Venezuelan Convicted for Televised Remark, Nearly Killed
New Report by Human Rights Foundation Explains Francisco Usón Case

December 12, 2006

Caracas, Venezuela---A civilian critical of the government of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez continues to be imprisoned for having made a televised remark that angered the Venezuelan government. After an in-depth investigation, the Human Rights Foundation—a new international human rights organization based in New York—has published its findings and adopted Venezuelan political prisoner Francisco Usón as its first prisoner of conscience. HRF is concerned for Usón’s life after a bizarre set of medical errors almost killed him—twice.

Usón, a retired army general, appeared on a Venezuelan television show on the morning of April 16, 2004. The program that day consisted of a discussion about punishment cells at a Venezuelan military base. On three separate occasions enlisted soldiers have been killed in fires inside punishment cells and in one particular incident, at Fort Mara military base, there were allegations that the soldiers had been burned with a flamethrower. On the show, Usón explained that he was a military engineer by training and answered technical questions about how a flamethrower operates. As for the Fort Mara case, he stated, “this is very, very serious, if it ends up being true.”
For that remark, Usón was detained by the National Guard on May 22, 2004, in Puerto Ordaz, State of Bolívar, Venezuela. Usón was in Puerto Ordaz to help collect signatures to petition the Venezuelan electoral council for a recall referendum focused on President Chávez.

“This case is a sad indication of the climate of intolerance and repression in Venezuela. Freedom of speech and due process are under assault by the Chávez government; this is one illustrative case among many,” said Thor Halvorssen, president of the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). HRF has published a 9-page report on the case and posted relevant evidence and court documents on its website. Halvorssen stated, “Over the next few weeks we will begin a worldwide awareness campaign on behalf of Mr. Usón. Beginning with direct contact with the Venezuelan president, we shall take this case to recognized authoritative bodies as well as grassroots organizations. Mr. Usón’s imprisonment is a scandal and he must be freed. He is a prisoner of conscience and a political prisoner of the Venezuelan state.”

Usón’s alleged crime involves the act of “slandering, offending, or insulting the national armed forces in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.” His conviction led to a prison sentence of 5 years and 6 months.

Human rights violations in the case are numerous: Usón’s arrest, trial, and sentencing by a military court and his subsequent detention in a military prison are in clear violation of Venezuelan law and international principles of human rights. Civilians cannot be tried by military tribunals.

Moreover, Usón’s arrest order emanated from the office of the defense minister—a violation of the principle of the separation of powers. The case also reveals due process violations, such as when the judge who ordered Usón’s arrest expressed a wish to have nothing more to do with the case. That judge was fired the same day and the case moved to a judge who proceeded with a trial.

On August 23, 2004, Usón was hospitalized for a medical condition. He was transferred from his prison cell to the Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital. On August 24, he suffered what appeared to be an allergic reaction to a foreign substance. The reaction resulted from an injection of epinephrine (adrenaline) administered by a hospital nurse. Usón was in critical condition for four hours as a result of the injection. Usón, who suffers from cardiac arrhythmia, had been taking prescribed medication (beta blockers) that prevented the epinephrine from doing further damage. The hospital stated that he was supposed to be given an adrenaline compress, but that the order was wrongly interpreted by the nurse, who gave him an injection instead.

The next day Usón was to be given an analgesic, Profenid (2-[3-benzoylphenyl] propanoic acid), yet he had the same reaction to this medication that he had when he was injected with adrenaline the day before. The injection once again failed to produce cardiac arrest because Usón was using beta blockers. The military hospital, once more, claimed it was an accident. The medical report about the incident disappeared. In addition, when Usón’s attorneys sought a government investigation into both incidents nothing was done. The hospital has no personnel records of the nurse involved in the incident.

The Usón case violates more than a dozen articles in international treaties signed and ratified by Venezuela. These include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; and the American Convention on Human Rights (“Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica”).

The Human Rights Foundation is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the American hemisphere. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals find their purest expression in the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to worship in the manner of their choice, to associate with those of like mind, to acquire and dispose of property, and to leave and enter their country. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the government of their country; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile, from slavery and torture, and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Armando Valladares, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.

For a copy of the Usón report please visit www.humanrightsfoundation.org.
Contact Human Rights Foundation, Sarah Wasserman, (212) 246.8486: sarah@thehrf.org
Contact Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations, Franciso Arias Cardenas, (212) 557.2055
Contact Venezuelan Ambassador to the U.S., Bernardo Alvarez, (202) 342.2214
Contact Venezuelan Ambassador to the O.A.S., Jorge Valero, (202) 625.5642
Contact Mr. Usón’s attorney, Gonzalo Himiob, ghimiobs@cantv.net