“The last episode of threats and violence in Venezuela against Leopoldo López proves that the government of Nicolás Maduro is violating the Human Rights”
Leopoldo López, a politician and economist born in Caracas, was the leader of the opposition against the Chavez government in 2006. Currently López is imprisoned since 2014, accused of terrorism, murder and burning of public buildings. According to this situation, Amnesty International, and other organizations based on the conservation and protection of Human Rights around the globe, condemned the acts for being politically motivated.
Last week, López, was able to upload a video that become viral hours later. In this video, recorded in Ramo Verde prison, he encouraged the population to take part in a national demonstration as well as he informed that Daniel Ceballos, the ex-mayor of San Cristóbal, and him were going to start a hunger strike in order to manifest themselves because of the situation of the country.
Once the video came viral, Ceballos was taken into prison and López transferred punishment cell where some cruel acts have occurred. López has been humiliated and beaten in prison by order of the government.
Violation of Human Rights has been occurring in this case. As we can see, there is no possibility of freedom of expression on the part of population because if population express statements against the government, they are directly sent to prison. If a person encourages others to demonstrate themselves in order to try to improve things, they are kicked and humiliated. If Human Rights are not respect by the sphere of politicians and governments, it is impossible to expect the rest of the population to do it, so the peaceful solution to problems would never take place.
Indeed before being arrested López said:
“We are facing an unfair justice which doesn’t judge according to the Constitution and the Law”
According to the situation that the political prisoner is living, he wrote a letter which is posted on his twitter account in which he explains the main reasons why he is not eating: as a protest against the government and also because of the treatment received by the political prisoners in jail.
El Tiempo, a Colombian newspaper claims that the inter-American Commission on Human Rights has given the 19th April precautionary measures to Leopoldo López and Daniel Ceballos because they consider that the life of those men are in danger. Two of the most important articles of the Human Rights Declaration that are being violated are the one that defends the freedom of speech and the Article 5 which talks about the tortures. In the international panorama, the UN has asked for the liberation of Leopoldo López because they say he vas arrested under an arbitrary arrest.
The case of Leopoldo López is only one of the huge numbers of people arrested in Venezuela under the jurisdiction of the government of Nicolás Maduro but is an eye-catching example to observe how this country is nowadays violating the Declaration of Human Rights. International commitment is needed to stop those kinds of acts and to establish limits to the Venezuela’s government.
