Several non-governmental organizations and opposition political parties in Venezuela denounced early this Sunday that the activist and human rights defender Rocío San Miguelpresident of the NGO Citizen Control, was arrested last Friday and, since then, His family does not know his whereabouts.
(Also: Video: María Corina Machado was attacked and evacuated from a campaign event).
According to complaints on the social network Take a flight with your daughter.
The NGO Justice, Encounter and Forgiveness (JEP) “strongly” rejected the arrest of the president of Control Ciudadano, a “prominent expert on security and defense issues” who “must be released immediately.”
“Those close to the activist report that they do not know her whereabouts more than 24 hours after the arrest. We remember that defending human rights and exercising free expression and the right to information They are not crimes and they are enshrined in the Constitution and in international agreements,” said JEP in X.
On this social network, the NGO Provea also demanded his “immediate freedom” and denounced that “this new abuse is part of the painful practice of persecution.” against those who defend and exercise rights”.
They report on the alleged arrest of the activist and defender of #DDHH Rocío San Miguel at the Maiquetía international airport
This information has been circulating for several hours, generating deep concern.
We wish to know the whereabouts of San Miguel
— PROVEA (@_Provea) February 11, 2024
In this sense, he assured that San Miguel “has been a victim of harassment, persecution and discrimination by the Venezuelan State”, and that his arrest “constitutes a very serious fact that highlights the progressive closure of civic space and the efforts of those who they govern by rsuppress critical voices”.
In the opinion of the Justice and Peace Center (Cepaz), this detention “is part of the application of the pattern of criminalization, attacks and threats against human rights defenders and civil society in general”, which “is exacerbated in the electoral contexts”, in reference to this year's presidential elections.
The First Justice and Encuentro Ciudadano parties also rejected the arrest and called for international community to express its condemnation.
This event occurs almost three weeks after the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, reported the arrest of more than thirty people for allegedly being involved in conspiratorial plans, and that the authorities apprehended three collaborators of the presidential candidate of the main opposition coalition, María Corina Machado, accused of being part of a conspiracy.
Last December, more than 60 NGOs asked the UN to monitor the “situation of democratic freedoms and human rights” in the country and to “pronounce in a timely manner” on this matter in view of the upcoming electoral periods, including the presidential one, for when they foresee an increase in “repression and persecution.”
EFE
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