Venezuelan Authorities Rely on Arbitrary Arrests, Jailing, to Silence Critics, Says Amnesty International
Venezuelan Authorities Rely on Arbitrary Arrests, Jailing, to Silence Critics, Says Amnesty International
“Maduro does not have the flexibility that Chavez, as the author of the revolution, had to change when things get too complicated," says AS/COA's Eric Farnsworth as protests sweep Venezuela.
Venezuelan authorities are increasingly rounding up and even torturing innocent people in a brutal crackdown on complains about the government and deteriorating living conditions in the beleaguered nation, according to a new report by Amnesty International released Wednesday.
The report, titled “Silenced By Force: Politically-Motivated Arbitrary Detentions in Venezuela,” said it found “serious human rights violations that Amnesty International has observed in Venezuela, some of which constitute crimes under international law.”
Warrantless arrests, a biased judicial system that acts on unproven accusations and information from anonymous sources and frequent use of solitary confinement were all listed as evidence of Venezuela’s growing disregard for due process and freedom…
“Many people are protesting because they don’t have access to food and medicine, or because the oppression has increased,” Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas in Washington and a former Latin America specialist in the Clinton administration, said. “They’re arrested on trumped up charges and held incommunicado. The government throws them in jail and hopes everyone else gets the message.”...
