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Venezuelan inmates take to prison roof to protest shootings, abuse
Inmates said guards opened fire and wounded some as they demanded the removal of the prison director, according to videos shared by an observatory.
- On Sunday, hundreds of inmates at the Barinas Judicial Detention Center in Venezuela staged a roof protest, piling flaming mattresses to demand the removal of prison director Elvis Macuare Guerrero amid allegations of torture.
- The protest follows years of documented human rights violations at the facility, including overcrowding and limited food; families clashed with National Guard officers armed with riot shields outside the prison while attempting to intervene.
- Inmates hung banners displaying "SOS" and "They are torturing us" while reporting that guards opened fire on peaceful protesters; Yelitza Arrollo, whose son is incarcerated there, alleged guards are "beating them terribly, torturing them, pouring cold water on them."
- The Venezuelan Prison Observatory is documenting the standoff for human rights watchdogs, while Venezuelan authorities have not immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the incident.
- International scrutiny remains focused on Venezuela's penal system, which faces pressure following the government's recent passage of a law intended to release hundreds of political prisoners.
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58 Articles
58 Articles
In the midst of a prison uprising in Venezuela for torture charges, the head of the Barinas prison has been fired. Prison director Elvis Macuare Guerrero was released after a week in office, as a representative of the AFP news agency reported on Monday. According to the human rights organization OVP, inmates in the prison under his leadership had been subjected to beatings and ill-treatment. In addition, objects of the detainees had been destroy…
·Germany
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In the state of Barinas, the fief of former President Hugo Chavez, in western Venezuela, hundreds of detainees took control of a prison on Sunday, May 24, and set fire to mattresses to report ill-treatment.
·Paris, France
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources58
Leaning Left5Leaning Right7Center19Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Center
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources are Center
61% Center
L 16%
C 61%
R 23%
Factuality
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