International Human Rights Body Grants Safety Measures to Two Critics of Venezuela's Political Party
In a recent development, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has granted precautionary measures to two high-profile Venezuelan politicians, Pedro Miguel Guanipa and Rafael Ramírez Colina.
Pedro Miguel Guanipa, the vice president of the regional organisation of Primero Justicia (PJ), and Rafael Ramírez Colina, the acting mayor of the municipality of Maracaibo, find themselves in a precarious situation, with their rights to life, personal integrity, and health at risk of irreparable damage in Venezuela.
Rafael Ramírez Colina, a fellow member of Primero Justicia, was arrested along with a group of officials in October 2024 while exercising his functions in Maracaibo by SEBIN officials. Pedro Miguel Guanipa, brother of Juan Pablo Guanipa, another member of the opposition, was detained in Venezuela around the same time.
Juan Pablo Guanipa, however, is accused by the Venezuelan government of leading a criminal network intended to cause sabotage and violence ahead of the regional elections on May 25. Meanwhile, Pedro Miguel Guanipa was arrested by officials of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in September 2024 while trying to cross the border into Colombia.
The crisis in Venezuela and subsequent repression of the opposition has worsened since Maduro claimed his victory in the presidential elections, which were subsequently ratified by the Supreme Court. This has led to widespread protests and demonstrations, with Colina supporting the candidacy of opposition candidate Edmundo González for the presidential elections of July 28, 2024, and attending a demonstration in Zulia along with thousands of his supporters.
The IACHR argues that both Guanipa and Ramírez Colina do not have communication with their families and urges Venezuelan authorities to take necessary measures to ensure their detention conditions are compatible with applicable international standards. The commission also requests that contact with their families and lawyers be facilitated, a medical evaluation of their health status be carried out, and official information about their legal situation be provided.
The US, meanwhile, has expressed its preparedness to use "all" its resources to stop Venezuela's drug trafficking. However, the search results do not provide information about specific persons arrested by Venezuelan authorities in 2024 for corruption investigations.
As the situation in Venezuela continues to unfold, the international community will be closely monitoring the situation and the treatment of these detainees.
Read also:
- Lu Shiow-yen's Challenging Position as Chair of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Under Scrutiny in Donovan's Analysis
- Seventy-eight individuals forcibly returned to Afghanistan perish in bus collision
- China Accuses Thai Art Exhibition of Falsifying Views on Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong Policies
- Ensuring an 'acceptable, enjoyable' election is the goal of CA Yunus
