Venezuela's political prisoner count fall by 42 in 1 week: Report

ISTANBUL

The number of political prisoners in Venezuela fell by 42 in the last week to 526, according to data published Thursday by Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights organization.

The group, which provides free legal assistance to arbitrarily detained individuals and their families, recorded one new imprisonment, 78 releases and 35 recently reported prisoners as of Monday, down from 568 in the previous week. The whereabouts of 11 detainees remain unknown, it said.

Of the 526 prisoners, 470 are men and 56 are women. Civilians account for 353, with 173 military personnel. One adolescent is among those detained. A total of 354 have not been convicted, while 49 hold foreign nationality, according to the data.

Foro Penal said Venezuela had recorded 18,981 politically motivated detentions since 2014.

The US captured President Nicolas Maduro in early January and transported him to New York, where he is being held in a federal detention facility. The country is now governed by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who is moving to normalize relations with Washington.