The Regional Alliance for Free Expression and Information listed 22 press workers detained in the country and demanded their freedom. These are: Ángel Godoy, Biagio Pilieri, Carlos Julio Rojas, Carlos Marcano, Gabriel González, Gianni González, Juan Francisco Alvarado, Juan Pablo Guanipa, Julio Balza, Leandro Palmar, Leocenis García, Luis López, Mario Chávez Cohen, Nakary Ramos, Nicmer Evans, Omairo Daniel Castellanos, Pedro Guanipa, Ramón Centeno, Roland Carreño, Rory Branker, Salvador Cubillán and Víctor Ugas
The Regional Alliance for Free Expression and Information rejected the criminalization policies of the Venezuelan State against those who exercise their civil and political rights, particularly journalists and social communicators, through arbitrary arrests, irregular judicial processes and serious violations of due process and requested freedom for these people.
According to public data collected by local organizations, until this month of December at least 22 journalists and communicators remain arbitrarily detained in the country for the exercise of rights such as freedom of expression, of the press and of association for social or political purposes.
The Alliance warned that these detentions are marked by serious violations of due process, including temporary forced disappearances, denial of the right to trusted lawyers, prolonged incommunication, lack of medical care, punishments, prohibition of visits and total absence of information about judicial processes.
The Regional Alliance He reported that relatives spend months without knowing the whereabouts of the detained people and when they finally manage to locate them, the contact is usually brief, due to new transfers that are not officially reported. Physical punishment and reprisals have also been documented against those who report prison conditions or the lack of judicial independence.
The organization also warned about the use of isolation as a punishment mechanism and about the situation of people with chronic diseases, who do not receive medical care or medications in a timely manner, which represents a serious risk to their life and integrity.
Articulated system for repression
According to the Alliance, these practices are not isolated events, but part of a repressive policy articulated by State institutions. He denounced that the judicial system acts subordinate to high authorities, while the Prosecutor’s Office presents accusations without evidence and the Ombudsman’s Office remains silent in the face of the victims’ demands, which has even led to the loss of its international accreditation.
“When the State does not exercise violence directly, it does so through silence or facilitating impunity,” the statement states.
The statement questions the official narrative of dialogue and peace promoted by the ruling party, considering it incompatible with practices such as arbitrary detention, forced disappearance, torture and the systematic denial of fundamental rights. “We cannot talk about respect for civil and political rights while repressing those who express themselves and exercise their freedoms,” the Alliance emphasizes.
Venezuela as a regional precedent
The organization recalled that for several years it has documented and denounced authoritarian practices in different countries in the region, and noted that Venezuela was an early example of regressive policies that have now spread to other states on the continent.
These practices, as he explained, progress from the stigmatization of critical speech to the use of arbitrary judicial processes to punish the free dissemination of ideas, reduce public scrutiny and promote self-censorship, even imposing prison sentences for legitimate critical expressions.
“When deprivation of liberty is established as a frequent sanction mechanism, collective denunciation often becomes the only resource to increase the cost of abuses,” the Alliance warned.
The journalists, communicators and media workers identified by the Regional Alliance as arbitrarily detained are: Ángel Godoy, Biagio Pilieri, Carlos Julio Rojas, Carlos Marcano, Gabriel González, Gianni González, Juan Francisco Alvarado, Juan Pablo Guanipa, Julio Balza, Leandro Palmar, Leocenis García, Luis López, Mario Chávez Cohen, Nakary Ramos, Nicmer Evans, Omairo Daniel Castellanos, Pedro Guanipa, Ramón Centeno, Roland Carreño, Rory Branker, Salvador Cubillán and Víctor Ugas.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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