Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Venezuelan parliament, announced this Saturday, February 21, the release of 80 political prisonersas part of the unanimous approval of the amnesty law on Thursday, which grants freedom to 379 political prisoners.
Speaking to Venezuelan state television, Jorge Rodríguez also revealed that Venezuela received more than 1550 requests based on the new lawwhich had been promised by the interim government of Delcy Rodríguez after the United States detained former president Nicolás Maduro.
The Reuters agency, however, cited some human rights organizations that consider the scope of the measure and does not guarantee the release of hundreds of other people classified as political prisoners, since police and military personnel who were involved in actions that were considered terrorist may be excluded.
Furthermore, the new amnesty law does not fully cover the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro.
And that’s why Many people have gathered in Venezuelan prisons to demand the release of their families.
On Friday, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Foro Penal, which leads the defense of political prisoners in Venezuela, said that 448 political prisoners have been released since the interim government announced the conditional releases in early January. However, almost 650 others remain in prison.
The NGO informed that it will present a list of 232 cases with “serious violations of human rights” so that they are included in the amnesty law. Gonzalo Himiob, vice-president of the Foro Penal, recalled that the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, asked the monitoring commission and the Democratic Coexistence Program, created in January, on Thursday, to review cases “not included” in the amnesty.
A Foro Penal estimates that at least 400 political prisoners could remain in prison and excluded from amnestywhile another 300 would be included, although I recognize that it depends on the application of legislation. The law approved on Thursday establishes an amnesty for political arrests since 1999.
However, it is limited to cases related with 13 specific political situations, which excludes arrests that occurred in 15 of the 27 years of this periodthe. Of the 13 years that are included in the amnesty, the measure is limited to events that occurred in 20 of the 156 months that make up the period.
On Friday, the Government of Venezuela established a protocol to accelerate the application of the amnesty law, while family members of political prisoners remain outside prisons awaiting new releases. The protocol, whose content is still unknown, was drawn up and approved during a meeting attended by officials from the Supreme Court of Justice and the Attorney General’s Office, and the Special Commission for Monitoring the Amnesty Law. On the social network
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