Following the presidential elections of July 28 in Venezuela, in which the electoral authorities declared the current president Nicolás Maduro the winner, a series of Protest mobilizations, both on the streets throughout the country and on social networksto which the Government has responded with repression, according to the Fact-Finding Mission in that country*named by the Human Rights Council of the UN.
The Mission, made up of independent experts, issued a statement on Monday Demanding that the Venezuelan authorities immediately stop the repression and “thoroughly investigate the avalanche of serious human rights violations that are occurring.”
According to experts, the State has created a climate of widespread fear that has led to 23 documented deaths between July 28 and August 8, most of them by gunshot. In 18 cases, the victims were men under 30 years of age.
Mission President Marta Valiñas said that the complaints should be investigated and that, if an abuse of force by security forces or pro-government armed civilians is confirmed, there must be accountability.
“Victims and their families must obtain justice“, he noted.
Arrested for rejecting the election results
The experts’ data, obtained from the analysis of reports from human rights organizations, indicate that after the election, they were detained at least 1260 peopleincluding 160 women.
Most of the arrests took place in the Capital District, 18%; followed by the states of Carabobo, 16%; and Anzoátegui, 9%.
The numbers provided by the Attorney General of the Republic raise the figure even further by reporting 2,200 detained indiscriminatelywith the qualification of “terrorists”.
Among those arrested are leaders, members and supporters of political parties, journalists and human rights defenders, considered or perceived as opponents by the authorities.
Experts argued that the vast majority of those detained simply expressed their rejection of the result of the presidential election announced by the authorities and detailed that many of them The arrests occurred after those people participated in protests. or expressed their opinions on social media when the authorities went to their homes.
Children accused
In addition, they reported having complaints of arrests of More than one hundred children and adolescents charged with the same serious crimes as adultsThese minors do not have the presence of their parents or guardians during judicial proceedings.
“The Mission firmly demands the obligation to ensure that detained children and adolescents are treated in strict accordance with international standards “child protection, respecting their best interests,” said Francisco Cox, a member of the group.
Arbitrary detentions
The experts said that the characteristics of the arrests indicate that they are arbitrary arrests and that violate due process, leaving those affected unprotected before the justice system.
They supported this claim by citing summary telematic hearings, carried out by the Caracas courts with jurisdiction over terrorism, even though the events had occurred elsewhere; the imposition of serious criminal charges such as terrorism, conspiracy and hate crimes, without any evidentiary basis to support them or applied in a disproportionate manner; the denial of information to relatives or late and incomplete information; or the impediments to the appointment of trusted lawyers for detained persons.
In this regard, the Mission stressed that All persons detained under such conditions must be released immediately.
“The authorities must strictly respect international standards on due process and conditions of detention, using formal channels to communicate with relatives,” he stressed. Patricia Tappatá, another member.
*In September 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela through the resolution 42/25 for one year to assess alleged human rights violations committed since 2014. The Human Rights Council, through resolutions 45/20 and 51/29extended the mandate of the international Mission for two more years, until September 2024. The Mission will present its next annual report during the Council’s interactive dialogue in September.
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