The non-governmental organization Foro Penal denounced on Monday, March 1, that 88% of political prisoners in Venezuela are being held without a conviction, and 74% have not even been prosecuted.

During a press conference, the organization dedicated to the defense of people detained for political reasons affirmed that these figures show that all Venezuelan political prisoners are victims of arbitrary detention because their right to due process and legal defense is not being respected.

Alfredo Romero, director-president of the organization, explained that “there are multiple delays in each case, and it is done intentionally. The cases are put at standstill to prevent the prisoners from exercising their right to defense”.

Currently, there are 323 political prisoners in the country. The figure includes 300 men and 23 women. 123 of them are members of the military and 200 are civilians.

Over 9,000 people with pending processes

Romero warned that, with the so-called revolving door effect involving people who get detained and later released, “more than 9,000 have pending proceedings or measures restricting their freedom; although they are released, they have not had the right to trial and do not go any further than attending one preliminary hearing.”

The organization mentioned two particular cases in particular during the press conference. One is the case of Antonio Garbi, a young man who has been imprisoned for six years without trial. He was held hostage by a group of inmates at the Tocuyito prison (Carabobo state) during a riot and has suffered cruel and degrading treatment several times during his imprisonment.

“He is being accused of murdering an officer of the Bolivarian National Guard, and even if it is true, he has not exercised his right to stand trial. How can one deny the existence of arbitrary detention when the prisoner has not had the right to trial. In Venezuela, the State does not have the purpose of doing justice; it rather has the political purpose of sanctioning people”.

Punishment, not justice

For Gonzalo Himiob, director-vice president of the Penal Forum, it is not possible to speak of justice in the light of these types of decisions made by the authorities of the Venezuelan judicial system.

“The criminal process for political cases in Venezuela is not used to find the truth. In these cases the truth does not matter… what matters is to turn the process into an anticipated punishment”.

He added that this seeks to become an example to the rest of society, with people who are deprived of liberty without trials.

More than six years in prison

The Venezuelan criminal law establishes that a person cannot spend more than two years in preventive detention. However, right now 10 people in the country have been imprisoned for more than 4 years and 49 people for more than two, besides people like Antonio Garbi who have been behind bars for more than six years.

“Some people have been imprisoned for six years without being convicted and they have already served the sentence they should serve… These prisoners should be released because preventive detention can not be used as punishment, it distorts the criminal process,” Himiob warned.

Political prisoner Lieutenant Colonel Ruperto Sánchez’s wife, Kerling de Sánchez, took part in the press conference.

Her husband reached the end of a seven-year prison sentence last December, but he is being kept in prison ever since. He spent most of his incarceration in La Pica prison (Monagas state), a nine hours drive from his family.

In July 2020, he was transferred to Ramo Verde prison (Miranda state) where he was locked in a punishment cell with 30 other people, in subhuman conditions.

“He was sent to Ramo Verde prison under terrible conditions that he had the opportunity to denounce before the court-martial,” Ms. Sánchez said.

Translated by José Rafael Medina