Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any representations to the government of Venezuela about the whereabouts of Jesús Armas and reports that he is being held in El Helicoide.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK strongly condemns the ongoing repression against civil society and members of the opposition in Venezuela. Over 1900 Venezuelans remain arbitrarily detained, including Jesus Armas whose whereabouts remain unknown. The UK has repeatedly called for human rights to be protected and for the immediate and unconditional release of those arbitrarily detained, most recently through a UK statement at the Human Rights Council on 13 December. The UK was also party to the G7 Foreign Ministers' statements of 24 September and 26 November, calling on Venezuelan representatives to publish the election results in full and calling for all unjustly detained political prisoners to be released.