Venezuelan Prison Observatory demands info on detainee safety after June earthquakes

The Venezuelan Prison Observatory (OVP) sent a formal request on 20 July to the Ministry for Penitentiary Services to disclose the condition of inmates in prisons and detention centers located in the regions hit by the June 24 earthquakes. The appeal highlighted the vulnerability of people deprived of liberty, who cannot evacuate on their own and depend entirely on authorities for protection.

The OVP cited damage reports from facilities in La Guaira, Miranda, Carabobo, Falcón, Aragua and the Capital District, and noted more than 1 300 aftershocks. Specific concerns were raised about the DIEP site in Caraballeda (La Guaira), where after an initial evacuation 25 women were re‑admitted while the status of men remained unknown and basic supplies were lacking. In the Rodeo I judicial internment centre (Miranda), families reported structural damage to columns and cell rows, yet the ministry’s engineering assessment has not been published.

“Las personas privadas de libertad constituyen uno de los grupos más vulnerables frente a cualquier desastre natural,” the OVP said, urging the government to adopt emergency protocols comparable to those in Chile, Mexico and Colombia, and to update Venezuela’s Organic Penitentiary Code with clear disaster‑response measures.