The UN has called on Government of Venezuela that guarantees the right of the population to express their opinion and demonstrate “without fear of possible reprisals”, on the eve of reaching next week the date on which the new presidential term begins and without the doubts that have arisen after the presidential elections having yet been resolved. July 2024.
The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission has launched “a strong appeal” in view of the theoretical turning point of January 10. Your president, Marta Valinashas urged security forces to “conduct themselves with the strictest international standards regarding the use of force,” after more 2,400 people were arrested during the post-election mobilizations.
The Public Ministry has assured that more than 1,300 of these detained They are now free, but the NGO Foro Penal estimates that there are still more than 1,800 prisoners held in Venezuela’s prisons for political reasons.
“All conduct that violates rights must be investigated promptly, exhaustively and impartially and judged by independent courts with full respect for due process,” said Valiñas. Another member of the mission, Francisco Cox, has pointed out that both those who order the “arbitrary” detentions and “tortures” and those who carry them out are criminally “responsible” as individual.
Cox has warned in a statement that, in Venezuela, “the repressive apparatus remains fully operational,” which is why his team has returned to demand the release of all people arbitrarily arrested and respect for social and political dissidence.
In this sense, the expert Patricia Tappatá has pointed out that “the persecution of opposition people or those who the Government considers as such, not only has not stopped, but has taken the form of a systematic attack on the freedom of those who think differently.” “.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, He claims his right to take possession of a new mandate on January 10, despite the fact that the official bodies, controlled by Chavismo, have not published the minutes that prove his supposed victory. The main opposition candidate, Edmundo González, exiled in Spain, argues that he is the one who should assume power and has even promised to return to Venezuela.
