Venezuela releases human rights activist Javier Tarazona and 8 others from Caracas prison a month after Maduro's capture

Human rights activist Javier Tarazona and eight other Venezuelans were released from a Caracas prison on Sunday, according to a relative and a non-governmental organisation, as detainees’ families voiced frustration over the slow pace of release, reported Reuters.

Prisoner releases have picked up pace since Venezuela unveiled a release policy on January 8, following the US capture of former president Nicolas Maduro on January 3 during Operation Absolute Resolve.

“After 1,675 days, four years and seven months, the day we've so wished for has arrived, my brother Javier Tarazona is free. The freedom of one is hope for all,” Jose Rafael Tarazona stated on X.

Tarazona heads FundaRedes, an organisation that monitors alleged abuses by Colombian armed groups and Venezuela’s military along the two countries’ border. He was arrested in July 2021 on charges of terrorism and conspiracy.

Those freed had been held at the Helicoide detention centre in Caracas, a facility cited in a 2022 United Nations report for subjecting detainees to torture, allegations the Venezuelan government has denied.

Local human rights group Foro Penal said on X on Sunday that, in addition to Tarazona, the people freed from the Caracas prison included Italian Venezuelan Mauricio Giampaoli, political activist Luis Isturiz, farmer Victor Castillo, political leader Yandir Loggiodice, Willians Diaz, Rodrigo Perez, Omaira Salazar and Guillermo Lopez.

Gonzalo Himiob, vice president of the group, stated on X, “Every step towards freedom and the definitive end of repression is important.”

Foro Penal has asserted that over 300 political prisoners have been released in recent weeks, but it estimates that more than 700 remain behind bars. Government officials, who deny detaining political prisoners and maintain that those imprisoned have committed crimes, have put the number of releases at more than double that figure, though their total appears to include releases from previous years.

The government has not declared how many prisoners will ultimately be freed or publicly identified them.

Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday unveiled a proposed “amnesty law” for hundreds of prisoners and mentioned that the Helicoide detention center will be transformed into a facility for sports and social services.

Families of prisoners claim the release process has moved gradually, with relatives and human rights groups calling for charges and convictions against those viewed as political prisoners to be dropped.

Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado, who has numerous close associates still behind bars, has been vocal in pressing for their release.

High-profile figures who remain detained include opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa and lawyer Perkins Rocha, both allies of Machado, as well as Voluntad Popular party leader Freddy Superlano. Among those who have been freed is Rafael Tudares, the son-in-law of former opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González.

(With inputs from agency)