NGO Foro Penal denounces that in Venezuela there are 275 “political prisoners”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal (Penal Forum) denounced this Tuesday that there are 275 people detained in the country who are considered “political prisoners”, one fewer than in its last report published last July 20.

The non-governmental organization specified in its Twitter account that of the total number of prisoners, 259 are men, 16 are women, and one is an adolescent.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Venezuela

They also pointed out that 146 are civilians and 129 are military personnel.

The Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, informed on the same social network that he certifies the list published by the Penal Forum.

Last May 21, the Penal Forum – which leads the defense of those considered political prisoners in Venezuela – asked to avoid using these detainees as “bargaining chips”, following the announcement of dialogue with the Government sought by the opposition led by Juan Guaidó.

The president of the NGO, Alfredo Romero, defended negotiation to solve the problems Venezuela is going through but stressed that “political prisoners” cannot be used as pieces for the benefit of the parties.

“In a negotiation, in addition to freeing people, which they must free all of them, they must also propose that no more people be imprisoned”, he said, as he recalled that after the last dialogue processes registered in the country, the number of detainees increased, even though there have been releases.

The previous report, published by the Penal Forum on July 20 -one week ago-, calculated that there were 276 “political prisoners” in Venezuela.

Among them, 260 were reported to be men, 16 women, and one adolescent. In this group of prisoners, there were 147 civilians and 129 military.

The NGO pointed out that since 2014 they have registered 15,734 detainees for political reasons in the Caribbean nation.