Caracas.-At least 13 civilians have been killed in protests against the re-election of dictator Nicolás Maduro that have erupted in Caracas and other cities in Venezuela, four human rights organizations reported.
“Eleven people have died in these protests. Five of these people were killed in Caracas, two in the state of Zulia (northwest), two in Yaracuy (west), one in Aragua (north) and another in Táchira. We are concerned about the use of firearms in these demonstrations,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, detailing that among the dead are two minors. After the press conference, Infobae confirmed that at least two other people lost their lives. On the one hand, a young man was shot and died in Guarenas; while another protester lost his life in the state of Carabobo.
Foro Penal, meanwhile, reported that, as of 3:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. GMT) on Tuesday, it had recorded 177 arrests, the majority in Caracas, with 38; followed by the state of Barinas (west), with 27; and Zulia, with 19.
The coordinator of the Peace Laboratory, Lexys Rendón, said that they registered a total of 210 “spontaneous protests” throughout the country, which she denounced as having been responded to with “repressive action by the Venezuelan State.”
In this regard, he pointed out that members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB, militarized police) and agents of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), in addition to “armed groups linked to the State,” generated “a wave of repression,” for which reason he demanded respect for the right to peaceful protest.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Monday at protesters who claimed the election had been stolen, flooding the streets with chants of “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government is going to fall!”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, today denounced the “disproportionate use of force” by Venezuelan security agencies and individuals who support the regime of Nicolás Maduro, following his new re-election in elections that are being contested inside and outside the country.
Türk’s office has received reports of excessive use of force against protesters and that so-called “collectives” – armed civilian groups close to the state apparatus – have been involved in these incidents.
“Several protesters have been injured with firearms, with one death confirmed on 29 July, although there are further complaints pending verification,” it said in a statement circulated in Geneva.
After calling for the perpetrators of such acts to be punished, the High Commissioner urged the Venezuelan authorities to respect the rights of Venezuelans to assemble, to protest peacefully and to express their views freely and without fear.
In this regard, he called for the electoral dispute to be resolved peacefully, with transparency, and for the timely publication of the results of each polling station, for which “the electoral authorities must carry out their work independently and without interference.”
On the regime’s side, Attorney General Tarek William Saab has reported that 749 people have been arrested in the numerous protests recorded in 17 of the country’s 24 states.
The opposition has called for protests against the fraud, as it claims to have more than 40% of the minutes of the process, in which the winner would have been the candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.
Several governments have called for a transparent recount of the votes, and some of them have refused to recognise Maduro’s re-election.
The European Union’s top foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, also said on Tuesday that Venezuelan security forces must ensure that demonstrators can assemble peacefully after the crackdown on protests.
“In these difficult times, it is important that demonstrations and protests are peaceful. Security forces must ensure full respect for human rights, in particular the right to protest and the right to freedom of assembly,” Borrell said in a statement.Infobae.
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2024-08-04 16:51:59
