Amnesty International (AI) condemned the “pressure patterns” used for politically motivated arrests. Venezuelan “they sharpened”and demanded the “release” of these prisoners, through the “Lives in Detention” report released this Tuesday, in which it highlights nine cases of “accused by the Government of Nicolás Maduro” between 2019 and 2023.
“Arbitrary arrests for political reasons in Venezuelacontinue to be part of a widespread and systematic attack The report states that it is done against the population in this country, mainly to silence those who oppose Nicolás Maduro’s government, or for other political purposes.
Human rights organizations have documented approximately 15,700 arbitrary detentions for political reasons in the Caribbean country between 2014 and 2023, and currently, “Nearly 300 people still lack freedom in these conditions”.
“In recent years (2019-2023) some patterns seem to have worsened. In particular, the broad and comprehensive implementation of this regulatory framework, in particular the decriminalization of individuals through special courts with jurisdiction over terrorism, is of great concern to the organization. to aggravate possible penalties,” he said.
He explained that the “patterns” set for performing these actions include: “arrests without judicial warrant on alleged red flags, short-term enforced disappearances following detention, criminal charges with broad discretion” and “restrictions” access to defense.
It was also stated that “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, excessive delay of investigation periods”, as well as “reprisal” and “attribution of organizing crime to committing a crime” were also observed. standard of evidence and enforcement of severe penalties.
In the letter, the organization drew attention to the cases of Emirlendris Benítez, a mother and trader who was arrested in August 2018; María Auxiliadora Delgado and Juan Carlos Marrufo, married couple arrested in March 2019; Journalist and political activist Roland Carreño was arrested in October 2020; and Guillermo Zárraga, a former trade unionist, was arrested in November 2020.
He also mentioned the engineer and neurodiverse Darío Estrada and professor and trade unionist Robert Franco, both of whom were deprived of their liberty in December 2020; human rights defender Javier Tarazona, who was arrested in July 2021; and humanitarian aid worker Gabriel Blanco, detained in July 2022.
“Approximately symbolic cases are the tip of the iceberg “There is a very serious crisis in terms of arbitrary detentions,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Director of Artificial Intelligence Americas, during the virtual presentation of the report.
Guevara assures AI “initiates action at global level” We demand the release not only of these nine cases, but (…) all persons detained for political reasons. In Venezuela” includes international advocacy, mobilization and a global petition that they invite to sign.