Vatican grants asylum to notorious Venezuelan molester Nixon Moreno (updated)

by rahul | September 17, 2008 at 07:27 am

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Updates: The Venezuelan government asked the Vatican to surrender 33-year old Nixon Moreno so that he is presented at judicial authorities to confront rape, attempted homicide and violence charges.

Caracas, Venezuela, 17 September, 2008. Last night, some Venezuelans were shocked by news coming from the Vatican. Three months ago, the Roman Catholic Church had granted "humanitarian" asylum to a notorious woman molester: Nixon Moreno. They also learned that the Venezuelan government has not granted him safe-conduct for the departure from the country yet.

Ex student leader, Nixon Moreno, has been accused of attempting rape against a female police officer-Sofia Aguilar- during protests in Merida, Western Venezuela in 2006 and promoting violent acts as leader of "Movimento 13" group. Since March 2007, Moreno has remained under the protection of the Catholic Church premises to avoid legal charges and a possible term in jail. Last December, Venezuelans witnessed the most odd academic act by which Andean University (ULA) authorities granted Moreno a degree on Political Science for his studies in absence. Meanwhile, the local opposition hailed Moreno as a martyr and presented him as a candidate. But the government demanded his presence at court to confront attempted rape charges. But for a Catholic Church that has deemed it appropriate to pay compensation for Child sexual abuses committed by its priests or turned a blind eye on this horrid issue, the granting of asylum to Venezuelan Moreno comes as no real surprise. However, this time the Vatican is stepping on deeper ground. Its decision to protect a criminal instead of a citizen persecuted for his/her political opinions or religious beliefs, rocks the very core of the asylum institution.

Since the nineteenth century, Exile/Asylum has been an important political practise everywhere in Latin America. There was an early and important treaty on Asylum signed at Havana in 1928. Then, the Organisation of American States (OAS) was able to codify early Asylum traditions into International/ Regional law. After some negotiations, OAS approved three conventions on diplomatic (1954), political (1933) and territorial (1954) Asylum. Despite the fact that the United States of America did not recognise or subscribed to, as part of international law, the doctrine of asylum, the OAS Conventions on Asylum remained valid as a cosy mechanism for most Latin American countries. In a most remarkable case, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a judgement (1950) on the case of Peruvian Haya de la Torre who had remained in the Colombian Embassy in Lima. The ICJ "had found that, in this case, the asylum had not been granted in conformity with the Convention on Asylum signed at Havana in 1928. After the judgement had been delivered, Peru requested Colombia to execute it, and called upon her to put an end to a protection improperly granted by surrendering the refugee. Then, the "Court arrived at the conclusion that the asylum must cease, but that Colombia was not bound to discharge her obligation by surrendering the refugee....as surrender is not the only manner in which asylum may be terminated."

Now the granting of "humantarian" assylum to a Venezuelan molester in violation of local and current internatonal law indicates it is time to revise the wording of the OAS conventions to avoid that in the name of Cannon Law the local Catholic Church promotes miscarriages of justice or the protection of a person guilty of common crimes. In addition, the Vatican should not fear the Venezuelan Judicial System when in comes to dealing with rapists. Recently, a most distinguised Venezuelan intellectual, Edmundo Chirinos, was put on trial for raping and killing Roxana Vargas, one of his young patients. Professor Chirinos had been a prominent Psychiatrist. He founded the psychology school in Venezuela and served as Chancellor of Universidad Central of Venezuela (UCV). Dr Chirinos was also a presidential candidate and a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the current Venezuelan constitution. Despite such political and acedemic achievements, the Venezuelan justice also reached him...without the intervention of the Catholic Church.

Sources: El Universal, VTV, Globovision, YVKE, El Nacional, Unionradio,