Feb 19 (Reuters) - Venezuela's ruling party-controlled legislature on Thursday approved a limited amnesty bill that human rights organizations say falls short of offering relief for hundreds of political prisoners in the country, as some family members of detainees completed a fifth day on hunger strike.
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 countries.
The government has always denied holding political prisoners and says those jailed have committed crimes.
The law was approved after a second debate in the legislature, headed by Rodriguez's brother Jorge Rodriguez.
The approved law provides amnesty for involvement in political protests and "violent actions" which took place during a brief coup in 2002 and demonstrations or elections in certain months of 2004, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2023, 2024 and 2025. People convicted of "military rebellion" for involvement in events in 2019 are excluded.
The law does not detailthe exact crimes which would be eligible for amnesty, though a previous draft laid out several - including instigation of illegal activity, resistance to authorities, rebellion and treason.
It also does not return assets of those detained, revoke public office bans given for political reasons or cancel sanctions against media outlets, as at least one previous draft would have.
Many members of the opposition and dissident former officials live in other countries to escape arrest warrants they say are politically motivated.
Though the law allows people abroad to appoint a lawyer to present an amnesty request on their behalf, they would have to appear in person in Venezuela to have it granted and the law will only cover "people who have ceased the execution of the actions which constitute crimes," a specification which may leave out many who have continued their activism from other countries. The law removes international arrest warrants for those granted amnesty.
Tribunals must decide on amnesty requests within 15 days, according to the law.
HUNGER STRIKE
The law does not provide amnesty for those convicted of human rights violations, war crimes, murder, drug trafficking, corruption or anyone promoting, supporting or committing "armed actions" against Venezuela and its people by foreign states or entities.
The government regularly accuses members of the opposition of workingwith entities like the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to harm the country and attack its infrastructure, accusations the opposition has always denied.
Attorney General Tarek Saab told Reuters last week that he hopes the amnesty will result in “a 100% pacified country" and also insisted that those who are imprisoned committed crimes and were not political detainees, repeating assertions he made in 2024 before thousands were arrested for participating in protests amid a contested presidential election.
The ruling party has a super majority in the legislature, but the law was supported by members of opposition parties, who won some changes to the bill in committee sessions.
The law is "not perfect", said lawmaker Nora Bracho of the Un Nuevo Tiempo party, urging full government compliance with the bill, which she added "will without a doubt mitigate the suffering of many Venezuelans."
The government says nearly 900 people have been released from prison over more than a year, while legal rights group Foro Penal has counted nearly 450 releases of people they classify as political prisoners since January 8.
Advocacy groups including Foro Penal have critiqued the limits of the law.
"If the amnesty is not as broad as we would have liked it to be, that does not mean that the fight for the freedom of all the imprisoned and pursued is over," Foro Penal vice-president Gonzalo Himiob said on X.
"Total liberty will come when the apparatus and culture of political repression are dismantled."
Hundreds of students and families of prisoners have gathered to demand releases in recent weeks, the most vociferous displays of public protest in Venezuela since after the 2024 elections.
Ten family members of detainees have participated in a hunger strike outside the Zona 7 police facility in capital Caracas in recent days, begun after adeadline for releases from the facility promised by Jorge Rodriguez passed last week.
By late on Thursday afternoon just one striker remained. Narwin Gil, 40, is the sister-in-law of detainee Jose Gregorio Farfan and is approaching six days without food.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Stephen Coates)
