Inmates at a Venezuelan prison staged a protest on its roof on Sunday, calling for the removal of the centre’s director over the killings of unarmed prisoners.
Hundreds of inmates were heard chanting ‘no more torture’ as they took control of the Barinas Judicial Detention Centre.
‘We want justice. They are shooting us, the guards and the wardens,’ a prisoner said in a video shared by the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, a local NGO, on X, in which a man is seen with a bullet wound in his chest.
Footage shows large smoke from burning mattresses and sheets rising from the prison, located around 310 miles from Caracas, as inmates gathered on the roof, chanting, ‘No more torture!’ and hanging ‘SOS’ banners.
Inmates said they were peacefully protesting when prison staff opened fire and left some wounded.
Prisoners called for the removal of the recently appointed prison director, Elvis Macuare Guerrero.
They said their clothes had been taken away, they had been banned from receiving visits, and pressured to sell drugs.
Inmates’ family members clashed outside with National Guard officers, armed with riot shields, as they unsuccessfully attempted to stop them from entering.
They told the NGO they heard screams and explosions minutes after they entered.
The NGO said it was documenting the events and reporting them to human rights watchdogs.