A man who was deprived of liberty in the Fénix Penitentiary Community of Lara state, in western Venezuela, died after spending six years in prison without sentence, which is the seventh inmate who has died in this facility so far in 2022, reported this Wednesday the NGO Una Ventana a la Libertad.
The organization assured, in a statement, that "The causes of death are the same as those that have been recorded since 2017 and that, over the years, have claimed more victims: respiratory failure, malnutrition and tuberculosis.".
Although, he continued, this year "Prisoners of Fénix have also died from congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension".
The most recent death reported by the NGO was that of Pablo Gerardo Cardenasa 51-year-old oncology patient, who died this Tuesday in a Lara hospital where he was transferred from prison, where he remained in detention for allegedly being linked to a drug plane held by Dominican Republic authorities in March 2016.
According to the NGO, Cárdenas had been accused of "drug trafficking as financial director and criminal association".
The NGO pointed out that the death of Cárdenas is added to that of José Humberto Hernández Rodríguez, allegedly also linked to the case of the drug plane, who died of tuberculosis in March 2021, two months after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ) exhort the Venezuelan State to guarantee its "rights to life, personal integrity and health".
"Both died sick, they suffered judicial ineffectiveness because they never had a final sentence after they were presented in 2016 (…). They experienced firsthand how they were not treated immediately and effectively when they needed a doctor"said the NGO.