Bolivia: Coup Gov't Committed Crimes Against Humanity - Report

Bolivia's Ombudsman published on Thursday a report which demonstrates that the de facto government of Jeanine Áñez committed crimes against humanity in the aftermath of the October 20, 2019 coup.

RELATED:

Bolivia's De Facto President Withdraws from Election Race

The report points out that ten months after the coup, political opponents still suffer persecution, humans rights are violated, and criminals enjoy immunity under the prerogatives of Decree 4078.

Regarding the people detained in El Alto on November 11, 2019, during a demonstration in support of former president Evo Morales, the report explains that the Police presented them as perpetrators without carrying the due legal process and violating their right to presumption of innocence.  

The investigation details that several assassinations and torture were committed under instructions from the coup government. Furthermore, the execution of 20 people in Sacaba and Senkata on the outskirts of the capital La Paz is considered a massacre.

This genocide, the report remarks, was "systematically committed against the civilian population and under the knowledge of, orders and instructions issued by the Transitory Government, characteristics that constitute a crime against humanity."

Moreover, the report concluded that the Police, the Armed Forces, and the Public Ministry have "violated the right to the truth" as they have altered or eliminated "elements of conviction." 

In this sense, teleSUR's presenter Camila Escalante sums up that "to date, access to justice has not been guaranteed to victims of human rights violations; no due diligence in obtaining and safeguarding evidence; alleged perpetrators (of the police and/or military) have not been identified in the cases of massacres, murders, and torture."

The 300-page document also highlights that "the [Ombudsman's Office] hopes that the next government elected by popular vote to the Presidency of the Plurinational State, will promote investigations until the facts are clarified, responsibilities are established, and the responsible are punished."

According to Escalante, "the findings during the preparation of the Defensoria report coincide with reports issued by international bodies such as the IACHR, OHCHR, Harvard Human Rights Clinic on the systematic violation of human rights, and with the ITEI on the torture and ill-treatment of civilians."