What changed

B90179/2024

B90182/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the case of Rocío San Miguel and General Hernández Da Costa, among other political prisoners in Venezuela

– having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas there are over 300 political prisoners in Venezuela,Venezuela someand arbitrary detentions are part of whichthe havewidespread anand EUsystematic nationality;attacks by the regime against the population;

B. whereas on 9 February 2024 Rocío San Miguel, a lawyer and human rights activists that has Spanish nationality,activist, was kidnapped by the regime together with family members, and sentenced on politically motivated grounds of suspected attempted conspiracy against Maduro and the regime;grounds; whereas she is being detained in El Helicoide — notoriouslyprison known for human rights abuses, including torture;

C. whereas the Maduro regime expelled the U.N. human rights office accusing them of “colonialist, abusive” behaviour and fomenting political opposition, which was prompted after the U.N. commissioner condemned the arrest of San Miguel;

C. whereas General Hernández Da Costa is a political prisoner since 2018 and suffers from medical ailments; whereas on 19 February he was forcibly transferred in precarious conditions and without sufficient food, together with an unknown number of prisoners, to El Rodeo 1, designed to detain political prisoners; whereas medical treatment is being denied to him;

D. whereas General Hernández Da Costa is a political prisoner since August 2018; whereas on 19 February 2024, he was forcibly transferred to the prison El Rodeo 1, designed to detain political prisoners; whereas an unknown number of prisoners were forcibly transferred to this prison in precarious conditions, without sufficient sustenance; whereas families are allowed 15 minutes visits the prisoners through a glass, after being blindfolded; whereas the General suffers from medical ailments that require constant medical treatment, which he is being denied;

D. whereas other political prisoners such as Juan Carlos Marrufo of Italian nationality, Colonel Oswaldo García Palomo and Lieutenant Colonel Igbert Marín Chaparro were also forcibly transferred to Rodeo 1;

E. whereas on 21 February 2024, former political prisoner Ronald Ojeda was forcibly disappeared in Santiago, Chile; whereas his mutilated body was found some days later in another part of the city;

E. whereas several campaign coordinators of the presidential candidate of the opposition María Corina Machado, namely Juan Freites, Luis Camacaro, Guillermo Lopez and Emill Brandt, have also been detained on political grounds and their whereabouts and conditions are unknown;

F. whereas four staffers of the presidential candidate of the opposition to the regime María Corina Machado, namely Juan Freites, Luis Camacaro, Guillermo Lopez and Emil Brandt, have also been detained on political grounds and are incommunicado;

F. whereas in January, the illegitimate National Assembly resumed consideration of a law that seeks to restrict, criminalise and close down non-governmental organisations;

1. Strongly condemns the Maduro Regime for imprisoning hundreds of political prisoners;

1. Urges the Maduro regime to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained political prisoners, including Rocío San Miguel and General Hernández Da Costa, and restore their full rights;

2. Deplores that these prisoners are held in conditions that don’t meet the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;

2. Exhorts the regime to cease its policy of repression and attacks on civil society and the opposition;

3. Demands the immediate unconditional release and compensation of all political prisoners, as well as their families and arbitrarily detained persons, while restoring their full rights;

3. Calls on relevant authorities to investigate connection between the murder of Ronald Ojeda and the Maduro regime;

4. Urges the Chilean authorities to investigate the possible connection between the murder of Ronald Ojeda and the Maduro regime;

4. Calls on the International Criminal Court to include ongoing human rights violations in arbitrary detentions in its investigation into alleged crimes against humanity committed by Maduro regime;

5. Calls on the VP/HR and the Council to impose strongerincrease sanctions on the Maduro regime, including on individuals responsible for serious human rights violations, including high-level officials, members of the security forces, members of the regime’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice and Nicolás Maduro himself;

6. Fully supports the ICC investigations into the Venezuelan regime’s extensive crimes and acts of repression and urges the EU to support the investigations into the alleged crimes against humanity;

6. Calls for the EU and the international community to intensify efforts to support a return to democracy in Venezuela and in particular in the context of the elections, which entails ensuring that the winner of the opposition primaries, María Corina Machado participates freely; underlines that the announcement by the regime of the electoral schedule and election date of 28 July 2024 is a farce that clearly violates the Barbados Agreement and the Constitution of Venezuela;

7. Calls for the EU to support a return to democracy in Venezuela particularly for the elections of 28 July 2024, which ensures that the leader of the opposition to the regime, María Corina Machado, can participate freely;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the VP/HR, the Member States, the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, the Organisation of American States, the UN Secretary-General and the Venezuelan regime.

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the VP/HR, the Member States, the EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Organization of American States, the UN Secretary-General and the Venezuelan regime.