The repression of protests against dictator Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela after the presidential elections of July 28 was brutal, according to a report on Tuesday (3) by the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), which claims to have received credible information about 24 murders and was able to independently verify 11 of them.
HRW claims to have received credible reports of 24 murders in the context of protests against the Maduro regime, including that of a member of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB).
The human rights organization said it received the reports from independent local organizations such as the NGO Foro Penal, Justicia Encuentro y Perdón, Monitor de Vítimas and Provea, or identified them on social media.
In this sense, he assured that he had independently documented 11 of these cases, for which he verified death certificates, analyzed videos and photographs and also interviewed 20 people, including witnesses and other local sources.
“Many family members, witnesses and other people who could provide information about the cases did not want to be interviewed for fear of government reprisals,” the NGO said.
HRW explained that, to produce this documentation, it analyzed and verified 39 videos and two photographs of the protests against Maduro found on various social networks or sent directly to investigators by people close to the victims, organizations and local journalists.
HRW researchers confirmed the exact locations where these videos were filmed; they analyzed shadows, weather patterns and dates the footage was uploaded to social media to determine the time the events occurred.
In addition, they consulted forensic pathologists and weapons experts, who analyzed the victims’ injuries and the weapons identified in the videos and photographs.
Widespread violations
According to the authorities of the Venezuelan regime, more than 2,400 people have been detained in the protests against the “re-election” of the dictator Maduro, while the Penal Forum, which provides assistance to people arbitrarily detained, has registered more than 1,580 political prisoners, detained since July 29, including 114 teenagers, of whom more than 80 have already been released.
Regarding the arrests, HRW says that Chavista prosecutors have charged hundreds of people with crimes that are sometimes defined broadly and carry long sentences, such as “incitement to hatred,” “resistance to authority” and “terrorism.”
Furthermore, HRW assured that Venezuelan authorities violate the human rights of protesters, bystanders and opposition leaders after the July 28 elections, in which the Chavista National Electoral Council (CNE) gave victory to Nicolás Maduro, without presenting the electoral records.
“The repression we see in Venezuela is brutal,” said the director of HRW’s Americas Division, referring to the protests carried out especially by the opposition against the election result.
HRW has documented that in Venezuela authorities and ‘colectivos’, as armed civilian supporters of Maduro are called, “have committed widespread abuses, including killings, arbitrary arrests and prosecutions, and harassment of government critics.”
On Monday (2), a court controlled by Caracas ordered the arrest of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia after he was accused by the Venezuelan Public Ministry, loyal to Maduro, of “incitement to disobedience” and “conspiracy”, among other crimes.
The human rights organization recalled that, despite the Chavista regime having committed “irregularities and human rights violations”, including detentions of opposition members, arbitrary disqualifications and restrictions on voting by Venezuelans abroad, a large number of Venezuelans voted on July 28.
A few hours after the polls closed, the CNE declared Maduro the winner with more than 51% of the votes, but HRW recalled that this body controlled by Chavismo “did not make the electoral records public.”
In this sense, HRW highlighted that electoral experts from the United Nations (UN) and the Carter Center, who observed the elections, stated that the process lacked “transparency and integrity” and questioned the declared result and, on the other hand, indicated that the counting records published by the opposition “are reliable”.
“The European Union, the United States and several Latin American and European governments have also urged Maduro to release and respect the election results and to guarantee the rights of opposition leaders, protesters and critics,” HRW said, adding that “the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan, who is investigating crimes against humanity in the country, said his office is actively monitoring the situation.”
#Repression #Venezuela #brutal #resulted #murders
