Human Rights violations faced by political prisoners in Venezuela

The situation of political prisoners in Venezuela has reached critical levels of human rights violation. This is due to alarming complaints about the lack of judicial guarantees and inhumane conditions in detention centers.

Defend Venezuela He has received testimonies from victims he represents who, for fear of reprisals, have preferred to remain anonymous. These reports reveal that the preliminary hearings of many detainees are being carried out electronically from the Detention Center of Stump and Tocuyito, seriously limiting access to an adequate defense.

This procedure, which is carried out without direct contact between detainees and public defenders, undermines the right to a fair trial. “Telematic hearings from prisons violate due process, since they make effective interaction between the accused and their defenders impossible, crucial to preparing a solid defense in this fundamental phase of the judicial process, there is already a serious problem in the restrictions to appoint a trusted lawyer, add that, a lawyer who does not visit the detainee and who also conducts the hearing from a distance,” denounced the legal coordinator of Defend Venezuela.

Judicialization without transparency: A direct path to unjust convictions

Relatives of political prisoners have also denounced the lack of access to the conclusive acts of the Public Ministry. This leaves the detainees completely defenseless against the judicial machinery of the State. In multiple cases, the courts have accepted the prosecution’s accusations without the participation of the victims in the investigation phase and without resolving the legal defects of the accusation with compelling evidence, creating a significant imbalance in the criminal process, which will surely end in convictions. unfair.

Inhuman conditions and extreme malnutrition

In addition to these procedural irregularities, detainees face inhumane conditions in prisons. According to testimonies, prisoners suffer rapid weight loss due to the poor quality and scarcity of food. A particularly serious case is that of a prisoner who has lost more than 20 kilograms in two months. The situation exposes him to contracting chronic diseases that could endanger his life. The food supplied in prisons is in deplorable conditions, often infested with worms and without protein content. Detainees spend weeks without access to sunlight or time in the yards, aggravating their physical and mental deterioration. Access to packages sent by relatives is another serious problem. Most of the time, the food and basic items brought by family members are not accepted by the guards or, in cases where they are received, they do not reach the hands of the detainees. This further aggravates the food and health crisis within detention centers, since prisoners largely depend on these shipments to be able to feed themselves and cover their basic needs. Those who have dared to denounce these conditions have been brutally punished. There have been reports of beatings by guards and confinement in total isolation, without access to food or water, in cells known as “el tigrito.”

Urgent call to international organizations: ICC, OAS and UN

Defend Venezuela makes an urgent call to the International Criminal Court (ICC)to the Organization of American States (OAS) already at United Nations (UN) to take immediate measures in the face of this prison crisis. The systematic violations of the human rights of political prisoners in Venezuela require international intervention. This is in order to guarantee respect for due process, access to a fair defense and decent conditions in detention centers. “The international community cannot look the other way while human rights are violated with impunity in Venezuela. The CPIthe OAS and the UN “They must intervene to demand accountability and put an end to these inhumane practices that violate human dignity and international law,” he concluded. Defend Venezuela.