Monday, May 9, 2016

Venezuela: Humberto Prado Sifontes, Human Rights Defender, Threatened -URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International
     On 23 April, after a magazine published an interview with Humberto Prado Sifontes in which he highlighted the responsibility of Aragua state Governor, Tareck El Aisami, in the development of the current penitentiary and security crisis during his time as minister in charge of prisons, the Governor slandered Humberto Prado Sifontes through his Twitter account, naming him a “PRAN”. PRAN are negative figures that lead Venezuelan prisons and are responsible for the violence inside them and the coordination of gangs, kidnappings and other felonies. That same afternoon Humberto Prado Sifontes’ Facebook account was hacked, and messages with an altered photo were published on it, naming him a PRAN once again. This information was replicated on his Twitter account through different government supporters’ accounts, including Governor El Aisami, using the hashtag #HumbertoPradoPranDePolar. The same posts included information related to his work as a human rights defender that was only stored in his private communications. This amounts to a violation of his right to privacy.
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