Inmates protest abuse on prison roof in Venezuela

Inmates at the Barinas penitentiary in western Venezuela staged a protest on the roof of the detention center on Sunday (24), piling burning mattresses and demanding the dismissal of the prison director, who they said supervised guards as they shot unarmed inmates.

"We want justice. They are shooting at us, at the guards and at the prison officers," declared a prisoner in a video shared by the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, a local NGO, in which a man appears with a gunshot wound to the chest.

The inmates said they were peacefully protesting when prison staff opened fire, injuring some of them.

Venezuelan authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In videos shared by the observatory, prisoners demanded the dismissal of the recently appointed prison director, Elvis Macuare Guerrero. They said their clothes were confiscated, they were banned from receiving visitors and they were pressured to sell drugs.

Relatives of the prisoners clashed outside with National Guard agents, armed with riot shields, as they tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent them from entering. They told the NGO that they heard screams and explosions minutes after entering.

The NGO said it was documenting the events and reporting them to human rights organizations.

Venezuelan prisons are under international scrutiny as the government of interim president Delcy Rodríguez approved a law to free hundreds of people considered political prisoners.

In January, the US attacked Caracas and captured the country's then dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

Find out who Delcy Rodríguez, interim president of Venezuela, is

Source: CNN