Several representatives of the Venezuelan opposition presented this Monday at the Spanish headquarters of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) a letter in which they demand their urgent intervention in defense of the more than 70 minors detained by the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Opposition sources estimate that at least 142 children and adolescents have been detained in the South American country since the elections on July 28. Of them, 78 remain deprived of liberty, according to the latest report from the Penal Forum, the NGO that keeps an updated inventory of political prisoners.
The letter – delivered to the Unicef headquarters in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, as well as in other European and Latin American capitals – assures that the minors have been subjected to illegal detention and that they are being held in centers “not suitable for their age and condition.” , in violation of international standards such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child”, in conditions of “overcrowding, lack of access to basic health services, poor nutrition and lack of protection against physical and psychological abuse.”
The document echoes the statements of the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagrowho claimed to have “chilling” audios in which minors were tortured in Venezuela “with electric shocks, beatings, lack of food and even sexual abuse.” He cites several specific cases, such as that of Aliángel Rodríguez, 15 years old, who tried to commit suicide in prison, according to his mother. Or that of Lauriannys Valentina Cedeño, 17, arrested for forwarding a WhatsApp message critical of the regime and who reportedly suffered a nervous breakdown.
María Gabriela Olavarría, coordinator in Spain of the opposition organization Comando con Venezuela, which leads Maria Corina Machadohas asked Unicef to “take a step forward” and intercede on behalf of these minors, demanding their immediate release. “They should be in school and not in prisons for adults,” he stressed.
The letter requests that a Unicef team access the centers where they are held and “independently and directly verify their physical and mental state.” It is imperative that your health situation, both physical and psychological, be evaluated,” he emphasizes. In addition to medical care, the opposition demands emotional support measures to alleviate the traumatic effects of their detention. After considering it “alarming” that Unicef has not intervened until now, the text urges the United Nations agency to “act quickly” in the face of the “serious risk to the life, health and dignity of these children and adolescents.”
