REPORT N° 6/041 PETITION 4109/2002 ADMISSIBILITY LUISIANA RIOS ET AL. VENEZUELA February 27, 2004 I. SUMMARY OF THE FACTS 1. On July 23, 2002, the Inter-American Commission on Human rights (the “Commission” or “IACHR”) received a petition from Luisiana Ríos; Luis Augusto Contreras Alvarado; Eduardo Sapene Granier; Javier García; Isnardo Bravo; David Pérez Hansen; Wilmer Marcano; Winston Gutiérrez and Isabel Mavarez, all employees of the television station RCTV, C.A. (“RCTV”) (hereinafter, “the petitioners”) against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (hereinafter “the State”). 2. The report maintains that the State is responsible for a series of acts and omissions prejudicial to the petitioners, which constitute violations of the rights to freedom of expression (Article 13), personal integrity (Article 5), judicial guarantees (Article 8), and judicial protection (Article 25), as well as the generic obligations set out in Articles 1(1) (right to respect for and guarantees of rights) and 2 (obligation to adapt domestic legislation) of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter the “Convention” or “American Convention”). 3. According to the petitioners, the prevailing situation in Venezuela, as a result of the official policy of the government authorities, can be generally described as one of attacks on and threats to the freedom of expression and personal integrity of the petitioners, which has resulted in physical and verbal abuse of the petitioners and vandalism and destruction of the property of RCTV. According to the report, partisans of the Government actively led these attacks, especially the so-called “Círculos Bolivarianos” or “Bolivarian Circles,” entities which, according to the petitioners, act on behalf of the State, executing the Government’s policies, funded and protected by the Government in their attacks on the petitioners. 4. The petitioners also allege undue delay on the part of the Attorney General’s Office (the only office that can take criminal action against the Government), in carrying out the necessary investigations into both of the reports lodged, to establish responsibility for the assaults on the reporters, identify their perpetrators, prosecute, punish, and seek the compensation due to the victims. 5. In the State’s opinion, domestic remedies have not been exhausted, given that the facts of 22 criminal charges are being investigated or are in an intermediate stage of the criminal process. The State claims that there has been no undue delay in the investigation by the Attorney General’s Office in light of the complexity of the facts in question. It therefore requests that the IACHR declare the petition inadmissible. 6. As this report states, after a review of the arguments presented by the parties, and without prejudice to the merits of the case, the Commission, pursuant to Article 46 of the Convention, has decided to admit the claims in the petitions of Luisiana Ríos; Luis Augusto Contreras Alvarado; Eduardo Sapene Granier; Javier García; Isnardo Bravo; David Pérez Hansen; Wilmer Marcano; Winston Gutiérrez and Isabel Mavarez, in connection with Articles 1(1), 2, 5, 8, 13 and 25 of the American Convention and to continue reviewing the merits of the case. Finally, the Inter-American Commission has decided to notify the parties of said decision, to publish the report and include it in the Annual Report of the IACHR, and to continue to examine the facts of the alleged violation of Articles 1(1), 2, 5, 8, 13 and 25 of the American Convention 1 Pursuant to Article 17(2) of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, Commissioner Freddy Gutierrez, a Venezuelan national, did not participate in the debate or in the decision on this case. 1