The NGO Punishment Forum reports that there are currently such in Venezuela 902 political prisonersof that 86 have other citizenship or dual citizenshipaccording to a December 15 bulletin published this Saturday.
The report is distributed via the social network Xstates that among the detainees there are 782 men and 120 women; 898 are adults and four young people between the ages of 14 and 17. Of these, 728 are civilians and 174 are military personnel.
The organization warned that as of publication, this list “does not yet include all individuals who have been arrested and released or are in short-term (48 hour) detention.”
Most of the arrests came after the presidential elections in July 2024, when the electoral body under the control of the Chavista regime declared the dictator the winner. Nicolas Madurodespite complaints of fraud from the opposition united in the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which claims the victory of the elected president Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
The Venezuelan dictatorship of Maduro and prosecutors assure that there are no political prisoners in the country and claim that those who remain deprived of their freedom have committed ordinary crimes, a position rejected by NGOs and opposition leaders.
On the other hand, they mentioned the historical record of arrests for political reasons in Venezuela: “Political arrests from 2014 to date: 18,612″. On the other hand, they emphasized that the Penal Forum had supported more than 14,000 prisoners and other victims of human rights violations who have now been released. “In addition to political prisoners, more than 10,000 people are still subject to arbitrary measures restricting their freedom.”
Last Thursday, the NGO Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness (JEP) warned against it 91 of the political prisoners had “serious illnesses” and reported a “progressive physical deterioration” of the prisonerswhich he described as a “form of structural violence”. In a message on
Martha Tineo, lawyer and general coordinator of Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness (JEP), reported that among the political prisoners detained in Venezuela “at least 8 cases of advanced cancer“, with detailed diagnoses of prostate adenocarcinoma, small cell lung cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, epithelial sarcoma, and pancreatic and brain tumors.
The lawyer added that some inmates suffer “irreversible kidney damage or persistent urinary tract infections,” forcing them to use urinary catheters permanently, but many do not receive these devices or do not have the means to obtain them.
The JEP denounced X the “systematic denial of medical care, non-compliance with treatment and exposure to unsanitary conditions” in Venezuelan prisons, a situation he described as a “direct violation of the right to life and personal integrity.”
On December 6, Foro Penal reported on the death in prison – and in regime custody – of former Nueva Esparta governor Alfredo Díaz, who had been imprisoned and isolated for more than a year. According to Alfredo Romero, president and director of the Foro Penal, “17 political prisoners” have died in the dictatorship’s custody since 2014.
(With information from EFE)
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