IACHR Rejects Edmundo González’s Forced Exile Claims and Embassy Harassment Allegations

  • The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights demanded that the Venezuelan State put an end to political persecution, as well as respect international commitments regarding diplomatic asylum and reestablish democratic order in the country.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemned on Friday, September 13, the “forced exile” of Edmundo González, as well as the “harassment” against the Argentine Embassy in Caracas, where several opposition leaders are seeking asylum.

In a statementthe IACHR demanded that the Venezuelan State put an end to political persecution, respect international commitments regarding diplomatic asylum and reestablish democratic order in the country.

“This commission has documented serious practices of institutional and democratic disruption that include, among others, the excessive use of force by state agents, arbitrary detentions of protesters and opposition leaders, judicial summons and arrest warrants without legal basis, and the cancellation of passports of opponents, journalists and human rights defenders,” the text says.

He added that in a country where democracy exists, “no person with political leadership should be forced to seek asylum in an embassy or leave the country” to protect their rights.

Photo: HRW.org

“The Commission reiterates that these actions by the Venezuelan State are intended to instill fear in the population and discourage the political participation of the opposition,” the IACHR denounced.

He reiterated his call to the Venezuelan government to respect, protect and guarantee the human rights of all Venezuelans, as well as to exhaust all measures to channel conflicts, giving priority to dialogue and negotiation.

The exile of Edmundo Gonzalez

Edmundo Gonzalez requested asylum in Spain considering that in Venezuela he was suffering political and judicial persecution after the presidential elections of July 28.

González arrived in the country on September 8 after boarding a Spanish Armed Forces plane on September 7 in Caracas.

It was also learned that González was held in the Dutch Embassy until September 5, when he moved to the Spanish Embassy and then left the country.

The decision was later confirmed by opposition leader María Corina Machado, who said that the diplomat “will continue fighting” from abroad.

Edmundo Gonzalez. EFE/ Miguel Gutierrez / Archive

Later, in an audio broadcast by the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) on September 8, González denounced that His departure from the country “was surrounded by episodes of pressure, coercion and threats.”

Edmundo González’s departure came after a court issued an arrest warrant against the opposition leader, at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, after he failed to attend three summons regarding investigations against him.

The investigations are related to the election results published on a website, which declared González the winner, as well as the allegation of electoral fraud, after the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Nicolás Maduro as the president-elect.

In this regard, he was accused of allegedly committing usurpation of functions and forging public documents, among other crimes.

What is happening with the Argentine Embassy in Caracas?

Refugees at the Embassy include Magalli Meda, head of the presidential campaign for María Corina Machado’s command; Pedro Urruchurtu, International Coordinator of Vente Venezuela (VV); Claudia Macero, Communications Coordinator for VV; Omar González, former deputy; Humberto Villalobos, electoral coordinator for the VV Campaign Command; and former minister Fernando Martínez Mottola.

They arrived at the diplomatic headquarters in March 2023, after being accused of being part of alleged plans to generate “violence” in Venezuela, according to an alleged confession by Emil Brandt Ulloa, coordinator in the Barinas state of Vente Venezuela, detained by state security forces on March 8 in the city of Barinas.

Police are reported to be still present outside the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela

Headquarters of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas. Photo: EFE / Archive

The leaders have repeatedly denounced the siege of the consular headquarters by state officials.

Since August 1, the Argentine Embassy has been under the custody of the Brazilian government, after the diplomatic officials of that headquarters were expelled from Venezuela. However, the Venezuelan government reported on September 7 that revoked the approval granted to Brazil the custody of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas.

“Venezuela is forced to make this decision motivated by the evidence of the use of the facilities of this diplomatic mission for the planning of terrorist activities and assassination attempts against President (…) Nicolás Maduro and against Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, by the fugitives from Venezuelan justice who remain within it,” said a statement released by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil through his Telegram channel.

Related news

!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘648851442656403’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);

#IACHR #rejected #forced #exile #Edmundo #González #harassment #Argentine #Embassy
2024-09-14 00:28:08

– What actions has⁤ the Inter-American Commission on⁢ Human Rights‍ taken regarding Venezuela’s political persecution?

Democracy in‍ Crisis: ​Inter-American Commission Condemns Venezuela’s Political Persecution

The Inter-American Commission‍ on Human⁤ Rights‍ (IACHR) has issued a strong condemnation​ of Venezuela’s political persecution, demanding ‌that the Maduro regime put an⁤ end to the harassment and respect international commitments regarding diplomatic asylum. The commission’s statement⁢ comes in response to the forced exile of Edmundo González, a prominent opposition leader who was forced to seek asylum‌ in Spain‌ due to political​ and judicial‍ persecution in⁤ his home country.

A‌ Threat to Democratic Order

The‍ IACHR has documented a pattern of institutional and democratic disruption in Venezuela, including the⁣ excessive use of force by state agents,​ arbitrary‍ detentions of protesters and opposition leaders, judicial summons and arrest warrants without legal basis, and the cancellation of passports

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

On Key

Related Posts