An AI delegate visited the western state of Zulia in Venezuela in May 1994 to investigate reports of serious human rights violations which the organization had been receiving for some years. This report describes the experiences of one indigenous peasant family at the hands of members of the Venezuelan army. Two members of the Landino family were tortured and imprisoned (Mario Landino and his son, Henry). Most serious of all, a 14-year-old girl, Yolanda Landino, was abducted and remains “disappeared”. It is believed that the family was targeted on account of Mario Landino’s activities as a peasant leader. There has been no investigation into the incidents described here nor has anyone been held to account.
