The mysterious death of Catholic missionary Josiah K'Okal, found hanging in the Venezuelan state of Monagas on Tuesday (2), sparked an outcry from 336 organizations for a credible and transparent investigation.
According to information from the Efecto Cocuyo website, the organizations demand that the Venezuelan Public Ministry clarify the true causes of the death of the religious man, who dedicated himself to defending the rights of indigenous communities.
K'Okal, who belonged to the Consolata Congregation, had lived in the Venezuelan city of Tucupita since 2006 and spoke some indigenous languages. He constantly denounced the problems of Venezuelan indigenous peoples and violations of their rights.
According to a preliminary report from Venezuela's Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Corps (Cicpc), the missionary “committed suicide” because he suffered from depression, but this hypothesis is questioned by the local indigenous population and human rights organizations, who call for participation of international organizations to unravel the case.
The social and human rights organizations that signed a document released this Friday (5) requesting such action expressed their condolences to the family, friends and beneficiaries of the missionary's pastoral work.
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