Feb 5 (Reuters) - An amnesty law being considered in Venezuela's legislature that would grant immediate clemency to people jailed for participating in political protests or critiquing public figures won initial lawmaker approval on Thursday.
According to a draft seen by Reuters, the bill would also return assets of those detained and cancel Interpol and other international measures previously issued by the government, allowing opposition figures in exile to return home.
The bill passed unanimously in the first of two necessary votes at the National Assembly, which is controlled by the socialist ruling party. The date for a second session to debate the matter has not yet been set.
The amnesty law, announced last week by interim President Rodriguez, would lead to hundreds of people being released if it were to be passed in its current form and would likely please the Trump administration, which has hailed prisoner releases.
Rodriguez's brother Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the assembly, described the law as a difficult but necessary step.
"The path of this law is going to be full of obstacles, full of bitter moments ... we're not only going to have to swallow hard ... but also swallow frogs," he said.
"We ask for forgiveness and we also have to forgive."
Venezuela's opposition and human rights groups have said for years that the government has used detentions to stamp out dissent by politicians, members of the security services, journalists and activists, charging them arbitrarily with crimes like terrorism and treason. The government has always denied holding political prisoners.
Rodriguez, who took office after the U.S. captured and deposed President Nicolas Maduro last month, has been complying with U.S. demands on oil deals. The government has also been already slowly releasing people classified as political prisoners by human rights groups and the country's opposition.
According to the draft, the amnesty will cover crimes committed between January 1, 1999, and the date that the law comes into force, and will be applied immediately to people who acted peacefully or who have health concerns. It would not provide amnesty for those convicted of human rights violations, war crimes, murder, corruption or drug trafficking.
PROTESTS AND DEFAMATION
Other alleged crimes, including instigation of illegal activity, resistance to authorities, property damage, rebellion, treason, and illegal carrying of weapons will all be covered by the amnesty if they were committed in the context of political protests, the draft said, specifying that it would include mass protests that rocked the country and led to deaths in 2007, 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2024.
Those latest marches, in 2024, took place after a contested election that Venezuela's opposition and international observers say the opposition roundly won. The government and judicial authorities backed Maduro, swearing him in for a third term.
The bill would also cover those accused of defamation if the act took place in the context of criticizing authorities.
The law would lift Interpol red notices and movement restrictions against people who have committed crimes covered by the amnesty, the draft said, "guaranteeing the safe and persecution-free return of Venezuelan citizens who are abroad."
Many members of the opposition and dissident former officials live in other countries to escape arrest warrants they say are politically motivated.
Also revoked by the law would be public office bans for political reasons and sanctions against media outlets.
Rights group Foro Penal says it has verified that 383 political prisoners have been freed since the government announced a new series of releases on January 8. It says more than 680 remain jailed, an updated count including prisoners whose fearful families had not previously reported their detentions.
The government has always denied holding political prisoners and says those jailed have committed crimes. Government officials have said the number of releases is nearly 900, but have not been clear about the timeline and appear to be including those freed in previous years.
Among the long-time advocates of releases and amnesty is Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has several close allies imprisoned, including opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa and lawyer Perkins Rocha.
(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
