The Daily Journal – The Venezuelan non-governmental organization Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CLIPPVE) has called for the “immediate release on humanitarian grounds” of 19 Colombian citizens who, according to the group, remain in detention in Venezuela for political reasons. The request follows the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday and has left at least 169 people dead.
In a statement posted on the social media platform X, CLIPPVE also demanded that authorities allow the detainees to communicate with their families in the neighboring country. The organization said that at least ten prisoners “managed to call” their relatives from Rodeo I prison, located near Caracas. In contrast, the others remain unable to contact their families, leaving their relatives without information about their situation.
CLIPPVE also urged the Venezuelan government to guarantee the detainees’ right to access current information, particularly updates on the situation in Colombia, as well as consular protection and appropriate medical care.
The organization also called on authorities to allow the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and other international mechanisms “to verify detention conditions.”
“The governments of Venezuela and Colombia must act. Freedom also saves lives, and there can be no indifference to the suffering of families. Humanitarian release for Colombians detained in Venezuela,” CLIPPVE said in the statement.
According to the NGO, authorities at Rodeo “kept the detainees locked inside their cells for more than 45 minutes without activating any evacuation protocol” during the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela on June 24. The organization added that days later, when the detainees refused to return to cells “whose structural safety had not undergone verification,” security forces “responded with beatings, pellet shots, and tear gas.”
The earthquake in Colombia, which has also injured around 668 people, struck at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 GMT), with its epicenter in the municipality of San José del Palmar, in the department of Chocó, at a depth of 103 kilometers. The earthquake caused widespread damage across central and western Colombia.
Pereira, Cali, Quibdó, Manizales, and Armenia remain under red alert due to the extent of the damage, while authorities have reported at least 165 collapsed buildings nationwide.
With information from EFE.
