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ePaper created 2015-11-10, 17:27:36 | version 1.33.00
REDACTED Page 185 of 190 Liliana Ortega, of COFAVIC, a committee of relatives of victims of the events that took place from February 27 to early March, 1989.”823 The IACHR added that: “the websites of Radio Sur TV and the program ‘Con el Mazo Dando’ published the date and time of arrival to the Caracas airport of several individuals who participated in hearings and other events during the IACHR’s 154 session. The individuals mentioned in February were once again singled out, including Marco Ponce, Rafael Uzcátegui, Carlos Correa, and Liliana Ortega, as well as Humberto Prado, of the Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones (OVP); Aurelio Fernández Cochenzo, of Transparencia Venezuela; and Feliciano Reyna, of CODEVIDA. The title of the piece was ‘Marco Antonio Ponce (OVC) Heads List of NGOs Traveling to Washington DC and Miami to Conspire against the Government of Venezuela.’ The article states that these individuals ‘headed off to the Empire,” and includes a photograph of someone in line at the airport.’”824 The IACHR concluded by urging “public officials to refrain from making statements that stigmatize human rights defenders or suggest that human rights organizations are acting improperly or illegally, merely for engaging in their work to promote and defend human rights”. 825The IACHR expressed its concern on this matter once again on their 2014 Annual Report.826 Next, the section will present a few examples of the persecution individual NGO activists have suffered. Humberto Prado of the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory has been repeatedly intimidated and threatened. In February 2014, in the context of the demonstrations that began that month, the Minister of the Interior accused Humberto Prado of being involved in violence during the protests and of conspiring to destabilize the government and the prisons. In October 2014, Diosdado Cabello read out on his weekly television programme information allegedly sent by a member of the public about Humberto Prado’s visit to Panama at the end of September, stating that he had met “strange people” there. In fact, Humberto had participated in a Regional Forum on the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture organized by Association for the Prevention 823 IACHR. (2015) IACHR Expresses Alarm over Intimidation in Venezuela directed against People Who Come before the Inter-American Human Rights System 824 IACHR. (2015) IACHR Expresses Alarm over Intimidation in Venezuela directed against People Who Come before the Inter-American Human Rights System 825 IACHR. (2015) IACHR Expresses Alarm over Intimidation in Venezuela directed against People Who Come before the Inter-American Human Rights System 826 IACHR. (2015) Annual Report 2014