The president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, promised the families of political prisoners that all detainees will be released on the same day as the approval of the amnesty law, scheduled for next week. The law, already approved in its first reading, excludes crimes against humanity, corruption and drug trafficking.
The president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, promised the families of political prisoners that “all detainees” will be released on the day the amnesty law is approved, next week.
Before mothers of detainees, who held a vigil in front of a command of the Bolivarian National Police known as “Zone 7” east of Caracas, Rodriguez estimated that the amnesty will be approved “between next Tuesday and Friday at the latest”.
“We already approved the law yesterday (Thursday), and on Tuesday we will have the second debate, which will definitively approve it. As soon as the law is approved, everyone will be released on the same day”, assured the leader of the parliament, brother of interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
Jorge Rodríguez arrived at the scene accompanied by the Chavista deputy Jorge Arreazawho presented the amnesty bill to Parliament on Thursday for one of the two debates necessary for the legislation to be definitively approved.
The families of political prisoners, who maintain a constant vigil in front of the police station demanding their release, surrounded the deputiesaccording to images broadcast by the state channel
Through tears, some mothers and wives hugged the deputies and denounced the conditions of confinement of their familiesincluding lack of access to medical treatment, violations of their legal rights and cases of people being imprisoned for months without ever being brought to trial.
Rodríguez reiterated that “will correct” all “the mistakes made” and requested a list with the names of all family members so that their cases could be followed up, promising to return to the place next Monday to listen to them: “Be patient, we will resolve this next week”he said when saying goodbye.
A amnesty law for political prisoners announced by the interim President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, was unanimously approved on Thursday in the National Assembly, in first reading.
The bill now passes to a public consultation phase with various sectors of civil society, for which the President of the Assembly appointed a special commission made up of 18 deputies, who urged the process to be speeded up.
According to the document, are excluded from amnesty crimes that violate ethics and human dignityincluding serious human rights violations, crimes against humanity, war crimes, intentional homicide, corruption and drug trafficking.
ICC investigates crimes during government presidency
O maintains an investigation into alleged crimes of this nature committed during the presidency of Nicolás Madurocaptured in Caracas in early January by US forces, who took him to New York, where he will be tried.
The proposal states that the amnesty aims to promote “justice and coexistence”rejects the logic of revenge and points to national reconciliation, although the temporal scope of the measure, promised to cover the period since the election of the late president Hugo Chávez in 1999, remains undefined.
Since the beginning of January, around 350 political prisoners were released, according to the non-governmental organization (NGO) Foro Penal, while almost 700 remain in detention, with family members holding protests near the prisons.
The new amnesty will allow political prisoners benefit from the total extinction of judicial proceedingsunlike recent releases, which involved judicial supervision measures.
This will be second general amnesty approved since the arrival of Hugo Chávez to power (1999-2013), and after the measure adopted in 2007.
