The Venezuelan NGO Fundaredes registered 57 homicides17 disappearances or kidnappings and 18 armed confrontations in six of the eight border states of the country during January, the entity reported this Thursday.
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The organization pointed out, in its most recent report, that the state of Zulia, bordering Colombia, was the one that registered the most cases of violence, with 30 homicides, one disappeared person and 13 armed confrontations.
In Bolívar state (south, bordering Brazil) there were 16 homicides, 8 disappearances and 4 armed confrontations.
“Bolívar continues to occupy second place as the most violent entity, not only because of what happens in the mines, but also because of homicides,drug trafficking proceedings, and alleged armed confrontations involving feared criminals,” he added.
In total, some 38 people were killed in cities bordering Colombia.
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He also said that members of “guerrilla organizations control various towns of this entity, participate in illegal mining and drug trafficking, but above all they replace the State in the tasks of control and use of public force, as well as in other matters that harm sovereignty”.
Fundaredes maintained that in the state Táchira, another border city with Colombia, there were four homicides and four disappearances, “which once again confirm the presence of irregular armed groups that operate indiscriminately in various localities of the Andean entity”.
In the state of Amazonas (south, on the border with Brazil and Colombia), the NGO documented three homicides, two disappeared and an armed confrontation.
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“The resurgence of violence in the state Amazon has shown how
this immense territory is disputed by the so-called ‘unions’which are also irregular armed groups that have controlled the mining sectors for years,” he added.
He added that criminal groups manage the distribution of drugs, food and medicines in the region.
In the coastal state of Falcón there were 3 homicides and 1 disappearance, while in the state of Apure, on the border with Colombia, the organization registered one homicide and one disappearance.
NGO denounces 270 political prisoners in Venezuela
The NGO Foro Penal affirmed on Tuesday that In Venezuela there are 270 detainees who are considered political prisonersfour less compared to its previous count, released on January 17.
In the report, published on its Twitter account, the organization indicated that, of the 270 cases recorded, 257 are men and 13 are women. In addition, 120 are civilians and 150 are military.
More than 9,000 people are still arbitrarily subject to restrictive measures
of his freedom
He also explained that, of the total, 116 have been convicted and 154 are still awaiting by a court ruling.
According to the Penal Forum, 15,777 “political arrests” have been registered since 2014 and, in addition to the so-called political prisoners, “more than 9,000 people are still subjected, arbitrarilyto restrictive measures of their liberty”.
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On January 31, the NGO Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones (OVP) and relatives of detainees considered political prisoners asked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, who visited the country between the 26th and 28th of January past, a greater support for their cases, before the human rights violations that
– they denounced – these deprived of liberty suffer.
At the end of his visit, Türk announced that his office will be present for two more years in Venezuela “so that it can continue its work to promote the human rights agenda”, a decision that civil society and NGOs hope will translate into more complaints against the abuses, which, they say, has been lacking up to now.
The right of association in Venezuela, under observation
The same NGOs are also threatened, due to the creation of a law that controls the performance and financing of non-profit organizations profit from Venezuela.
The law, which was recently approved by the Chavista-majority Parliament, aims, according to various NGOs, to de facto restrict the right of association, starting from the premise that they commit some kind of crime.
the principle of presumption of innocence is reversed
Deputy God given hairconsidered number two of Chavismo, presented the proposal arguing that the non-governmental organizations that operate in the country “have to do exclusively, almost all of them, with the political sphere, with the precise aim of generating destabilization“.
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For his part, the legal coordinator of the NGO Provea, Marino Alvarado, told EFE that this bill, which dmust go through a second discussion for approval Ultimately, it presumes that organizations carry out illegal activities or that the financing they receive is used for matters contrary to the law.
“It starts from the criteria (…) that we are guiltythen it is up to us, through a series of processes, to demonstrate that this is not the case”, says Alvarado.
“It is based on the criteria that we receive funds for destabilizing activities (…) that is, all the principle of presumption of innocence is reversedthere is a principle of guilt here,” he concludes.
EFE
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