Tocuyito Prison: they report that prisoners only receive two glasses of water per day

Relatives of arrested in post-election protests who were transferred to the maximum security prison in Tocuyito, Carabobo state, reported that The prisoners only receive two glasses of water a day and little food.

The mothers consulted by the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory (OVP) said that prisoners eat a dry and thin arepa, have pasta with meat or rice with meat for lunch, and have grains for dinner.

“Imagine, drinking water, something so basic, they can’t do it whenever they want,” said one of the mothers.

According to the complaints collected by the observatory, There are prisoners in the Tocuyito prison who have stomach pains, constant bowel movements or, on the contrary, spend up to 15 days without being able to go to the bathroom.

Humberto Prado, director of the Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP), explained that the State does not offer proper nutrition to prisoners, which must be balanced and contain a minimum of 3,000 calories, including vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Family members also expressed concern because The guards at the Tocuyito prison do not receive packages from relatives or medicine for the sick.

The young people detained in post-election protests, who were transferred to the Tocorón prison, in the state of Aragua, also receive a poor diet and consume water that is not drinkable.

Yuleisy Romero said that her son must strain the water because it is not drinkable. “They are held in inhuman conditions, they do not have the right to drink water as many times as they want, dinner is at 4:00 pm It is a lie that they play sports or take them out to the patio, they are locked in a cell for 24 hours, my son is dark-skinned and it’s yellow. What he does is sleep so he doesn’t think, he is in a cell with two people and has only one uniform for a week,” the woman said.

They denounce humiliating searches in the Tocuyito and Tocorón prisons

The women who after two months were able to visit those deprived of liberty due to the post-election protests in the Tocorón and Tocuyito prisons, They were victims of humiliation during the search.

They reported that They had to take off their clothes and, naked, they told her to bend over and push.. They checked their mouths and hair.

“Before entering they told us that we could not touch them, grab them, give them a kiss, anything, that if they saw contact they would take the detainee from us and take him away. At all times we have a custodian on each of our backs.”

The women left the visit without knowing when they will be able to see them again; they must wait for a call from the penitentiary to confirm when to return.

On Wednesday, October 3, the Committee of Mothers in Defense of the Truth, made up of relatives of those deprived of liberty in the context of the demonstrations in Caracas and La Guaira, submitted an appeal for protection to the Supreme Court of Justice in which they denounced violations of the rights of adolescents and young people.

“We demand the right to full freedom, nullity of all charges, the right to private and trusted defense. At the Ombudsman’s Office they only tell us to wait and have faith that it is a long road,” they said.

Also on September 26, they delivered a letter to the Public Ministry, addressed to Tarek William Saab, to demand the full freedom of the young people. However, they have not received responses.