Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International (AI) highlighted that in Venezuela they have found “evidence of extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detentions, stigmatization of human rights defenders and arrests of people for dissenting from the authorities.”
The general secretary of Amnesty International (AI), Agnès Callamard, denounced that the human rights situation in Venezuela has gone from bad to worse. He warned that the country has not made progress in this matter in the last decade.
From Lisbon, Callamard stressed that the organization he represents coincides with the “diagnosis” recently made by a mission of independent experts, established by the UN Human Rights Council.
The mission assured in its report that Venezuela has suffered one of the most serious human rights crises after the elections of July 28, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) named Nicolás Maduro as the winner and this was rejected by the opposition that chanted fraud.
The general secretary of the AI highlighted that the body has carried out an “in-depth” investigation in the last five years and, she commented, has found “evidence” of crimes against humanity committed in Venezuelan territory, “in particular politically motivated persecution.” ».
*Read also: Unitary Platform: Death of Jesús Martínez Medina is the responsibility of Maduro
“We have found evidence of extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detentions, stigmatization of human rights defenders and arrests of people for dissenting from the authorities,” said Callamard, who noted that “in the post-election period repression has escalated” and has seen “a marked deterioration.”
He recalled that 2,000 people who were arrested after the elections are still detained, including several human rights activists.
“We know that at least 25 people have died due to the use of lethal force, including minors. We know that an anti-NGO law has been adopted; “that minors who are still detained have been mistreated,” he noted, according to news agencies. EFE.
He warned that the Venezuelan panorama has affected AI. In this sense, he said that “colleagues from Amnesty International have had to leave, they have had to take many precautions to continue their work.”
He called for “the unconditional release of those detained for the peaceful expression of their political or other views.”
Callamard opined that the sanctions regime against Venezuela “works moderately”, since during and after the pandemic, and throughout the war in Ukraine, “Venezuela and Venezuelan oil have become an interesting attraction, even for those who “They wanted to condemn Venezuela.”
“Therefore, this is one of those proactive human rights crises and it seems that there is no end in sight there either,” the activist concluded.
Post Views: 124
