PUBLICAI Index: AMR 53/11/99

1 October 1999

Further information on UA 137/99 (AMR 53/05/99, 11 June 1999) - Fear for safety / Ill-treatment

VENEZUELAEdgar Almeida, aged 17

Amnesty International has learned that Edgar Almeida is no longer being threatened or harassed.

Edgar Almeida was arrested in May this year by policemen who said he had been accused of rape. He was sent to the Instituto Nacional del Menor (INAM), National Youth Institute, for a forensic medical examination. His mother was told that he would be released a few days after his arrest, but when she went to collect him she was told to come back two days later. When she did so, she was told that he was being treated for colic, and that he had been transferred to a clinic for treatment after another inmate had hit him. The following day she was told that he had escaped: a few hours later Edgar managed to call his mother, and told her that two of the policemen who had come to arrest him were threatening to make sure that he went to jail, where they would torture and kill him unless he gave them money.

According to the information received by Amnesty International, a public official from INAM responsible for torturing the minor has been dismissed.

No further appeals are necessary. Thank you to all those who took action on this case.