The NGO Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CLIPP) denounced in the early hours of this Sunday (11) the death in state custody of Edison José Torres Fernández, a 52-year-old police officer from the state of Portuguesa, in western Venezuela, who had been detained since December.
The organization reported on the social network
According to CLIPP, the Portuguesa police officer, “situated in the Guanare hospital brigade, with more than 20 years of service”, was arrested on December 9, 2025 for “sharing critical messages against the regime and the state governor”, the chavista Primitivo Cedeño.
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“Unofficially, he was accused of crimes of treason and criminal association,” the NGO detailed. To date, the organization has indicated that “there is no official information about the circumstances or causes of his death, nor about the medical care he would have received while he remained in custody.”
“This lack of information and transparency makes the State responsible for its life and integrity”, highlighted CLIPP, which demanded an “immediate, independent and transparent investigation, as well as the immediate release of all political prisoners”.
“No one else can die in State custody. The lives of people deprived of their liberty are the absolute responsibility of those who hold them,” the organization added. With Torres Fernández, CLIPP ensures that 22 people have died in State custody since 2014.
The opposition First Justice (PJ) party lamented the police officer’s death and held “the regime of Delcy Rodríguez”, interim president of Venezuela, directly responsible. “Immediate, full and unconditional freedom for all political, civil and military prisoners”, added the PJ in X.
Release of political prisoners progresses slowly in Venezuela
Last Thursday (8), Jorge Rodríguez, president of Parliament and brother of the interim governor, announced that a “significant number of people”, including Venezuelans and foreigners, would be released, without specifying the number or conditions.
Since then, the NGO Foro Penal has verified the release of 16 people and assures that there are still 804 political prisoners remaining, while the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), has, to date, 22 releases.
The country’s NGOs and the majority opposition denounce that this process is progressing in a trickle. The PUD called on authorities to “accelerate the release processes so that the suffering finally ends.”
American President Donald Trump said this Saturday that Venezuela “has begun the process, in a big way, of releasing its political prisoners”, and said he hopes these people “remember how lucky they were that the US arrived and did what had to be done”.
This Saturday (10) also marked a week of US attacks in the South American country, during which dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured.
