Hundreds of political prisoners in Venezuela are suffering a "double tragedy" after the powerful earthquakes that struck the country a month ago, human rights organizations said Wednesday.
When the deadly twin tremors hit northern Venezuela on June 24, the ensuing humanitarian crisis aggravated an already tense political situation in the South American nation.
Interim leader Delcy Rodriguez took power after US forces ousted president Nicolas Maduro in January and has been governing under Washington's watchful eye since then.
Rodriguez passed a landmark amnesty bill to liberate hundreds of people imprisoned during Maduro's rule, but rights group Foro Penal says 372 political prisoners remain behind bars.
These detainees "were already living through a calamity, which is why today it has turned into a double tragedy," according to activist Andreina Baduel of the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (Clippve).
"There was no timely response from the Venezuelan state for the evacuation of political prisoners," she told a press conference in tandem with Amnesty International and other NGO representatives.
Baduel, who is campaigning for the liberation of her brother, cited delayed evacuations at several facilities and "serious damage" wrought on parts of the Ramo Verde military prison near Caracas.
Detainees there "have been forced to remain in their cells because they are being threatened with transfers to other prisons," she added.
Oscar Murillo, coordinator of the NGO Proveo, said the crisis produced by the earthquakes "cannot put the struggle for freedom and democracy on hold."
"It is a call from history to do things right," he said.
The twin tremors of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck within a minute of each other on June 24, hitting the coastal state of La Guaira north of Caracas particularly hard.
The quakes killed over 5,000 people and injured almost 17,000 more, according to official figures, while hundreds of buildings were pulverized.
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