“We want to go home!”: Relatives of political prisoners camped for days in front of Venezuelan prisons demanded on Saturday speedy releases of the prisoners. hundreds of people benefited from the amnesty.
The prosecutor’s office asked the courts to grant the benefit to 379 people, reported the day before by deputy Jorge Arreaza, who led the drafting of the amnesty law promulgated on Thursday.
The instrument is part of what the acting president Delcy Rodríguez defined as the step towards “a more democratic, fairer, freer Venezuela.”
Rodríguez assumed power after the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a US military raid. The amnesty is a project that he promoted amid the pressure he faces from Washingtonwith which it normalized diplomatic relations and gave up control of the oil.
The law, however, received criticism from human rights organizations that called it insufficient and exclusive.
“They are all innocent!”
Arreaza said that the beneficiaries “must be released (…) between tonight (Friday) and tomorrow morning (Saturday).”
“Let’s hope it’s true,” Génesis Rojas told AFP outside a National Police cell in Caracas known as Zone 7.
Until now, relatives have not reported any releases.
They have been camping in front of the detention centers for more than a month and a halfwhen Rodríguez announced a first process of releases with parole. It benefited 448 prisoners, according to the NGO Foro Penal, which estimates that there are still about 650 behind bars.
“We want to go home, we want to go home!“, a group shouted early Saturday morning in front of Zone 7. “How long will there be so much abuse of power? Free them, they are all innocent!”
A line of police with riot shields blocked the way.
“They have to ask for forgiveness from us who have kidnapped us, who have robbed us, who have violated all our human rights, Enough of so much abuse, so much torture inside and out here.“said Yessy Orozco, who has her father imprisoned in Zone 7.
“We are still waiting”
Saturday was a visiting day in Zone 7. “My husband is fine, they were going to shave him right now, thank God I saw him well,” said a woman who preferred to protect her identity. “He has calmed down a lot because he is very nervous. We are still waiting, I hope what Arreaza said is not a joke“.
A group of 10 women went on a hunger strike that lasted more than five days and was sustained by only one person. Stay in Zone 7 on a mattress. “In recovery. No answers,” reads a sign. He does not speak to the press because “he still feels bad.”
In the surroundings of the El Rodeo I prison, on the outskirts of Caracas, Relatives fear that the prisoners have called a hunger strike for the exceptions of the law.
This prison has about 120 detainees, according to Foro Penal. Many were linked to military cases that are excluded from the amnesty.
Until now, the authorities did not authorize the visit without giving an explanation.
“The custodians always say that they will seek information and give us an answer, but (…) most likely they will not give us information,” said María Carolina Serino, 57 years old. He ended up leaving.
Many hope that a special parliamentary commission that will analyze cases not covered by the amnesty will benefit them.
