Marino Alvarado, director at the Venezuelan NGO Provea, expressed to the government of Gustavo Petro that an amnesty must be proposed under the provisions of the National Constitution
Regarding the recent proposal by the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, for a general amnesty in Venezuela, the director of the Venezuelan NGO Provea, Marino Alvarado, commented that those “responsible for crimes against humanity” cannot benefit from the dispensation.
During a recent interview, Alvarado thanked Petro for his interest in the situation in Venezuela, especially some aspects regarding human rights.
“Let’s keep in mind that [President Petro] proposed the Venezuelan government to return to the inter-American human rights system,” Alvarado said, also referring to Petro’s proposal for the possibility of a general amnesty. In this regard, he pointed out that Provea agrees with an amnesty that can generate two concrete results:
“On the one hand, the freedom of political prisoners, all of them, including political prisoners from the military; and on the other, the return of those who left the country due to political persecution, under the guarantee that they will not be deprived of their liberty,” he said.
He also recalled that amnesties must be granted “through a law of the National Assembly.”
However, Alvarado emphasized that a general amnesty “cannot guarantee impunity for those people who have been identified as allegedly responsible for crimes against humanity, nor for those who have committed serious human rights violations.”
Under the Constitution
Marino Alvarado, Provea director, indicated that they have expressed to Gustavo Petro that an amnesty must be proposed under the provisions of the National Constitution.
The activist recalled that the fundamental text “prohibits granting amnesty to those who have committed serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity.”
Also, he recalled that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has established in its jurisprudence that “amnesty cannot be granted to those who must be investigated for serious human rights violations.”
“If there is a will from the Maduro government to re-enter the inter-American system, that implies complying with its jurisprudence,” Alvarado said.
Responsibility for alleged crimes against humanity
Marino Alvarado recalled that the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela named at least “40 alleged perpetrators of crimes against humanity.”
“But, in addition, there is a number of people responsible for torture, murder of protesters and extrajudicial executions who cannot benefit from a general amnesty either,” he said.
In this sense, Alvarado insisted that amnesty “cannot be used to generate impunity and prevent those responsible for serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity from being investigated and punished.”
On the contrary, he stressed that this benefit should favor those who are imprisoned for political reasons, and it should be coupled with a “process focused on creating democratic conditions and a return to democracy in the country.”
“There must be the political will to free the current prisoners and then to refrain from more politically motivated detentions in Venezuela,” he concluded.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
