of article 9 (3) of the Covenant.
Therefore, the Working Group found this detention arbitrary under Category I.
VIOLATION OF THEIR RIGHTS TO PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE AND TO FOOD
It should first of all be noted that the source made different claims in relation to the Silva sisters' right to a fair trial, and that many of them did not result in the Working Group finding violations. As such, only the claims that were successful will hereby be detailed.
Firstly, the source argued that both Mrs. María Silva and Mrs. Elizabeth Silva were publicly incriminated by local and national media outlets, which published their names and labeled them as criminals - specifically as active members of the gang "Tren del Llano" - before any trial had taken place. The Government did not answer this allegation. The Working Group considered that the way in which both individuals were presented within the medias, alongside the photographs taken of them with weapons allegedly discovered in their home, had undermined their right to be presumed innocent, as guaranteed by article 14 (2) of the Covenant. As such, by allowing or failing to prevent this prejudicial media coverage, the Government compromised the fairness of the legal proceedings against the Silva sisters.
Additionally, the source highlighted issues related to their detention conditions, particularly their lack of access to adequate food, which placed an undue burden on their impoverished family. The Government did not address this concern adequately, as it only specified that both Mrs. María Silva and Mrs. Elizabeth Silva were receiving medical checks. In this light, the Working Group emphasised that providing proper nutrition is a fundamental obligation of the detaining authorities, that the failure to do so could undermine their ability to defend themselves, and thus concluded that this failure to ensure adequate food supply had further violated their right to a fair trial.
Therefore, the Working Group found that the breaches of the fair trial rights of Mrs. María Silva and Mrs. Elizabeth Silva were of such gravity as to render their deprivation of liberty arbitrary under the category III.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
In light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that the detentions of Ms. María Fernanda Silva and Ms. Elizabeth Silva were arbitrary and fell under categories I and III, as they contravened articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Working Group urged the Venezuelan Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of these violations and to take appropriate measures against those responsible. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to immediately release both of them, and to accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
Additionally, the Working Group expressed concern about the broader context of arbitrary detentions in Venezuela and urged the Government to implement necessary reforms to prevent such violations in the future.
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