Amnesty International urges the Venezuelan government to protect and ensure that journalists and media workers in Venezuela can do their work, as a sign of respect for the rights to freedom of expression and information enshrined in the law
The arbitrary detention of at least 52 journalists and media workers in 2018 while they were fulfilling their duty to report —especially on issues related to the human rights, economic, social, cultural and environmental crisis that people in Venezuela are facing— indicates a growing repression of freedom of expression in the country. This is what Amnesty International has expressed.
"Venezuelan and foreign journalists are punished for doing their legitimate journalistic work of informing and denouncing. In most cases, their equipment is taken away and stolen, and they are forced to erase the material collected and to stop working. The authorities must stop these attacks and ensure that journalists are free to carry out their work without fear of retaliation or harassment,” said Marcos Gómez, the director of Amnesty International Venezuela.
From January to November 2018, 43 Venezuelan and 9 foreign media professionals were arrested — 8 women and 44 men. Among them were José Ángel Prada, a reporter who was apprehended and charged after having disclosed the cost of the ticket agreed upon by drivers.
Among the foreign professionals arbitrarily detained is Billy Six, a German journalist who was apprehended by officials of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar, DGCIM) in Falcón state for making a documentary about Venezuelan migration and the crisis in the country.
Local organizations have denounced that at least 17 people have been deprived of their freedom for making critical comments against the government or for disseminating public information through Twitter.
The authorities opened proceedings against radio stations and news portals for disseminating information about the violation of rights due to the economic, social, cultural and environmental human rights crisis in the country. In September, the National Telecommunications Commission (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, Conatel) ordered internet providers to block the investigative journalism portal armando.info.
"The massive imprisonment of press workers reveals a dangerous escalation in repression of the rights to freedom of expression, information and opinion by the authorities. With these actions, the Venezuelan authorities are only demonstrating that they will not tolerate critical and independent reporting that reveals their weak measures to counter the effects of the crisis that people live day after day in the country.”
Amnesty International urges the Venezuelan government to protect and ensure that journalists and media workers in Venezuela can do their work, as a sign of respect for the rights to freedom of expression and information enshrined in the law, on the International Day of Human Rights and within the framework of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration. It should also carry out prompt, thorough, transparent and independent investigations into attacks and threats against this trade, as well as prevent similar events.
