Here is a translation of the press release by Amnesty International asking the Venezuelan Government to respect the rights of all Venezuelans to meet and express themselves as well as calling for the investigation of who was responsible for the dead and injured during the protests:
Following recent acts of violence occurring during the student protests in different cities for and against the waiver of RCTV International, Amnesty International called on the authorities to guarantee the right of assembly and expression for all people , and to ensure that the death of students Yosinio Carrillo Torres, 16, and Marcos Rosales, and the injuries suffered by dozens of other people, including demonstrators and members of law enforcement, are investigated and those responsible brought to justice.
The authorities must unequivocally condemn these serious abuses immediately and ensure that the police intervene only to protect the integrity and life of all persons seeking to exercise their legitimate right to meeting.
The state has a duty to maintain order always making sure that security forces use force, including the use of firearms, only when it is strictly necessary and in accordance with a principle of proportionality, without infringing in any torture or punishment cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, such as specified by international standards of human rights and the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
“The right to assembly is a fundamental right, but not a right to violent protest. Demonstrators and their leaders must ensure that no use of violence, “specified Amnesty International.
What happened during the the last few days is not an isolated event. In the past 13 months when protests have increased markedly in Venezuela about 600 protesters were injured, at least 14 with gunshot wounds, and 9 protesters are dead. According to reports, most were killed by security forces, armed groups of civilians who are government supporters who claim their actions or by unidentified civilians.
Amnesty International is extremely concerned by the deterioration of freedom of expression in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. All rights, including the right to freedom of expression and assembly must be respected and society must realize that they were respected.
The non-renewal or suspension of licenses of television and radio, as happened in 2007 with RCTV and last year when it revoked the license to 34 radio stations, together with the recent suspension of four cable television channels, including RCTV Internacional, shows disrespect by the authorities to the legitimate work of the media, especially when these are known for their editorial criticism of the government.
“While the media must abide by the provisions of the law, closing a media outlet should be a last resort and a measure that should only be implemented after being given all the guarantees of due process, including the right to present a defense and appeal, “said Amnesty International.
If the Venezuelan government is committed to the values of the rule of law it must promote, protect and respect the right to freedom of expression and assembly and celebrate the importance and positive contribution in a state of law and transparency play criticism, Amnesty says International.
The Devil's Excrement 
February 1, 2010 at 9:49 am
Miguel:
Check this NG organization on Interne censorship:
ONI News: Internet Censorship: http://bit.ly/d67HbR
Hint: Google suggested by Antonio Pasquali this morning on Marta Colominas interview at 90.3 FM 7:15 am
January 31, 2010 at 11:19 am
Let’s all get together and hate on MicroSoft, then Apple hate a bit and show how cool we are with our homebrew. All the cool kidz are running that open source OS from Guam. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, why that’s your problem, keep yourself in the bad side of the lunchroom. I don’t want to be seen with you.
January 31, 2010 at 8:31 am
Oh, another thing I’m so very grateful for is the news on Hugo Chávez’s outlaw government on that gigantic screen, smack in the face of every living soul worldwide that watched the iPad presentation! Thanks for that Steve!
January 31, 2010 at 8:28 am
> vintage fisher price babbled:
> Steve Job’s groovy iPad will rapidly evolve after this initial over-hype period during it’s launch. The touch screen and Apple’s potential to fix some problems will definitly to make the product a success story in years to come.
Rather off-topic, but to face it head on, it’s an ambitious but overly expensive, oversized doodad that will surely undersell the wide variety of speedier $200, arm-powered, linux running tablets that are starting to inundate the market *right now* not in 60 days … perhaps the most significant thing thing to come of this venture –to be very grateful for– is a somewhat serious challenge to the Amazon monopsony. So there … I sure got that off my chest 😉
January 31, 2010 at 8:23 am
Miguel, I find it weird: I was very active in Amnesty International Germany for 5 years and some time in Flanders. As far as I remember, a “section” usually doesn’t talk about the region where its members are, for several reasons. The fact that they do it here shows Amnesty International in London is not caring enough. It makes me angry.
I am afraid most AI in the North are still dominated by too many PSFs.
I myself had a discussion once on a train: a woman who was a member of AI kept telling me (2004) she liked Hugo because, after all, he is against Bush imperialism….ts…ts
The problem is that AI is made up by 99% of people helping in their free time.
Although it should be politically independent, neither left nor right or anything else, it has turned too much into a PSF nest.
January 31, 2010 at 7:50 am
Thanks for the translation. International organizations and other governments or NGOs have had zero positive influence in Venezuela for the last 11 years. It will be interesting to see what comments, if any, chavez will have for this group. But don’t expect an investigation. Venezuela (chavez) is a sovereign state (chavez=the people) and nobody tells a sovereign state (chavez) what to do.