Andrés Velásquez calls the detention of adolescents “inhumane”
Opposition leader Andrés Velásquez said this Sunday that the detention of teenagers after the presidential elections of July 28, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed President Nicolás Maduro as the winner, is one of the reasons why “more serious and inhuman” human rights violations.
“One of the most serious and inhuman violations of human rights and crimes against humanity is the imprisonment that Maduro ordered against dozens of teenagers,” the former governor said on the social network. X.
Andrés Velásquez indicated that this action is “simply unforgivable”as well as that “imposing (the) silence with this atrocious repression, is another proof of their defeat,” in reference to the fact that, for the opposition and the main anti-Chavez coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), the winner of the presidential elections was its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia.
Teenagers released from prison
On Saturday, the vice president of the NGO Foro Penal, Gonzalo Himiob, reported that 40 teenagers out of more than 100 detainedfollowing the presidential elections on July 28, were released from prison.
Through X, Himiob explained that 13 minors were released with precautionary measures in Táchira, eight in Lara, five in Portuguesa, three in the state of Bolívar, as well as one in Yaracuy.
On Thursday, the NGO reported the release of 16 teenagers in Caracas, four of them women and 12 men.
According to official figures, more than 2,400 people have been arrested since July 29 – some in demonstrations and others in police operations – and 25 have been killed in acts of violence that the government attributes to the opposition, while anti-Chavez supporters blame the state security forces, on orders from their superiors.
On Wednesday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented a report to the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States, warning of an increase in «the repression» in the South American nation, as well as “arbitrary use of force” and arrests that include minors.
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