Document #1088205
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa
Information on police corruption at the Pariaguán municipal police station in the Miranda district, as well as police corruption at the Freites municipal police station, including corruption in connection to the Director, was scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
On 1 December 2010, Venezuelan news source Informe 25 reported that after the intervention of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional, SEBIN), a [translation] "commission" requested Tomás Bello, Mayor of Pariaguán, to remove the Chief of the Pariaguán municipal police, surname Vidal, due to his [translation] "extensive background" in planting evidence on innocent victims, and his participation in extortions and kidnappings (Informe 25 1 Dec. 2010). Information on this commission could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. The same article indicates that a public prosecutor at the Public Ministry and the Chief of Police were reportedly complicit in the commission of these crimes; the Mayor did not take any action (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
Informe 25 also reported in September 2013 that sources linked to the Miranda district police in the state of Anzoátegui sent a communiqué to Informe 25 indicating that newly appointed police officials at the Pariaguán municipal police station are officers who have been expelled from other police forces (ibid. 16 Sept. 2013). According to the communiqué, as reported by Informe 25, Álvaro Ortega Obregón, who was appointed Director General of the Pariaguán municipal police, was expelled from the Bolívar state police in 2002 for [translation] "extortion and serious offenses against internal police regulations," and Marvelis Guevara, who was appointed Deputy Director of the Pariaguán municipal police, was expelled from the Anzoátegui state police for extortion and fraud (ibid.). Other appointees included Miguel Barreto, who had been expelled from El Tigre municipal police for his alleged involvement in extortion and vehicle theft, and Luis Alberto Basanta, who had been expelled from the Anzoátegui state police on 22 September 2009 for failing a drug test (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
In October 2013, Guanipa Noticias, a digital newspaper based in Anzoátegui, reported that Pariaguán City Hall councillors from the Democratic Unity Table (Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, MUD) [the main opposition coalition made up of more than 50 political parties (PHW 2014, 1593)] indicated that they had received multiple complaints against Director of the Pariaguán municipal police Álvaro Ortega Obregón, and mayor of Pariaguán Tomás Bello, of disproportionate use of force and human rights violations (Guanipa Noticias 22 Oct. 2013). According to the councillors, Pariaguán municipal police officers shot both rubber and real bullets at detainees who were protesting the lack of water in prison for their personal hygiene; several detainees were injured (ibid.). Additional information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.
Sources report the following instances of investigations of police misconduct involving Freites municipal police:
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
El Tiempo. 24 February 2015. María Alejandra Aguilera. "Polifreites realizó prueba antidopaje a 198 uniformados."
_____. 19 January 2015. "Investigan a cinco funcionarios de Polifreites."
_____. 9 April 2014. Danela Luces and Eleida Briceño. "Cuatro funcionarios de Polifreites fueron detenidos por crimen."
Guanipa Noticias. 22 October 2013. "Responsabilizan a director de Policía de Pariaguán por violación de derechos humanos."
Informe 25. 16 September 2013. "(Anzoátegui) Denuncian que funcionarios expulsados de otros cuerpos policiales serían nuevos directivos de policía municipal de Pariaguán."
_____. 1 December 2010. "Jefe policial de Pariaguán presuntamente implicado en secuestros."
Nueva Prensa de Oriente. 4 May 2015. "Polifreites ha destituido 25 funcionarios por irregularidades administrativas."
Political Handbook of the World 2014 (PHW). 2014. "Venezuela." Edited by Tom Lansford. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Oral sources: Transparency International Venezuela.
Internet sites, including: Amnesty International; Diario El Progreso; Diario La Nación; Diario Metropolitano; ecoi.net; El Norte; Factiva; Freedom House; Human Rights Watch; InSight Crime; Jaque Mate; United Nations – ReliefWeb; United States – Central Intelligence Agency, Department of State, Embassy in Caracas, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Venezuela – Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas, Cuerpo de Policía Nacional Bolivariana, Guardia Nacional Bolivariana, Ministerio de Defensa, Ministerio del Poder Popular para Relaciones Interiores, Justicia y Paz; Washington Office on Latin America.