CARACAS, Feb 20, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Venezuela's National Assembly on Thursday unanimously approved a long-awaited amnesty law that could free hundreds of political prisoners jailed for being government detractors. Some fear, however, the law could be used by the government to pardon its own and selectively deny freedom to real prisoners of conscience. "The scope of the law must be restricted to victims of human rights violations and expressly exclude those accused of serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity, including state, paramilitary and non-state actors," UN human rights experts said in a statement from Geneva Thursday. The NGO Foro Penal says about 450 prisoners have been released since Maduro's ouster, but more than 600 others remain behind bars. Rodriguez's interim government has been governing with US President Donald Trump's consent, provided she grants access to Venezuela's vast oil resources.

Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha February 20, 2026 03:10 UTC