- Among those detained are political prisoners. The Venezuelan Prison Observatory detailed that it has received reports of prisoners in Tocuyito with stomach pains and constant evacuations | Photo: Unsplash
The NGO Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) denounced this Friday, October 4, that the State does not offer “proper food” to the prisoners who are in the Tocuyito prison, located in Carabobo, among whom are adolescents detained after the protests against the official result of the presidential elections of July 28.
When family members manage to see their loved ones, they do not recognize them because of the situation they are in; they see them malnourished and pale. The care provided by the State to those deprived of liberty must be comprehensive, with the right to adequate food, health, studies, culture and recreation,” said the director of the OVP, Humberto Prado, quoted in a press release.
Likewise, he said that the detainees’ diet must be balanced and contain a minimum of 3,000 calories, including vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
The OVP maintained that it has received complaints from relatives who report that the detainees eat “a dry and thin arepa, have pasta with meat or rice with meat for lunch, and have grains for dinner,” in addition, that they only drink “water twice a day.”
Likewise, he said that they have documented reports of prisoners with “stomach pains, constant evacuations.”
A similar situation, the OVP continued, has been recorded in the Tocorón prison, Aragua state, where teenagers were also transferred after the post-electoral crisis.
Complaints from other prisons in the country
In addition to the Tocuyito and Tocorón prisons, the OVP has reported problems with balanced nutrition in other penitentiary centers. At the “La Crisálida” Training Center for Female Prosecuted Women, located in the state of Miranda, the NGO reported that 70 women detained during the post-election protests do not receive a balanced diet.
Inmates only consume pasta with mortadella, according to a published note by the NGO on its website on August 15.
This situation is also recorded in the National Institute of Women’s Guidance (INOF), where it was announced that prisoners do not receive adequate portions or healthy food.
“The daily menu is based on the consumption of grains, arepas without filling or a type of yellow dough buns,” the OVP stated in a report on the INOF presented in May 2024.
In the annual report Degradation, contempt and abandonment: characteristics of the prison system, The NGO had pointed out the problems with food in the country’s prisons during 2023.
The OVP indicated that access to food “depends, to a large extent, on the contributions of family members and loved ones.” In addition, he denounced that the sale of dishes inside prisons, which range between 5 and 10 dollars, has become a common practice.
Relatives of detainees ask to review precautionary measures
On Thursday, October 3, relatives and friends of those detained in the context of post-electoral protests in Venezuela requested the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), through an appeal for protection, to review the precautionary measures of the prisoners, who are accused of various crimes such as terrorism and incitement to hatred.
The relatives, accompanied by former opposition presidential candidate Enrique Márquez, also asked the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) to respect due process for those arrested.
After the post-election protests, the authorities registered more than 2,400 detainees, whom the Prosecutor’s Office accuses of generating “violence” and “vandalism”, while the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), accuses the agents of “repression” of State security in the demonstrations.
The NGO Foro Penal counts in Venezuela 1,905 detainees considered “political prisoners”, 1,767 of them arrested after the presidential elections.
With information from EFE
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2024-10-05 06:58:38
