ACT ON ADOLFO PEREZ ESQUIVEL – NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE

Case 24/2017: Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ)

LEGAL ACT ON ADOLFO PEREZ ESQUIVEL – NOBEL PEACE PRIZE LAUREATE

On April 19, 2017, an Act of International Repudiation was made regarding a letter signed by Mr. Perez Esquivel entitled Solidarity with Venezuela against the OAS Coup and Intervention. In the context of our recent case against Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which was sentenced for Violation of the Democratic Constitutional State of Law and Violation of International Human Rights Law, the statement of support for the Venezuelan government is scandalous. In addition, after issuing the Judgment, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has perceived that the Venezuelan people have begun to peacefully march in protest of the lack of democratic quality of the country, before which the government of President Maduro has responded with violent repression which resulted in several people dead. This kind of episode is not new, because few years ago Maduro's government carried out a tremendous repression, killing more than forty protesters, which obviously has remained totally unpunished. Faced with a government that is producing a political, economic and cultural disaster, it is unfortunate that Mr. Perez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Prize laureate) is an ideological accomplice of this situation by providing support and solidarity to a government that systematically and widespreadly violates human rights, ignoring the democratic will of the Venezuelan people. This situation is silently supported by the Vatican, which has interfered in the internal affairs of other State trying to sustain a regime that is increasingly becoming more tyrannical, authoritarian and undemocratic. The fact that Mr. Perez Esquivel's Communiqué highlights the Venezuelan government's advances in education, housing, health and labor is quite derisory and regrettable, because Venezuela is a country that is in a deep humanitarian crisis caused by government policies, reason by which it recently requested humanitarian aid to the UN. Perez Esquivel's Communiqué deforms reality in an unacceptable way, because beyond the fact that there is freedom of expression, his words have an essentially negationist tinge. Faced with an unfair and illegitimate government, it should be remembered the fact that democratic systems are not dictatorships of majorities, and that winning elections is not to provide a blank check for politicians to do what they want without accountability for their actions. Governments must respect national Constitutions and International Human Rights Treaties, and when this is not complied, one is faced with unjust and illegitimate governments that violate the Constitutional State of Law and the International Law. Therefore, Perez Esquivel's words in support of President Maduro are irrational and irresponsible, betraying any kind of humanitarian legacy that the Nobel Peace Prize had in the past. The Venezuelan government is an absolute betrayal of any socialist orientation, pretending to be a fraternal, sovereign and revolutionary country, when it is actually a violent and dictatorial government that is allied to genocidal and terrorist countries such as Iran. The Statement of Perez Esquivel is shameful and is an affront to Human Rights, justifying violence under the pretext that there is a possible and unlikely pursuit of destabilization and overthrow against the government of Maduro. In Venezuela there is no socialist revolution, but only a rich and powerful governmental elite manipulating and impoverishing the people through Populism. Perez Esquivel's attitude to justify the violence against the Venezuelan people calling for democracy and liberty is repudiated by the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights as a grievance to World Peace, which paradoxically goes in tune with the illegal behavior of many other Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The pursuit of democracy and liberty is not an internal affair of Venezuela, but rather constitutes a supreme human right that can and must be defended by the entire international community. In this sense, Perez Esquivel's statements in support of a regime that carries out crimes against humanity are despicable and worrisome. While the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights condemns the international crimes committed by the United States, this does not necessarily imply that the Tribunal is in favor of the enemies of the United States. This fact demonstrates that the great mistake of political activists like Perez Esquivel is that they often incur dualism, not being able to keep a position that is critical, detached and empty of ideology, because for this kind of activists, making a criticism to governments like Venezuela automatically implies supporting governments such as the United States, and vice versa. The Communiqué of Perez Esquivel demands unrestricted respect for the sovereignty of Venezuela, but he ignores that sovereignties of States are not absolute, but they are limited by the values and principles of International Human Rights Law. Thus, when the international community requires the Venezuelan government to respect democracy and human rights, this act obviously does not constitute aggression and intrusion. The real external interference is that of States such as the Vatican, which supports Venezuela's dictatorial regime instead of working for democracy and liberty of the people. The Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights expresses solidarity and condolences to the relatives of the demonstrators killed by the Venezuelan government, assuming the commitment so that their voices are not totally silenced by tyrannical presidents, abusive religions and false Nobel Peace Prize laureates.