Noam Chomsky: Judge María Lourdes Afiuni Has Suffered Enough
With this public letter I want to express my open  support of the liberty of judge María Lourdes Afiuni, detained in  Venezuela since December 2009. In November of last year I was informed  of her situation by the Latin American initiative of the Carr Center for  human rights policy at Harvard University. Ever since, I have been  directly involved in mediation efforts with the Venezuelan government,  with the purpose of releasing her from prison through a gesture of  clemency by President Chávez. Judge Afiuni had my sympathy and solidarity from the  very beginning. The way she was detained, the inadequate conditions of  her imprisonment, the degrading treatment she suffered in the Instituto  Nacional de Orientación Femenina, the dramatic erosion of her health and  the cruelty displayed against her, all duly documented, left me greatly  worried about her physical and psychological wellbeing, as well as  about her personal safety. Those reasons motivated me in December 2010 to  address, jointly with the Carr Center, a petition for an official pardon  from the president in the context of the yearly presidential amnesties. In January I received with relief the news that  Venezuela's attorney general had suggested house arrest for judge Afiuni  given her fragile health condition, which ended up with emergency  surgery. Being in her house with her family and with adequate medical  attention has been without doubt a significant improvement of her  situation. However, judge Afiuni has suffered enough. She has  been subject to acts of violence and humiliations to undermine her human  dignity. I am convinced that she must be set free, not only due to her  physical and psychological health conditions, but in conformance with  the human dignity the Bolivarian revolution presents as a goal. In times  of worldwide cries for freedom, the detention of María Lourdes Afiuni  stands out as a glaring exception that should be remedied quickly, for  the sake of justice and human rights generally and for affirming an  honourable role for Venezuela in these struggles. For the above reasons I want Venezuelans to be aware  of my total solidarity with judge Afiuni, while I affirm my unwavering  commitment with the efforts advanced by the Carr Center in Harvard  University to release her from imprisonment. At the same time, I shall  keep high hopes that President Chávez will consider a humanitarian act  that will end the judge's detention.(The Guardian/London)