Caracas.- The Venezuelan NGO Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CLIPP) requested this Tuesday to grant “immediate release for humanitarian reasons” to the 19 people of Colombian nationality who, according to the organization, are detained for political reasons in Venezuela, in light of the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that occurred on Monday in Colombia and which has left at least 169 dead.
In a statement on X, the NGO also demanded that communication with families in the neighboring country be allowed, indicating that at least 10 prisoners “had managed to call” their relatives from the Rodeo I prison, near Caracas.
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“The rest would continue without communicating and their families without knowing if they already have that peace of mind,” he said.
Furthermore, the CLIPP urged the Venezuelan State to guarantee the right to current information, especially regarding what is happening in Colombia, as well as consular protection and medical care.
He also requested that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other international mechanisms “be able to verify the conditions of detention.”
“It is up to the governments of Venezuela and Colombia to act. Freedom also saves lives and, in the face of the suffering of families, there can be no indifference. Humanitarian freedom for the Colombians detained in Venezuela,” the NGO expressed.
According to this organization, the people detained at Rodeo I “remained locked in their cells for more than 45 minutes without any evacuation protocol being activated” during the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that shook the northern area of Venezuela on June 24th, which left at least 6,301 dead.
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Days later, upon refusing to return to cells “whose structural safety had not been verified, they were repressed with beatings, pellets, and tear gas,” the CLIPP denounces.
The earthquake in Colombia, in which about 668 people were also injured, was felt at 07:34 local time (12:34 GMT), had its epicenter in the municipality of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, at a depth of 103 kilometers, and caused damage in a large part of the center and west of the country.
Pereira, Cali, Quibdó, Manizales, and Armenia are the main cities that remain on red alert due to the magnitude of the damage, and in total they have at least 165 collapsed buildings.
