HRF Seeks Protection for Leader of Student Movement in Venezuela; Yon Goicoechea is “Caracas Nine” Dissident #2

CARACAS, Venezuela (November 29, 2007) -- Yon Goicoechea, the leader of the student-led protest movement in Venezuela, has survived numerous physical assaults at the hands of police and supporters of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) released a report today detailing specific instances of human rights violations in the case of Goicoechea and the student movement in general.

Goicoechea’s case is part of HRF’s “Caracas Nine” campaign, designed to promote awareness of human rights abuses and to seek legal protection for individuals persecuted and endangered by the government of Venezuela.

The student movement spans all of the largest universities in Venezuela and has consistently engaged in peaceful protest. The student protests focus their attention on human rights, specifically the rights to freedom of speech and to freedom of assembly.

Goicoechea became the leader of the pro-democracy student movement that emerged in late May of 2007, when the president of Venezuela ordered the government not to renew the broadcast license of television station RCTV, triggering mass street protests.

Government officials and President Chávez himself have created a climate of hostility surrounding the dissenting students, attacking them publicly and on national television. Government officials and members of the government party have openly called for the use of violence against the student protestors. An unknown number of students (numbering no less than 200) have been detained and arrested since the student protests began in May. Photojournalists from several international agencies have captured images of the violence used against the student protestors since November 1.

Beyond the instances of violence which have resulted in physical injury, the government has used tear gas against Goicoechea and the other students. Goicoechea and his family are threatened and harassed on a daily basis. He has expressed to HRF concern for his safety and for that of his family, and is worried that he could be falsely accused by the Public Prosecutor’s office—a tactic commonly used by the Venezuelan government to intimidate and harass dissenters.

HRF is an international nonpartisan organization devoted to defending human rights in the American hemisphere. It centers its work on the twin concepts of freedom of self-determination and freedom from tyranny. These ideals include the belief that all human beings have the rights to speak freely, to associate with those of like mind, and to leave and enter their countries. Individuals in a free society must be accorded equal treatment and due process under law, and must have the opportunity to participate in the governments of their countries; HRF’s ideals likewise find expression in the conviction that all human beings have the right to be free from arbitrary detainment or exile and from interference and coercion in matters of conscience. HRF’s International Council includes former prisoners of conscience Vladimir Bukovsky, Palden Gyatso, Armando Valladares, Ramón J. Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, and Harry Wu.

Contact: Thor Halvorssen, Human Rights Foundation, (212) 246.8486, info@thehrf.org
For more information, see www.CaracasNine.com