Venezuela: Prisoners End Five-Day Hunger Strike as Maduro Orders Action Against Judicial Delays and Overcrowding

Caracas, June 15, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has called for a response against issues in the country’s penitentiary system.

On Tuesday, Maduro appointed Julio García Zerpa as minister for prison affairs. A lawyer and National Assembly deputy, García Zerpa replaced Viceadmiral Celsa Bautista on the post.

Caracas announced the measures following a hunger strike staged by prisoners to demand an end to judicial delays and improved incarceration conditions. The coordinated protest was suspended on Thursday following the Venezuelan government’s response, which included accelerating the handling of legal cases.

According to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) NGO, thousands of inmates from 51 detention facilities in 17 different states took part in the protest that began on Sunday, June 9. The facilities include prisons and temporary arrest centers located in police stations.

In a document sent to the OVP, a group of prisoners demanded the release of those who meet the conditions of time served and redemption factors as well as inmates over the age of 70 and those with health issues that cannot be properly addressed in prisons.

The actions inside penitentiary institutions were accompanied by demonstrations from relatives in several cities, including outside the main court complex in Caracas. Protesters demanded a “quick response” from the Venezuelan state to improve incarceration conditions and tend to convicts suffering from chronic health issues.

They also denounced systematic delays in judicial processes, leading to extreme cases where people remain in custody after fulfilling their sentences. Likewise, there are documented cases where detainees spend months behind bars without charges before having their preliminary court hearing.

In a Tuesday broadcast, Maduro tasked the new minister with addressing issues in Venezuela’s penitentiary system, arguing that prisons should be “place where there is stability, respect for human rights and re-education.”

“We have to strike against corruption, create a new generation of prison staff,” the president said. “We can’t have delays in judicial processes because prisoners could not pay a given corrupt official.”

For his part, García praised recent operations against organized crime in detention centers but acknowledged the need to “deepen” processes. He argued that many legal cases get delayed because officers impose obstacles, claiming that a digital registry of cases and remote court hearings via video calls are some of the immediate measures to be put in place.

Venezuelan media reported that judicial authorities, including Minister García himself, had deployed in different states and talked to demonstrators. Witnesses on social media revealed that some cases that had been stuck were being expedited. 

Maduro ordered a “judicial revolution” in 2021 and the Caribbean country’s National Assembly set in motion a number of reforms in 2022. 

However, relatives and human rights organizations have regularly denounced that judicial delays remain widespread, with detainees often spending months in preventative arrest before being arraigned and court hearings frequently postponed for technicalities.

Prison overcrowding and poor conditions have been frequent complaints as well, with relatives often needing to bribe guards to provide food and hygiene products to loved ones.

The Committee for People’s Rights issued a statement supporting the “serious complaints” highlighted by protesting inmates and their families. “The justice system must cease to be a machine to grind poor people. We must organize and mobilize in order to achieve it,” the document read.

The Committee stressed that it had reiteratedly denounced the issues of legal case lags and inhumane detention conditions over the past three years. The grassroots collective originally formed to defend five young men from barrio La Vega who were unjustly detained during the 2021 “Gran Cacique Guaicaipuro” police operation against armed groups in Caracas.

After more than two years of legal efforts and public awareness rallies, four of the five defendants were released. The fifth died in prison due to poor conditions and inappropriate healthcare.