The Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) denounced the arbitrary transfer of prisoners from the Yare III Penitentiary Center, in the state of Miranda, to other prison centers in the country located in the states of Aragua, Carabobo, Guárico and Lara.
The organization reported this Tuesday, April 28, through its social networks, that these transfers are a maneuver to “erase evidence and hinder any investigation,” after the death of five inmates on April 21, which was reported by officials from the Public Ministry and the Penitentiary Ministry, but that until this Tuesday the progress of the investigations is unknown.
“A week after the events, the five recorded deaths remain unclarified. Meanwhile, the silence of the Ministry of Penitentiary Services persists, while the Public Ministry and the Ombudsman’s Office omit their duty to act, once again becoming accomplices by action and omission,” the statement says.
The organization that defends the human rights of people deprived of liberty pointed out that this type of transfer mainly affects families who, from now on, must travel hundreds of kilometers to visit their loved ones, assuming the costs of transportation, food and accommodation, in addition to covering the basic supplies that the system does not guarantee.
The OVP indicated that as of this Tuesday there is no official list of those transferred; Only some inmates have managed to communicate with their families to inform them of their location, while many others remain missing within the prison system, without their loved ones knowing their whereabouts or their state of health.
“This opacity is further aggravated when considering that the centers to which they are being sent have high levels of overcrowding, which increases the risks to their integrity and health. Far from alleviating the crisis, these actions deepen it, transferring the problem to already collapsed facilities,” it reads.
Nine deaths
The OVP denounced this Friday, April 24, that in less than a week it documented the death of nine inmates in the custody of the Venezuelan State, victims of an environment marked by armed violence, lack of medical care and inhumane prison conditions.
The deaths, recorded between April 20 and 24, include the killing of five inmates in the Yare III prison after an alleged collective fight, as well as deaths in the Tocuyito, Uribana and El Rodeo prisons, after progressive deterioration of health and lack of diagnoses.
In the statement issued this Tuesday, the OVP demanded that the Ministry of Penitentiary Services immediately publish the complete list of transfers to guarantee the right of family members to know the location and condition of the inmates.
“All these events, recorded throughout the week in Yare III, are being documented and will be reported to international bodies,” explains the NGO.
