The Venezuelan opposition demanded before the UN the release of the “political prisoners”

Venezuelan opponent Juan Pablo Guanipa, along with a group of citizens, protested this Tuesday before the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Caracas to demand full freedom for political prisoners.

“Today we come to UNDP headquarters in Caracas to accompany political prisoners and their families. When a person is imprisoned, his family is imprisoned, when he does not have access to justice, proceedings are delayed, when he does not have access to food or health, all his rights are violated,” said Guanipa, quoted in a press release.

The opponent indicated that the antichavistas have not stopped paying attention to the development of each case of “arbitrary” detention in the country for political reasons.

“We are here to accompany them, so that they do not feel alone, so that they feel that there is a country that has to wake up to the situation that Venezuela is experiencing, that we cannot settle, that we cannot resign ourselves (...) that the struggle must be intensified to get political prisoners back to their homes, some with 18 years in prison”, he added.

The former deputy said that he seeks to fight for these prisoners to have fair judicial processes, medical care, food because “they do not allow families to get their food to them, but ultimately, so that they can be free, and they should never be imprisoned.”

“We are also talking with those who are in the process of resuming negotiations (with the Government of Nicolás Maduro) so that an important point is the release of all political prisoners, that electoral conditions arise from that negotiation, but that the human dignity of political prisoners can also be achieved respected”, he stressed.

Guanipa said he hopes that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will be opened in Venezuela, in order to document each of the cases, of the “political prisoners”, the “persecuted”, the exiles, and anyone who feels “victims” of the Maduro regime.

On March 31, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced in Caracas that the body he leads will open an office in Venezuela, following an agreement reached with President Nicolás Maduro, with whom he held several meetings a few days ago, when he traveled to the Caribbean country after being invited by the Maduro regime.

Khan, whose visit was not announced to the media, appeared on public television VTV to report progress in the relationship with Venezuela, since last November he decided to open an investigation into the Caribbean country to assess whether crimes against humanity occurred, as denounced by the opposition and various organisations.

The case dates back to 2018, when the ICC Prosecutor's Office began a preliminary examination for the alleged commission of crimes against humanity, since at least April 2017, during demonstrations throughout the country.

(With information from EFE)

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