At least three people with disabilities are currently facing legal proceedings in Venezuela as a result of their involvement in protests resulting from the country's electoral fallout, according to a statement released by the Venezuelan Confederation of the Deaf (Consorven), an NGO that cares for the rights of said population. The three arrests took place amid a string of protests that have erupted in Venezuela as a result of the July 28 presidential elections and its controversial results.
The NGO described the three cases in detail, although it refrained from identifying the detainees. All in all, the victims were a deaf man, a teenager with autism who was taken from his home for allegedly being involved in violent protests and a young man with a learning disability who was allegedly seen rioting in a video.
The deaf man was identified separately by political party Vente Venezuela as Daniel Rojas, a 27-year old from Caracas who was detained on July 29. Besides his disability, Rojas doesn't know how to write, read or speak in sign language.
According to CNN, which claims to have had access to the victim's family, Rojas was stopped by the Bolivarian National Guard as he left work in southwestern Caracas amid protests against the government's decision to claim victory in the elections despite a lack of supporting data. Rojas was first taken to a police station and later transferred to a prison.
Foro Penal, a local Human Rights NGO Foro Penal, has reported 16 disabled people among the 1229 individuals deprived of their liberty since July 29, although the organization hasn't provided detailed information on those arrests.
Consorven urged the Venezuelan government to uphold the constitutional rights and guarantees of people with disabilities, as outlined in the Venezuelan Constitution and international treaties signed by the country:
"We remind the competent authorities to guarantee the right to freedom and security of the person contemplated in Article 17 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which provides that the State will ensure that people with disabilities deprived of liberty have equal access to guarantees in accordance with international Human Rights law and to be treated under the principles and objectives established in this Convention, including the application of reasonable adjustments."
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