Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones

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The Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones(OVP, in English Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons) is a Venezuelan NGO working to improve human rights for prisoners. Its offices are located in Caracas. Several media have quoted the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons: New York Times and Associated Press.

Human rights Inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled

Human rights are "the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled" Examples of rights and freedoms which are often thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, freedom of expression, pursuit of happiness and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, including the right to participate in science and culture, the right to work, and the right to education.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Caracas Capital City in Capital District, Venezuela

Caracas, officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and centre of the Greater Caracas Area. Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range. Terrain suitable for building lies between 760 and 1,140 m above sea level, although there is some settlement above this range. The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep 2,200-metre-high (7,200 ft) mountain range, Cerro El Ávila; to the south there are more hills and mountains. The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an estimated population of 4,923,201.

Associated Press American multinational nonprofit news agency

The Associated Press (AP) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. Its members are U.S. newspapers and broadcasters. Its Statement of News Values and Principles spells out its standards and practices.

Contents

History

The OVP was founded in 2002. Among its members there are political scientists, criminologists, sociologists, architects and experts in the prison system.

The organisation was very vocal when in 2014 when 34 inmates at the Uribana prison died during protests. [1] This was in the wake of the 2013 Uribana prison riot in which over 60 prisoners died.

On 25 January 2013, a riot began at Uribana prison in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Initial reports gave at least 50 people killed and over 120 people injured, and by 27 January a death toll of 61 was reported. Officials on the first day of the riot faulted media for breaking news in advance that the prison would be searched by the military. As the riot continued into a second day, human rights groups faulted overcrowding and conditions in the gang-dominated prison.

The IACHR expressed concerns after government official Diosdado Cabello informed on his TV program Hitting with the Hammer when several representatives of the OVP were arriving in Venezuela after an international tour. The IACH considered Cabello was threatening them by notifying what were private details of a trip. [2]

Diosdado Cabello Venezuelan politician and military officer

Diosdado Cabello Rondón is a Venezuelan politician, former member of the National Assembly of Venezuela and a former Speaker of the country's legislature, and active member of the Venezuelan armed forces. He was involved in Hugo Chávez’s return to power after the 2002 coup d'état. He became a leading member of Chavez’s Movimiento V República (MVR), and remains a leading member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, into which MVR was merged in 2007. Governor of Miranda from 2004 to 2008, he lost the 2008 election to Henrique Capriles Radonski and was subsequently appointed Public Works & Housing Minister. In November 2009, he was additionally appointed head of the National Commission of Telecom, a position traditionally independent from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. In 2010, he was elected a member of parliament by his home state of Monagas. In 2011, President Hugo Chávez named him Vice-President of Venezuela’s ruling party, the PSUV. In 2012, he was elected and sworn in as President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, the country’s parliament.

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References

Official website Familiares exigen respuestas por muertes en centro policial Venezuela, Accustomed to Tragedy, Is Shaken Again by Horrific Jail Fire