What changed

B90182/2024

P9_TA(2024)0161

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

(2024/2618(RSP))

PE760.490

European Parliament resolution of 14 March 2024 on the case of Rocío San Miguel and General Hernández Da Costa, among other political prisoners in Venezuela (2024/2618(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to itsRule previous144(5) resolutionsand on132(4) Venezuela,of its Rules of Procedure,

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

A. whereas there are over 300 political prisoners in Venezuela;

A. whereas there are over 300 political prisoners in Venezuela and arbitrary detentions are part of the widespread and systematic attacks by the regime against the population;

B. whereas on 9 February 2024, Rocío San Miguel, a lawyer and human rights activist with Spanish nationality, was kidnapped by the Venezuelan regime, and sentenced on politically motivated grounds of suspected conspiracy against Nicolás Maduro and his regime; whereas she is currently being detained in El Helicoide prison, which is known for human rights abuses, including torture;

B. whereas on 9 February 2024 Rocío San Miguel, a lawyer and human rights activist, was kidnapped and sentenced on politically motivated grounds; whereas she is being detained in El Helicoide prison known for human rights abuses, including torture;

C. whereas the Maduro regime expelled the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) after accusing them of ‘colonialist, abusive’ behaviour and fomenting political opposition, following the UN commissioner’s condemnation of San Miguel’s arrest;

C.D. whereas General Hernández Da Costa ishas been a political prisoner since 2018 and suffers from medicalAugust ailments;2018; whereas on 19 February 2024, he was forcibly transferred into precariousEl conditionsRodeo and1 withoutprison, sufficientdesigned food,to togetherdetain withpolitical prisoners; whereas an unknown number of prisoners, toincluding Elsome RodeoEU 1,citizens, designedwere toalso detaintransferred; politicalwhereas prisoners;the whereasgeneral suffers from medical treatmentailments isthat beingrequire deniedconstant totreatment, him;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 four campaign coordinators working for the opposition to the regime’s presidential candidate, María Corina Machado – Juan Freites, Luis Camacaro, Guillermo Lopez and Emil Brandt – have also been detained on political grounds and are incommunicado;

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 in January 2024, the unrecognised National Assembly resumed its consideration of a law seeking to restrict, criminalise and shutter non-governmental organisations;

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 the fact that these prisoners are being held in conditions that contravene the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;

2.3. ExhortsDemands the immediate unconditional release of all political prisoners and arbitrarily detained persons, and the full restoration of their rights; exhorts the regime to cease its policy of repression and attacks on civil society and the opposition;

3.4. CallsUrges onthe relevantChilean authorities to investigate connectionfully betweeninvestigate the murder of Ronald OjedaOjeda, anda former political prisoner who escaped 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 increase sanctions on the regime, including high-level officials, members of the security forces and the regime’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice, and Maduro himself;

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

6. Urges the International Criminal Court to include ongoing human rights violations and arbitrary detentions in its investigation into the Maduro regime’s alleged crimes against humanity;

6.7. Calls for the EU andon the international community to intensify efforts to support a return to democracy in Venezuela and inVenezuela, particularparticularly in the contextlight of the elections, whichupcoming entailselections, ensuringin thatwhich the winnerleader of the opposition primaries, María Corina Machado participates freely; underlines that the announcement by the regime ofto the electoral schedule and election date of 28 July 2024 is a farce that clearlyregime, violatesMaría theCorina BarbadosMachado, Agreementmust andbe theallowed Constitutionto offully Venezuela;participate;

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. Urges the Venezuelan authorities to reinstate the OHCHR and guarantee its access to prisons, as well as guarantee unhindered access to the UN special procedure mandate-holders;

9. 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.