Provea Coordinator upon leaving the Cicpc: “Defending human rights does not entail any crime”

After attending a summons at the headquarters of the Scientific, Criminal and Criminalistic Investigation Corps (Cicpc) for alleged commission of a crime contemplated in the Law against Hate, The general coordinator of Provea, Óscar Murillo, highlighted that it is not normal for an NGO to make statements to state security agencies simply for accompanying the victims. of human rights violations.

Why was the Provea coordinator summoned to the Cicpc?

Murillo, who attended the meeting on Wednesday, November 20 in the morning and left after five hours of interrogations, was summoned as a witness in the investigation being carried out from the state of Táchira to supposedly clarify the facts related to the death of politician and activist Edwin Santos.

After Santos’ death, controversy arose, as the national government claims that he died in a traffic accident, but human rights activists and Venezuelan political leaders claim that the man from Tachira was murdered after being detained by the authorities.

“It is not normal for an NGO to have to give statements for doing its work.or, which is to receive a complaint, guide the families, accompany them in making the case visible and we demand that the authorities do what they must do,” the Provea coordinator told the media at the entrance to the Cicpc.

“It had to be stated, practically from the day one that we received the complaint and how we accompanied the victims until, unfortunately, we learned the news of the discovery of the body of Edwin Santos, to whose family and the Catholic community to which he belonged we sent our solidarity because they have also suffered from this harassment and persecution in that state,” Murillo said.

Murillo questioned whether the summons was related to the Law against Hate, as it was for the murder of Edwin Santos.

Provea calls for an end to criminalization against NGOs

The coordinator of Provea asked the government of Nicolás Maduro to stop the criminalization of NGOs dedicated to the defense of human rights.

«We come to claim that defending human rights does not entail any crime and that accompanying citizens is a core job of human rights organizations (…) Precisely those who have debts with human rights and the rule of law are the institutions,” he indicated.

«I think this definitely has an intimidating effect on the rest of the organizations, but also on the victims, on the priests and religious communities who are the ones who accompany, in their towns, in their most remote communities in the political center of the country, the victims in their complaints,” he added.