The events subject to amnesty are reduced to nine historical moments. Lawyer Joel García has said that the amnestiable events are reduced to just over two years. Andreina Baduel, on behalf of the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, has pointed out that under these lapses, more than half of the detainees are not eligible for amnesty.
The modified draft of the amnesty law, whose second discussion is scheduled for this Thursday, February 12, maintains the exclusion of events that leave out hundreds of political prisoners, as reported by various NGOs and family committees in the last week.
The project was announced this Thursday afternoon before the start of the ordinary session, which was scheduled for 1:00 pm However, the parliamentarians started the day after 2:17 pm
The new amnesty proposal now consists of 15 articles, including three sections referring to the temporal scope (art. 6), which remains between January 1, 1999 until the entry into force of the norm, the personal scope (art. 7) as long as the person “is eligible or becomes eligible after the entry into force” of the instrument.
Likewise, the possibility of filing appeals (art. 12) was included against the decisions of control or trial courts that deny the application or dismissal of the amnesty.
The bill excludes in its article 1 the mention of “persons who have been prosecuted or convicted or the alleged or proven commission of political or related crimes”, and limits it to “the crimes or misdemeanors that occurred within the framework of the facts and the temporal scope indicated in this Law.”
The purpose of the amnesty (art. 2) included “rectification” and “favoring the reintegration into public activity of the people benefited by this Law.”
The principle of interpretation (art. 5) was also modified to include the principle of in dubio pro reothat is, the benefit in case of doubt due to insufficient evidence.
The events subject to amnesty are reduced to nine historical moments: the 2002 coup d’état, the oil “business strike and sabotage” between 2002 and 2003, the events of February, March and August 2004; May 2007; the events related to the presidential elections of April 2013 and July 2024; the demonstrations between February and June 2014, those in March and August 2017, and those that occurred between January and April 2019.
Regarding this, human rights organizations and family committees have said that they exclude various causes for political motivations, especially those of the military. Lawyer Joel García has said that the amnestiable events are reduced to just over two years. Andreina Baduel, on behalf of the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, has pointed out that under these lapses, more than half of the detainees are excluded from amnesty.
*Read also: NGOs and victims ask to redo the amnesty bill and warn of exclusions
Article 9 reiterates the crimes excluded from amnesty and “very serious injuries” are added, while within article 10 the full right extinction of administrative actions is erased.
Regarding judicial procedures (art. 10), a period of 15 continuous days is granted to the control or trial courts to order the dismissal of proceedings or the annulment of final sentences.
It also points out that “in processes that are in the preparatory, intermediate or trial phase, the request may
be presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the person prosecuted or his or her defender. In processes in the execution phase, the request may be filed by any of the subjects referred to in article 463 of the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure.
Regarding monitoring the application of the law (art. 15), the power of the Executive is eliminated. Now it will be the National Assembly, “through a special commission created for this purpose, will develop and implement mechanisms to ensure compliance with this Law, in collaboration with the bodies of the Justice System.”
In addition, a final provision was included regarding the entry into force of the law once it is published in the Official Gazette.
The organizations have also raised their criticism of the deletion of files, the non-inclusion of administrative measures (political disqualifications), the lack of measures for the restitution of employment or property and assets, as well as a verification mechanism that includes victims’ or human rights organizations.
*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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