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newspaper “Así es la Noticia", on June 27, 2003, an attempt was made
on the life of journalist Martha Colomina;
j)
on June 3, 2004, the National Electoral Council announced that
sufficient signatures had been gathered to hold a presidential recall
referendum; that announcement set off a series of violent disturbances
at various locations in downtown Caracas;
k)
that afternoon, a group of persons identified as members of the
“Movimiento Bolivariano 200” and of the so-called “Círculos
Bolivarianos” headed for the main offices of “El Nacional” and “Así es la
Noticia”, which are adjacent to each other. Having seized a truck
carrying bottles of beer, these people descended in front of the “El
Nacional” building and hurled bottles at the building’s façade,
destroying almost all its windows. Later, they set fire to a vehicle
parked in front of the two newspapers, which spread to another
vehicle;
l)
the protestors also broke the windows on a Miranda government van.
After forcing the driver out, they pushed the vehicle in the direction of
the parking lot of the newspaper “Así es la Noticia,” knocking down the
gate and throwing rocks that damaged a number of vehicles owned by
the newspaper and its employees;
m)
summarizing, the damage caused to the “El Nacional” newspaper
involved broken windows and the burning of a newspaper delivery
truck. The damage caused to the newspaper “Así es la Noticia”
included the destruction of computers, microwave ovens, telephones,
furniture and windows, the destruction of 12 vehicles owned by
journalists, and a fire to the newspaper’s paper recycling deposit; and
n)
during these attacks, staff were trapped inside the newspapers’
offices, completely defenseless as the authorities did not respond.
Although the National Guard’s presence was requested to control law
and order, some three hours passed before it arrived.
3.
The Commission’s observations to the effect that, taken together, the facts
alleged constitute a situation of extreme gravity and urgency that could cause
irreparable harm to the people working at “El Nacional” and “Así es la Noticia”
newspapers, which is sufficient justification for the Court to order provisional
measures under Article 63(2) of the Convention. The Commission further alleges
that the State did not comply with the precautionary measures that the Commission
ordered in this case.
Given the above, the Commission requested that the Court call upon Venezuela to:
a.
[a]dopt the measures necessary to provide perimeter protection to the
offices of the “El Nacional” and “Así es la Noticia” newspapers, to safeguard and
protect the lives and person of the persons on the premises of those mass
media outlets[;]
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