A group of 18 Colombian citizens detained at the Rodeo I penitentiary centerin Venezuela, confirmed that he is on a hunger strike as a form of protest against his conditions of confinement and what they consider to be arbitrary detentions.
The situation was made public by the human rights organization A World Without a Gagwhich warned about the vulnerability of foreigners deprived of liberty in the country.
Through its account on X, the NGO assured that the inmates sang the Colombian national anthem from inside the prison. This is a way to make their situation visible and draw the attention of the international community. According to the report, The screams of the detainees could be heard outside the premisesamidst slogans with which they ratified the continuity of the hunger strike.
“We are kidnapped”, “Free the sick”, “Free the foreigners” and “We are tortured”, were some of the cries of those detained.
Are Colombians detained in Rodeo I excluded from the amnesty?
Colombian citizens assured that they remain in conditions that they described as inadequate. Besides, They denounced the coexistence in prison with people who had already served their sentences. As well as with inmates with intellectual disabilities transferred from other detention centers. They also stated that among the prison population there are detainees for political reasons.
The organization maintained that this situation reflects the fragility of foreign citizens within the Venezuelan prison system. This particularly in the context of the recent amnesty law, from which several groups of detainees have been excluded. As indicated, this circumstance keeps some prisoners without clear prospects for reviewing their cases.
For this reason, Un Mundo Sin Mordaza pointed out that alleged human rights violations would persist in Rodeo I, including practices that qualify as cruel treatment and irregularities in judicial processes. In this sense, the NGO called on international organizations and diplomatic representations to intervene and verify the situation of the detainees.
