INTER - AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
COMISION INTERAMERICANA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS
COMISSÃO INTERAMERICANA DE DIREITOS HUMANOS
COMMISSION INTERAMÉRICAINE DES DROITS DE L'HOMME
ORGANIZACIÓN DE LOS ESTADOS AMERICANOS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 2 0 0 0 6 EEUU
March 7, 2012
Ref.:
Case No. 12.724
Allan R. Brewer Carías
Venezuela
Mr. Secretary:
I am pleased to address you on behalf of the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights in order to file Case No. 12.724, Allan R. Brewer Carías v. the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela (hereinafter “the State of Venezuela”, “the Venezuelan State” or “Venezuela”)
before the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The case relates to the
lack of judicial guarantees and judicial protection in the proceedings brought against
constitutional attorney Allan R. Brewer Carías for the crime of conspiring to change the
Constitution through violent means in connection with the events of April 11 and 13, 2002, in
which he was alleged to have participated in the drafting of the so-called “Carmona Decree”
ordering the dissolution of the public authorities and the establishment of a “democratic
transition government.”
In its Merits Report, the Commission concluded that in this particular case the fact
that three temporary judges were responsible for hearing the preliminary stage of the
criminal proceedings brought against Allan Brewer Carías in itself constituted a violation of
judicial guarantees. Moreover, the Commission considered that the fact that one of the
temporary judges was suspended and replaced two days after having filed a complaint for
failure to comply with an order he had issued requiring that the accused be given access to
the complete file on his case, together with the rules and practices in Venezuela regarding
the appointment, dismissal and provisional tenure of judges, constituted violations of the
guarantees of judicial independence and impartiality and contravened the right to judicial
protection. Finally, the Commission considered that not being able to make photocopies of
the file and to access it in its entirety violated the victim’s right to have adequate means for
preparing his defense.
Mr.
Pablo Saavedra Alessandri, Secretary
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
P.O. Box 6906-1000
San José, Costa Rica
Enclosure
The State ratified the American Convention on Human Rights on August 9, 1977 and
accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on June 24, 1981. In that regard, the facts
debated in the case fall within the temporal jurisdiction of the Court.