“We strongly ask that the corresponding authorities Take measures for the immediate appearance of Mrs. Grajales healthy and saveand for the setting under the constitutional criminal justice of those responsible for their denounced disappearance, ”said the statement signed on August 9 by María Adela Antokoletz, Vice President of the Organization.
The Colombo-Venezuelan and former Chavista lawyer It was arrested on Friday, August 8 By agents of the Bolivarian National Policeafter participating in a protest in front of the headquarters of the UN In Caracas.
The protest and attack of parapolial groups
The demonstration, mainly composed of mothers of political prisoners, aimed to denounce the aggressions suffered days before during a peaceful vigil in the Supreme Court of Justice. On that occasion, the calls Chavista groups —The armed forpolicals – hit, stole and attacked the protesters, including the own own Grajales.
For the first time, the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo Founding Linehe Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and leaders of the Left Front They publicly expressed their repudiation to the repression exercised by the Venezuelan regime.
From your arrest, Grajales It remains missing. Their relatives and lawyers tried to present a habeas corpus To know his whereabouts and state of health, but Venezuelan justice rejected it.
Accusations of “State Terrorism”
The Inter -American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) He described the case as an act of “state terrorism”, in a context of repression after the 2024 presidential elections, in which Ripe He proclaimed himself winner of a third mandate, a result not recognized by any Western democracy.
The activist Elisa Trottaformer Venezuelan ex -ambassador in Argentina, highlighted the political value of the pronouncement: “We had to wait a long time and, in this case, to occur with a leftist leader, but it is important. There is no justification for silence before the crimes of a tyranny that kidnaps, disappears, torture and murder.”
Trotta shared both the statement of the mothers and the project of resolution presented in the Chamber of Deputies to demand the liberation of the activist.
Adolfo Pérez Esquivel’s letter and the role of Cels
He Cels He also claimed information about the whereabouts Grajales And the release of all human rights defenders arbitrarily detained: “Where is Martha Lía Grajales? We demand that Venezuela respect its integrity, report your whereabouts and order your immediate freedom, as well as that of the rest of human rights defeons arrested arbitrarily.”
To these orders, leaders were added as Myriam Bregman and Christian Castillowho held the Venezuelan government for the health and integrity of the activist. Legislators also expressed their repudiation Alejandrina Barry, Mercedes Trimarchi and Andrea d’Arrias well as the deputies Alejandro Bodart, Celeste Fierro, Vilma Ripoll, Luciana Echevarría, Mercedes de Mendieta and Juan Carlos Giordano.
On Sunday, the Nobel Peace Prize Adolfo Pérez Esquivel He spread a letter signed by dozens of Latin American activists under the title: “Defending the human rights of humble people is not a crime: immediate freedom for Martha Lía Grajales.”
Venezuela’s official response
In parallel, the government of Venezuela tried to counteract the impact of criticism by disseminating a statement to support Ripesigned by Carmen Arias and for the subsidiaries of Mar del Plata and Tucumán of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayoin which they manifested their solidarity before the “new threats launched against him by American imperialism.”
A pattern of repression and forced disappearances
The case of Grajales It is not an isolated fact. A recent report of Amnesty International reported that in Venezuela There are more than 800 political prisonersamong them almost a hundred women and four adolescents. The document denounces the systematic use of Forced disappearances as part of a generalized attack against the civilian population, especially opponents and dissidents.
At present, around 50 people They remain missing Without contact with relatives or lawyers, including opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists.
Source: Ambito
