A 21-year-old Venezuelan woman who claimed she was sexually abused while detained at the immigration facility at the heliport in Chaguaramas is traumatised and afraid for her life. She admitted this to Venezuelan activist Yesenia Gonzalez who visited her at the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Aripo yesterday.
The issue was first raised by the executive director of the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights, Denise Pitcher, when she participated in a Joint Select Committee (JSC) hearing on human rights on Friday. Pitcher said the woman had “gone missing” after she reported allegations of sexual abuse in the Chaguaramas Heliport.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Deputy Commissioner of Police Curt Simon confirmed that the woman was picked up by the police on Friday and taken to the IDC. He said the investigation is in the early stages as it was “kept back” due to the woman’s “unavailability.”
Gonzalez said the woman is being represented by attorney Criston J Williams but the accommodations at IDC are inappropriate.
“I don’t know why they take her there, she is not a criminal. She suppose to be in a protection place. She not suppose to be there, wearing uniform like she commit a crime,” she complained.
Gonzalez said the woman told her about her harrowing ordeal at the heliport.
“It’s a horrible story. You have no idea how horrible it is. I saw all the bruises on her body. All her eyes black and blue. She was beat up badly,” she said
Gonzalez also claimed the woman was a victim of human trafficking.
“She is traumatised. She is afraid for her life,” Gonzalez said.
Williams confirmed that he has been “engaged in protecting” the woman but did not want to comment further, stating that the matter is “a very sensitive topic” with “potentially severe repercussions.”