Student representatives from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), accompanied by workers, teachers and relatives of political prisoners, held a demonstration this Tuesday mobilization from the Rectorate Square to the Tamanaco Gate from the university in Caracas, where they presented a manifesto in support of the announced amnesty law.
In the declaration, the students stressed the urgency of approving it, considering that “thousands of people have been imprisoned for political reasons from 1999 to date,” which has generated “a terrible fracture in Venezuelan society, as well as in the public and political life of Venezuelan men and women.”
The manifesto highlights that the amnesty must be comprehensive, including all those persecuted for thinking differently and establishing guarantees of non-repetition, conditions that students consider essential for rebuild democracy in Venezuela.
They affirm that these are “fundamental elements that we consider must be reflected in this process, in such a way that this amnesty is general, total, that it applies to all those who have been persecuted and imprisoned for thinking differently, and that it also includes guarantees of non-repetition, given that this is a necessary and unavoidable first step for the reconstruction of democracy in our country.”
They demand amnesty without restrictions
Among the highlights of the manifesto, the students requested that the amnesty law contemplate:
A broad scope, including “all cases of open, investigated and tried processes for political reasons”, as well as the elimination of precautionary measures that do not constitute freedom full and the exclusion of criminal records from public records.
They also demand the restoration of civil and political rights, including respect for due process, freedom of expression and association, the end of censorship, the lifting of political disqualifications, the restitution of nationalities and passports annulled for political reasons, and full respect for the Constitution and international human rights treaties.
The students also demanded transparency in the application of the amnesty, requesting that the autonomous universities, together with civil society, participate in supervising the process. In particular, they proposed that the Faculties of Legal and Political Sciences, through their deans and final year Law students, act as independent review bodies for the files.
The manifesto highlights the need for guarantees of non-repetition, which implies the repeal of a set of laws that according to the document have served as support for the State’s arbitrariness and overreach. Among them are the Law Against Hate, the Simón Bolívar Organic Law against the Blockade, the Domain Forfeiture Law, the Law of Social Responsibility in Radio and Television and the NGO Supervision Law.
The student movement demanded compensation for damages, requesting proportional, timely and transparent reparation for the victims of political persecution, through medical, psychological and social support, both for former prisoners and their families.
“Reparation is an element of responsibility required of the State,” the text states, and must serve as a public commitment of non-repetition.
The manifesto reaffirms the historical role of the Venezuelan university in moments of national crisis.
“In these times, where more than ever we are required to be responsible to citizens, the Venezuelan university raises its voice on the side of the people,” he says.
