- Tweeter
republish
At least 29 prisoners were killed and 19 policemen wounded on Friday (May 24th) in clashes in an overcrowded detention center in Acarigua, western Venezuela.
According to the NGO Una ventana de libertad, clashes in the Acarigua detention center erupted when a commando of the Venezuelan police special forces stormed to deliver visitors taken hostage by a police officer. detained. Balance: at least 29 prisoners killed and 19 policemen injured. A tragedy that once again highlights the problem of overcrowding in Venezuelan detention centers.
There are hundreds in the country. In theory, a prisoner in Venezuela does not have the right to stay in such a center for more than 48 hours. But in recent years, these centers have turned into real penitentiaries, without benefiting from adequate infrastructure. This situation often leads to the revolt of detainees, very harshly repressed.
" In the state of Amazonas, 39 people died in 2017. In the state of PoliCarabobo, 69 people died on March 28, 2018, including two women who were giving birth, says Humberto Prado , director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons. We ask the people who have responsibility in this area and who have turned these remand centers into prisons: how long will state-run detainees in Venezuela go to die? "
Humberto Prado denounces a " massacre " by the police special forces. And like the NGO Provea, one of the largest Venezuelan human rights organizations, he is calling for the resignation of Iris Varela, the minister in charge of penitentiary affairs, who in his view is responsible for the deteriorating conditions of human rights. 'incarceration.