Grave decree that exempts the armed forces of Bolivia from criminal responsibility

The (The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights)  IACHR warns of the "grave decree" that exempts the armed forces of Bolivia from criminal responsibility

Published: 17 Nov 2019 01:20 GMT

The document authorizes the military to use "all available means" to restore order.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) denounced on Saturday the issuance of a "serious decree" that exempts "personnel from Bolivia's armed forces who participate in the operations of restoration and stability of the internal order" from criminal responsibility.

The document published by the IACHR was signed on November 15 by the interim government, and authorizes the military to use "all available means" to control the demonstrations.

Article three of Supreme Decree No. 4,078 states: "Armed forces personnel who participate in the operations for the restoration of internal order and public stability shall be exempt from criminal responsibility when in the performance of their constitutional functions, they act in self-defense or state of necessity and proportionality, in accordance with Art. 11 and 12 of the Criminal Code. Law 1760 and the Code of Criminal Procedure ".

Bachelet warns that the situation in Bolivia can "get out of control"

Bachelet warns that the situation in Bolivia can "get out of control"

Meanwhile, the following article states that the military "should frame their actions as established by the Manual of the Use of Force approved by supreme decree 27,977 dated January 14, 2005, being able to make use of all available means, which are proportional at the risk of operations […] ".

The document, according to the organization, "ignores international human rights standards and by its style stimulates violent repression." In addition, in its pronouncement, the IACHR condemned any administrative act of the Government "that violates the right to truth, justice, and international law." Particularly, the agency referred to the actions of the armed forces in social protests.

"The scope of such decrees contravenes the obligation of states to investigate, prosecute, prosecute and punish human rights violations," the Commission wrote on Twitter.

The complaint comes one day after the multilateral organization condemned the disproportionate use of force in the demonstrations that take place in Cochabamba.

The deposed President Evo Morales also spoke about it and said that "the perpetrators of the coup in Bolivia govern with decrees, without the Legislative and supported by weapons and bayonets of police and armed forces." Morales believes that the document is "a white letter of impunity to slaughter the people."

For his part, the acting minister of the Presidency, Xerxes Justinian, declared that "in a distorted way, it is said that it is a license to kill." "This decree has a legal basis in the Constitution and the Organic Law of the Armed Forces," he said.