Venezuelan Foreign Ministry Considers That Posada Carriles Decision Ignores Basic Principles of International Law

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Caracas, September 28, 2005

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to express to the public its most categorical opposition to the decision of Judge William Abbott, who recently decided against the deportation of Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela based on unfounded concerns that he would be tortured. The decision was based solely on false allegations made by Posada Carriles’ defense team without any juridical or factual foundation, allegations whose objectivity should be questioned due to the links of those who made them to Posada Carriles and his prior criminal acts.

It is worth noting that Article 46 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela defends the physical, psychological, and moral integrity of all individuals and expressly prohibits torture and degrading treatment. Similarly, Article 43 consecrates the inviolability of the right to life, while Article 49 secures the right to due process. Furthermore, Venezuela has abided by the provisions of the Convention Against Torture since July 26, 1991. Venezuela has not been identified by any international organization as having been involved in torture in recent years, and it abides by international standards and norms regarding procedural rights and protections as has been demonstrated in those cases where individuals were deported or extradited to neighboring countries where they were sought for criminal activities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers this decision completely unacceptable and believes that it lays bear the political handling of this case, in which the most basic elements of international law have been ignored. The ambivalent double discourse of the United States has become plainly apparent to the international community, for their leadership in the war on terror has now been offset by the decision to grant refuge to a fugitive of Venezuelan justice accused of having killed 73 people in an attack on a commercial airliner on October 6, 1976.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the name of the Venezuelan people and in recognition of those who lost loved ones in the attack, expresses its demand that the U.S. Department of State immediately provide a federal judge with the case-file presented by Venezuela to the United States on June 15, 2005 in which the extradition of Posada Carriles is requested so as to allow him to face justice for the crimes of which he is accused.

We trust that the American people, those who have suffered the ravages of terrorism themselves, will join in the demand of the Venezuelan people and request that U.S. authorities extradite the terrorist Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela.