The NGO asked the Ministry on March 13, 2014 these three questions:
- Has the service has been blocked in the state of Táchira and/or elsewhere in the country in recent days? If so, please inform if it was done due to a government order, state the name of the person who gave the order, and reasons for blocking internet service.
- Is it true that that there have been restrictions or blocks by CANTV on the websites ‘twimg.com’ ‘pastebin.com’ ‘bit.ly’, the application ‘zello.com’? please inform if it was done following a government order, state the name of the person who gave the order, and reasons for it. Please provide a list of blocked websites and dates on which the sites remained blocked.
- It is true that CANTV has blocked several news websites. If it is true, please inform if it was done following a government order, state the name of the person who gave the order, and reasons for it. Please provide a list of blocked websites and the dates on which the sites remained blocked.
In the absence of a response, Espacio Público appeared before the Administrative Chamber of the Supreme Court on September 18, 2014, to demand the Court to urge the public entity to answer the questions. However, the presenting judge Evelyn Marrero Ortiz also closed this window.
Based on the views expressed by the Constitutional Court, Marrero Ortiz rejected the request arguing that the NGO had failed to specify “the use it would give to the required information,” and to determine “what are the actions taken by the Administration that – in their view – would lead to a possible infringement or irregularity affecting the individual or collective interests of citizens.”
To add insult to injury, the Supreme Court declared that the questions asked by the civil association “undermine the effectiveness and efficiency that should prevail in the exercise of public administration and governance in general”, and that “such generic questions” would hinder the work of the Ministry.
The questions asked by Espacio Público are in connection with the protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro since February 12, 2014. As reported by computer experts and opposition leaders, the Administration blocked access to internet in the state of Táchira, the epicentre of the demonstrations, while ordering the “militarisation” of the entity.
The U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, questioned on April 29, 2014 the fact that Caracas used “security forces to repress peaceful protests and limit freedom of expression and assembly.” Kerry stressed that “this has included blocking access to certain websites and restricting internet access in some parts of the country.” The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry rejected these accusations.
According to Article 337 of the Constitution, not even in case of a declaration of a state of emergency can the government restrict “the right to life, prohibition of solitary confinement and torture, the right to due process, the right to information and other intangible human rights.”
Extract of the judgment
(…) In the case under study the petitioners did not explain what is the control they intend to exercise, or the purpose of the requested information; these requirements are necessary to safeguard the limits to the exercise of the right to information, based on jurisprudential criteria of the Constitutional Court according to which petitioners must expressly state the reasons for which they require the information and warrant that the request is proportional to the intended use. (See judgment of the Constitutional Court No. 745 of July 15, 2010).