Venezuela national assembly postpones debate on amnesty law

Feb 12 (Reuters) – Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday postponed debate on an amnesty bill which is meant to grant immediate clemency to individuals jailed for participating in political protests.

Interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who took power last month after the U.S. ouster of President Nicolas Maduro, has bowed to Trump administration demands on oil sales and released hundreds of people who human rights groups class as political prisoners, as part of a normalization in relations between the two countries. 

A complete version of the law has not been read in the legislature, headed by Rodriguez’s brother Jorge Rodriguez, but recent drafts seen by Reuters this week are significantly less generous than a previous version.

Later drafts do not list the crimes which count as political actions – including instigation of illegal activity, resistance to authorities, rebellion, treason – which were previously laid out in detail and do not give amnesty to those accused of defamation for criticizing authorities or lift Interpol red notices.

A recent draft also does not return assets of those detained, revoke public office bans given for political reasons or cancel sanctions against media outlets, as the previous draft would have.

Attorney General Tarek Saab, who told Reuters in a Wednesday interview that he hopes the amnesty will result in “a 100% pacified country”, also insisted that those who are imprisoned committed crimes and were not political detainees, repeating assertions he made to Reuters in 2024 before thousands were arrested for participating in protests amid a contested presidential election.

Saab said the amnesty will cover a quarter centruy, from 1999 until now, but one of the recent drafts lists only specific moments of political upheaval or protest, including a brief coup in 2002 and protests in certain months of 2004, 2007, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2024.

The law does not provide amnesty for those convicted of human rights violations, war crimes, murder, drug trafficking and “crimes against public property”. The previous draft included corruption as crime that was ineligible for amnesty – it is unclear why it was removed.

The legislation, which has already passed its first vote, requires a second successful vote to pass.

The government has always denied holding political prisoners and says those jailed have committed crimes. Government officials say nearly 900 people have been released over more than a year, while legal rights group Foro Penal has counted more than 430 releases of people they classify as political prisoners since January 8.

Advocacy groups including Foro Penal have critiqued the limits of the law, saying it must provide complete release from charges, convictions, house arrest orders and other legal limitations to count as a true amnesty.

Hundreds of students and families of prisoners gathered at the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas on Thursday to demand releases, the latest example of public displays of protest since Maduro’s capture.

“Delcy, respond, the students will not hide,” the group chanted.

(Reporting by Reuters)