Prisoners in Venezuela Call off Five-Day Hunger Strike; President Maduro intervenes to address judicial bottlenecks and overpopulation in prisons
June 15, 2024 - Crisis in Venezuela's Correctional System Prompts Government Action
Caracas, Venezuela - Following mounting pressure from the nation's overcrowded and ailing prisons, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has appointed Julio García Zerpa as the new minister for prison affairs. This change comes in response to a protest led by inmates demanding an overhaul of the justice system and improved incarceration conditions.
García, a lawyer and National Assembly deputy, replaces Viceadmiral Celsa Bautista in the ministerial post. The move comes after thousands of prisoners in 51 facilities across 17 states launched a hunger strike on June 9, 2024.
The strike, which was temporarily suspended on Thursday, highlighted widespread concerns over judicial delays, inhumane detention conditions, and corruption in Venezuela's correctional system. The protest was accompanied by demonstrations from relatives in several cities, including Caracas, demanding a quick response from the government.
In his new role, García faces a daunting task: addressing the systemic issues plaguing Venezuela's prisons. Maduro has called for a "revolution" in the judicial system, challenging García to create stability, respect human rights, and implement re-education programs within the penitentiary system.
But the challenges are considerable. Reports from human rights organizations and media outlets reveal a correctional system marred by humanitarian and legal crises, marked by systemic human rights violations and political repression.
Inadequate medical care, torture, enforced disappearances, due process violations, and forced confessions are just some of the shocking realities facing detainees in Venezuela. For example, political prisoner Jesús Manuel Martínez Medina died in November 2024 due to the denial of treatment for his chronic condition. Detainees with life-threatening conditions face neglect and often die in hazardous detention environments.
Former Caracas councilman Jesús Armas reported being suffocated with a bag during interrogations at unofficial detention sites. Authorities routinely withhold detainee locations, forcing families to search morgues and prisons. Virtual/group hearings and "terrorism" charges--resulting in up to 30-year sentences--circumvent fair trials.
Since the July 2024 election, over 2,000 individuals have been detained for protests or opposition activities, often under vague charges. Armed pro-government groups, known as Colectivos, suppress protests alongside security forces, contributing to 25 protest-related killings, primarily affecting youth from low-income areas.
Despite the Attorney General’s Office claiming to have released hundreds, many remain under investigation with restricted freedoms. No specific details about the hunger strike protests have been reported, but the systemic repression and prison conditions likely fuel such demonstrations. Authorities have not publicly addressed detainee-led protests, instead intensifying crackdowns through arbitrary arrests and coercion.
International responses have been slow, with asylum seekers facing lengthy processing times abroad, and U.S. courts recently debating the deportation of Venezuelan detainees to third countries.
The Committee for People's Rights, a grassroots collective originally formed to defend five young men unjustly detained during a 2021 police operation, has issued a statement supporting the "serious complaints" highlighted by the hunger strikers and their families. The committee stressed the need to cease the justice system from serving as a "machine to grind poor people," calling for mobilization and organization to achieve change.
After more than two years of legal efforts and public awareness rallies, four of the five defendants were released by the system. Tragically, the fifth detainee died in prison due to poor conditions and inappropriate healthcare. The struggle for justice and human rights in Venezuela's correctional system continues.
- In an attempt to address the crisis in Venezuela's correctional system, President Nicolás Maduro has appointed Julio García Zerpa as the new minister for prison affairs.
- García, in his new role, is tasked with creating stability, respecting human rights, and implementing re-education programs within the penitentiary system, as per Maduro's call for a "revolution" in the judicial system.
- However, García faces significant challenges, including addressing systemic issues in Venezuela's prisons, which have been marked by humanitarian and legal crises and systemic human rights violations.
- Reports of inadequate medical care, torture, enforced disappearances, due process violations, and forced confessions in Venezuela's correctional system highlight the urgency for change.
- The Committee for People's Rights, a grassroots organization formed to defend the rights of detainees, has issued a statement supporting the "serious complaints" of the hunger strikers and their families, calling for an end to the justice system that they view as oppressing the poor and advocating for mobilization and organization to bring about change.
