The Venezuelan authorities They must respect the rights to life, liberty and security personnel of all Venezuelans and release all those who have been arbitrarily detained, declared this Thursday the Independent International Investigation Mission on Venezuela*.
On January 10, the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, will once again assume the presidency, after having been re-elected in the elections held on July 28, the results of which have been contested by the opposition.
In this context, the Mission called on the authorities respect the exercise of the rights to demonstrate and express themselves freely and without fear of possible reprisals from all Venezuelans.
“We remember that the security forces responsible for maintaining public order must behave with the strictest international standards on the use of force“said Marta Valiñas, who leads the Mission.
He added that all conduct that violates rights must be investigated promptly, exhaustively and impartially and judged by independent courts with full respect for due process.
Human rights crisis
According to the Mission, the violent repression against the population that protested after the announcement of the election results The July presidential elections constituted one of the most acute human rights crises in the country’s recent history.
Francisco Cox, member of the Mission, explained that between August and December 2024, the authorities They arrested at least 56 opposition party activiststen journalists and a human rights defender.
Cox added that those who order arbitrary detentions and the imposition of torture or other ills, as well as those who carry them out, are criminally responsible individually.
At the end of December 2024, the Public Ministry reported that 1,369 people of the more than 2,500 detained during the post-election period had been released after reviewing their cases.
The Mission clarified that it has not been able to corroborate these data, and added that, according to the latest data from the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, 1,849 people remain in prison for political reasons and are subject to irregularities and multiple restrictions that affect their diet. their health and access to the procedural guarantees essential in the processes that were initiated against them.
The State must care for detainees with health problems
In addition to demanding once again the release of all those arbitrarily detained and respect for Venezuelan laws themselves, the Mission reiterated the State’s obligation to provide special protection for detainees with health problemsto older adults, and to seriously consider the best interests of children who still face criminal proceedings.
The Mission recalled that every day more people are captured and counted in hundreds who still remain in prison subjected to undignified conditions, acts of torture, as well as inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment.
“People released from prison, including boys and girls, remain subject to precautionary measures and trials for serious crimes, such as terrorism or treason. The persecution of opposition people or those whom the government considers as such, not only has not stopped, but has taken the form of a systematic attack on the freedom of those who think differently,” he noted.
The Mission specified that, in accordance with its mandate, it pays special attention to the events of the period before and after the presidential inauguration.
He also announced that will investigate cases of serious human rights violations and crimes that could occur and will analyze whether they fall within the State policy of silencing the opposition, already identified in its previous reports.
* In September 2019, the Human Rights Council The United Nations established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for one year to evaluate alleged human rights violations committed since 2014. The Mission presented its latest annual report during an interactive Council dialogue in September 2024, accompanied by a conference room paper with its detailed conclusions. In your resolution 57/36 The Council extended the mandate of the International Mission for two more years, until October 2026.
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