Vzla: Human rights violations

A TV channel shows a man with a vest that says DISIP (military police) at the entrance of a barrio, his face covered and with an assault rifle shooting at all cars that go by. Pictures of people with severe injuries from plastic bullets are a dime a dozen. Today, a kid’s foot was blown away with a bullet shot from an assault rifle that came from a building (Torre Britanica) that has been occupied by the National Guard for three days. Everyday and additional person dies. Some are simply missing!

There are reports of torture, with the Coordinadora Democrática denouncing massive violations of human rights and citing the names of specific people being tortured. Karla Melo, the daughter of Bandera Roja leader Carlos Melo, says her father is a political prisoner and bravely vows to fight the Government if pushed. A mother describes how her teenage son and friends were arrested, placed in a military prisoner truck with open sides and then repeatedly gassed inside the truck by the National Guard.