January 1, 2004
Bolivia's unstable political situation, widespread civil unrest, and weak rule of law present serious long-term threats to human rights. In 2003, the army and police shot dead scores of civilians during anti-government protests, apparently violating international norms governing the use of lethal force. Military troops and police eradicating coca crops in the Chapare region, who face organized resistance from growers, have used excessive force and have mistreated detainees. Such incidents are rarely if ever satisfactorily investigated by the courts. When soldiers are involved in abuses, military courts assume jurisdiction and almost invariably allow those responsible to escape punishment. Torture and other ill-treatment continue to be a problem and also go largely unpunished. For years, those active in the defense of human rights have faced occasional death threats and harassment.
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- Excessive Use of Lethal Force
- Torture and Ill-Treatment
- Prison Conditions
- Attacks on Human Rights Defenders
- Key International Actors
Excessive Use of Lethal Force
Occasional deaths resulting from the excessive use of lethal force have long occurred in the tropical El Chapare region, where U.S.-backed police and army troops have been engaged in a decade-long effort to eradicate coca, from which cocaine is made. During 2003 civil unrest spread to other parts of the country, and was quelled with extreme violence.
According to the Human Rights Ombudsman, a national-level office in Bolivia, fifty-nine civilians were killed between September 20 and October 19, 2003, during massive street protests sparked by government plans to sell Bolivian natural gas through Chile. Nongovernmental human rights sources put the number of dead at over eighty. The bloodiest day was October 12, when at least twenty-six civilians were killed in El Alto, a poor industrial city in the hills above La Paz. Many were shot when army troops armed with combat rifles tried to break blockades preventing the passage of fuel tankers from El Alto to La Paz. Facing public anger at the carnage, President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and his cabinet resigned, and Sánchez flew to the United States. The vice-president, Carlos Mesa Gisbert, was sworn in as president on October 17, and promised in his inaugural address to carry out an independent and impartial probe into the violence.
Like others that have preceded it, the investigation has already encountered serious obstacles, including lack of military cooperation and jurisdictional competition with military courts. Even if the attorney general's office retains full control over the investigation, its efforts will be hampered by prosecutors' limited political independence, training, and skills, and by shortages of basic resources.
In November, the attorney general recommended that Congress order a "trial of responsibilities" of former president Sánchez de Lozada and his cabinet for the September and October deaths. The Supreme Court will conduct the trial only if Congress authorizes it.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
In May 2001 the United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed concern at reports of torture in police stations, prisons, and military barracks, and at the failure of the justice authorities to investigate complaints or to suspend officials responsible for torture. In recent years, soldiers and police trying to eradicate coca crops in the El Chapare region have been accused of beating and mistreating detainees. Police sometimes circumvent guarantees intended to prevent such abuses, such as a requirement that a valid warrant be produced and that detainees be released or brought before a judge within twenty-four hours.
Prison Conditions
Conditions are very harsh in Bolivian prisons, which are overcrowded and understaffed. Food and medical facilities are insufficient, and prisoners are not treated equally, since those able to pay get better accommodation and food. Inmates effectively control many prisons. Incidents of violence between inmates and by prison guards are quite common.
Attacks on Human Rights Defenders
Although Bolivia has vigorous nongovernmental and civil society groups that operate without legal restrictions, human rights defenders have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, and threats on numerous occasions. Since 1997 members of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights of Bolivia (Asamblea Permanente de Derechos Humanos de Bolivia, APDH), including its former president, Waldo Albarracín (recently elected to the post of Human Rights Ombudsman), have frequently been targets of death threats.
Key International Actors
Former President Gonzálo Sánchez de Lozada cooperated fully with U.S. efforts to eradicate illegal coca, and was viewed by U.S. officials as a key ally in the Andean region. During 2003, the U.S. provided Bolivia with at least $80 million to support coca eradication efforts and promote the cultivation of alternative crops by affected farmers. These efforts peaked during the government of Hugo Banzer (1997-2001), when the government implemented a "Dignity Plan" aimed at the total elimination of illegal coca by 2002, at times militarizing the entire Chapare region. The resentment of poor farmers against this U.S.-driven policy was a significant factor in the growth of the protest movement that ousted Sánchez de Lozada in 2003.
In May 2003 the Organization of American States published a report on protest deaths that took place during the previous February in La Paz. Thirty-one people (both civilian and military) were killed after police, unhappy with their low wages, clashed with army troops stationed outside the presidential palace. In its recommendations to the international community the report stated that a program to strengthen the justice system and the public prosecutor's office was an absolute priority in Bolivia.
