The Zulia State Human Rights Commission (Codhez) and organizations of the human rights movement of Venezuela categorically reject the arbitrary detention of six members of the Asociación Civil Acción Zuliana por la Vida (Azul Positivo), an organization that has strengthened the civil society’s response to HIV since 2004. In the midst of the country’s complex humanitarian emergency, it has provided humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable communities in the state of Zulia.
On January 12, 2021, at approximately 11:30 a.m., a commission of at least 15 officials from the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) went to the headquarters of the civil society organization Azul Positivo, located in the Aventura shopping center, in the city of Maracaibo, to carry out an alleged administrative procedure related to the humanitarian assistance activities that the organization carries out in various communities of the State of Zulia.
After six hours at the headquarters, the director of Azul Positivo, Johán León Reyes, along with four members of the organization: Yordy Bermúdez, Layners Gutiérrez Díaz, Alejandro Gómez Di Maggio and Miguel Guerra Raydan, were allegedly taken to the headquarters of DGCIM, without having access to legal assistance at the time.
In addition to the arrest of the 5 members of Azul Positivo, the officials proceeded to seize three (3) computers, 12 benefit cards from their humanitarian program, the beneficiary data bank and five (5) cellphones. At approximately 9 p.m., another member of the team, Luis Ferrebuz, was detained at his home by military counter-intelligence officials.
The organization’s team of lawyers has not been able to enter the DGCIM headquarters to verify the physical and mental condition of the detainees and provide them with legal assistance. At noon on Wednesday, January 13, military officials notified the legal team that the six members of Azul Positivo will be processed before military jurisdiction. The charges against them are unknown.
Azul Positivo has worked in benefit of people with HIV for 16 years, through sexual education and the provision of supplies in vulnerable communities in Zulia. United Nations agencies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS can attest to their hard work.
Codhez and the human rights movement in Venezuela demand the immediate release of the members of Azul Positivo, as well as an end to the pattern of persecution, harassment, and criminalization of civil society organizations and humanitarian actors in Venezuela.
These unjustified detentions constitute a systematic pattern of criminalization of humanitarian work in Venezuela and create a dangerous precedent for humanitarian actors and human rights defenders on the ground.
Finally, the human rights movement in Venezuela demand that United Nations agencies issue an urgent statement regarding the attacks on the humanitarian space in the Zulia region and invites those who may be interested to a press conference tomorrow, January 14, to with civil society organizations Codhez, Acción Solidaria and Acción Ciudadana contra el Sida in response to these abuses.
The press conference is scheduled for this January 14, 2021 at 10:30 am Caracas time.
