- Carlos Trapani stressed that crimes associated with terrorism contain disproportionate sentences that do not correspond to the seriousness of the acts committed by minors | Main photo: EFE
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Community Learning Center (Cecodap) expressed on Wednesday, August 21, its concern about the application of terrorism charges against teenagers detained in post-election protests in Venezuela.
Carlos Trapani, director of Cecodap, asked Venezuelan authorities not to criminalize minors, including in cases where adolescents were caught red-handed burning public and private property.
In his opinion, classifying these acts as terrorism leads to a disproportionate sentence that does not correspond to the seriousness of the events.
“This crime is applied after the reform of the Organic Law for the Protection of Boys, Girls and Adolescents (Lopnna) in 2015, where this crime was included as susceptible to deprivation of liberty… But the warning we make is not to criminalize the adolescent,” Trapani said in an interview for Firefly Effect.
The Cecodap representative explained that the Lopnna establishes that adolescents, from the age of 14, have the power to be held criminally responsible for their actions, with the State’s duty to integrate them into its socio-educational system and only contemplates deprivation of liberty in exceptional cases (such as homicide or terrorism).
“It is essential that quality investigations be carried out to determine whether the acts they committed really fall within the framework of the crime of terrorism, and not to criminalize adolescents without a solid legal basis,” added Carlos Trapani.
Cecodap insisted on the right to self-defense
The director of Cecodap explained that adolescents have the right to be tried by a judge specialized in the criminal responsibility of minors, and that this process being interrupted is a violation of the right.
He also stressed that detainees and their families have the right to choose their legal representatives, whether private lawyers or lawyers from NGOs defending human rights. However, in the case of detained adolescents, in the post-electoral context, public defense was imposed on them. Trapani explained that this decision by the Venezuelan authorities could interfere with the effectiveness of legal representation.
Trapani also denounced the treatment of adolescents detained in detention centers, because they are allegedly kept incommunicado from their mothers, fathers and lawyers, which leads to another violation of due process.
Violation of human rights
The representative of the NGO Cecodap indicated that the lack of physical separation in prison infrastructure increases the risks of violations of the human rights of adolescents, because they are more exposed to physical and psychological violence.
He also highlighted the financial burden placed on the families of detainees, who must pay for the maintenance of the minor while he or she is in the detention center.
In light of this, family members must assume responsibility for providing food and personal hygiene items to detained adolescents.
Nearly 130 teenagers arrested
The update of the NGO Foro Penal recorded 129 teenagers detained from July 29 to August 18, 2024.
In a report published by the human rights organization, it was revealed that minors are among the 1,503 people detained in the post-election context.
Likewise, Foro Penal reported on August 19 through X (formerly Twitter) that among the detainees were 200 women, 18 people with disabilities and 14 indigenous people.
The entities where the highest number of arrests were reported were: Capital District, with 315; Carabobo, with 196; Anzoátegui, with 113, and Aragua, with 107.
#Cecodap #asked #accuse #teenagers #arrested #postelection #protests #terrorists
2024-08-22 14:09:12
