HRF declares Oswaldo Álvarez Paz a prisoner of conscience of the Chávez government;

[naaman fletcher]

HRF’s report determined that the actions carried out by the Venezuelan authorities in charge of Álvarez Paz’s accusation, detention, and preventive imprisonment, violated the international human rights legal standard on freedom of expression, established by Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, ratified by Venezuela in 1977, and by the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, which Venezuela is bound to follow. HRF announced that it will soon publish a specific legal opinion on the case of Zuloaga, owner of the only remaining private independent television channel in Venezuela.

“If the Venezuelan government can imprison a former presidential candidate and the head of the country’s only independent TV network because their opinions ‘offended’ the president, then what options are left for a college student who wants to protest against the government, or an independent journalist wanting to write a critical investigation?,” asked Javier El-Hage, HRF’s General Counsel. “It seems that Venezuelans have only three options left: prison, exile, or silence,” he concluded.

http://www.thehrf.org/media/040510.html

[protocol rv]

1. Wellm there are other options

We can post in English on foreign sites only foreigners read. :-)