“Please, I am willing to cooperate, But I would like you to tell me if you have a search warrant… I am a lawyer for the Republic, I would like you to tell me what the search warrant is. This is my home, it is private property,” said Oropeza minutes before being arrested.
“They are destroying the door. They are Entering my home arbitrarily, there is no search warrant. I ask for help. I did nothing wrong, I am not a criminal, I am just another citizen who wants a different country. I am only accompanied by God and the Virgin Mary.”said Oropeza before they took away his phone and They ordered him to cooperate and walk “quickly.”
After the July 29 protests where thousands of Venezuelans from popular sectors took to the streets of the country to denounce electoral fraud, Security forces are searching house by house those who are accused by the regime of committing violent crimes during the marches, in an operation they call Mr. Mrlike the sound of a door being knocked.
He National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE)whose president is a Chavista Elvis Amoroso proclaimed to Maduro as the winner of the July 28 elections, beating the opposition Edmundo Gonzalez However, the opposition has access to more than 80% of the votes and maintains that its candidate was the winner by more than 30 points.
What is Operation Tun Tun?
The Operation Tun Tun It began to sound in 2017, when the number two of Chavismo, God given hair, He used that term in his television program “Con el Mazo Dando” to refer to arrests of “terrorists“In reality, it was about chasing political leaders and opposition activists, going to their homes and arresting them.
That year there were massive opposition protests to reject the regime’s attack on the National Assembly then controlled by the opposition.
The Operation Tun Tun It involves state security agencies such as the Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations Corps (Cicpc), the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin).
Over the years, the Operation Tun Tun has been institutionalized in Venezuela.
Just as an example of this, it is worth mentioning that on August 3rd Douglas Ricodirector of the Cicpcuploaded a video on his social networks where he shows how the Operation Tun Tun.
“Operation Tun Tun is just beginning. Report if you have been the target of a physical or virtual hate campaign through social media”says Rico’s message.
The director of the Cicpc It also indicates that the complainant must share his or her information: name and ID, date and location, physical or digital evidence showing the assault or threat, and telephone number or social profile.
Not only that, the DGCIM He also posted a video on his networks announcing the Operation Tun Tun accompanied by the phrase “No crying”.
In the DGCIM clip, a voice says: “It doesn’t matter, wherever I go, Chucky will find me,” while a manipulated version of the song Ring Christmas Bells plays to instill terror. In the video, agents are seen detaining civilians.
“Delete everything from your phone before you leave”
On Tuesday, Maduro He said that 2,229 “terrorists” have already been arrested in the context of the protests.
For its part, the human rights NGO Criminal Forum has documented the arrest of 1,151 people, of whom 101 are teenagers.
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Gonzalo Himiobdirector of Foro Penal, stated that 95% of the detainees come from poor and working-class areas of different states in Venezuela.
As arrests mount, messages such as “Delete everything from your phone before leaving”, “they are stopping people on the street and If they see a photo of you in a march on your phone, they will arrest you.“, “in my building They went looking for those who were witnesses in the elections“, according to a report by the Chilean newspaper La Tercera that was not signed by its author, a Venezuelan journalist, for fear of reprisals.
Rossana Avilet, a relative of a detainee, told the Voice of America how the search of his home went: “They broke into my house, they robbed me, they stole all his work stuff, they stole everything, they planted 11 shirts, two caps, and everything that appears in the photo where they are incriminating him. The authorities asked him to incriminate himself. He said no, that he prefers to be killed, that he hasn’t done anything, that they are simply blaming him for defending his right to vote.”.
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“Constitutional guarantees have been suspended de facto”
Rafael Uzcategui, sociologist, human rights defender and director of the Peace Laboratory, told Trade that Operation Tun Tun is being used as a state policy. As in the past, it says that Arbitrary arrests are being made without a court orderand security forces are entering homes without a search warrant.
Uzcátegui points out that the protests following the elections of July 28 have been led mainly by the popular sectors. He adds that the Peace Laboratory had 210 demonstrations across the country on July 29, a figure that is considered historic for citizen mobilization in Venezuela.
“That day The anger and indignation of citizens focused on the symbols of power. We had institutional headquarters that were burned down, as well as headquarters of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. There were six statues of Hugo Chavez that were torn down. In addition, billboards of the ruling party were destroyed. So, The reaction has been absolutely cruel and disproportionate.. As of July 30, we have this situation that we have described as suppression of constitutional guarantees by way of facts”, Uzcátegui says.
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The sociologist indicates that different patterns of violations of the human rights of detainees are being recorded: they are not being presented in court within 48 hours, which is what should happen according to the law; people are being charged with crimes in the detention centers themselves, something that is absolutely illegal. The charges of crimes are being made by the judge via a Zoom call. He adds that all detainees are being sent to regular prisons.
“Also the detainee is prevented from having a private defense and public defenders are imposed on them who, of course, do not study the cases, do not defend the rights of those they represent, and basically what they are trying to do is speed up a conviction,” Uzcátegui warns.
Another irregularity that has been detected is that The security forces themselves are extorting the detained people. “The extortion is massive, almost everyone is being asked for money… they are asked for amounts starting at 1,000 dollars… in addition we have several cases of people who finally paid the extortion but remain detained.”.
He says that already There are three cases of prosecutors who have been dismissed and arrested for failing to comply with orders to charge detainees..
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Uzcátegui points out something that he finds worrying: Security forces are promoting denunciation among neighbors. “This is massive because an application has even been created so that people can provide information about their neighbors, not only to those who have participated in a demonstration against the regime, but also to those who are sending messages through their networks with criticism of the government.”
“As a sociologist, this situation causes me great concern, because it is affecting the social fabric of the community in these neighborhoods that are accustomed to dealing with situations of violence. And this could have unpredictable consequences. That is to say, the person you are delaying may be a cousin, friend, or boyfriend of someone who participates in a criminal group. And that, of course, in the codes of crime in Venezuela, is one of the things that is punished the worst.” manifests.
Uzcátegui also warns that The subsequent legal consequences for those who are arbitrarily detaining could also extend to whistleblowers, Because many of the victims are being subjected to torture and their due process has been violated, the informants can therefore be included as accomplices in violating human rights.
What happens if the person being sought is not at home, can they take the father, the mother, the siblings? “Yes. It is part of this policy of generalized terror. This has been a systematic practice for several years now..
Uzcátegui explains that after the arbitrary detention in February of this year of Rocio San Miguel a human rights activist, has caused panic within the human rights movement, leading many organizations to lower the profile and intensity of their public denunciations. They are only working to confidentially document what is happening and report it to international organizations.