A Letter for Eyvin
This letter was published initially on February 9, 2023 for the Color of Excellence Magazine. The version below is updated, as of June 2023, to be published on the COE blog. Five months have passed and Eyvin Hernandez continues to languish wrongfully behind bars, thousands of miles away from his family, friends, and community.
Dear The Color of Excellence®️,
This was supposed to be an article, but that voice inside of me, which I have at times ignored to my own detriment, whispered that I should write this letter. I am trying to listen more to the sound of that inner voice, to give it space in this world.
This voice is overcrowded with all kinds of stressful things, from navigating toxicity to reeling from the realities of this cruel, harsh world of human grief and suffering. Here in the first, and then second quarters of 2023, we have had too many people killed at the hands of the police, or settlers functioning as vigilantes, whether in the USA or Palestine, not to mention the earthquake in Syria and Turkey and now, this week in June, Jenin is under attack by occupiers.
I wanted to write a letter about my friend Eyvin Hernandez, a public defender in Los Angeles, languishing behind bars in Caracas. But as I tick tack, type these words on my laptop this letter became about everything. In that way we are all interconnected, our struggles, hopes, and dreams. Did you know, when this article was first drafted, we calculated the time again, and it was over 7,500 hours that he had been detained? By the time this was first published, five months ago, it had been over 315 days of unlawful detention. By the time this was first read, I had hoped that the facts and figures would become moot because of Eyvin’s anticipated release. But that was back in February. This is June 2023. He continues to be detained.
Now it has been more than 447 days of unlawful detention for our beloved friend Eyvin Hernandez. In other words, more than 10,700 hours of confinement, detention, without basis, in another country (Venezuela) away from his family.
In case you have not heard, Eyvin Hernandez is a dedicated career public defender. By dedicated I mean, he really challenges injustice and helps everyone around him. He is a double Bruin (he attended UCLA for undergrad and law school). When he was very young, he was forced to flee civil strife in El Salvador. This is how he landed in Los Angeles and later became a dual citizen of the U.S. This is the story of so many. Eyvin chose to use his experiences to defend the oppressed here in the United States.
As many of us know, the overwhelming caseloads and pressures on public defenders are no joke. Eyvin took a vacation in Columbia to relieve stress. While there, he met someone. Accompanied her to the town of Cucuta for a short trip just days before his return flight home. Did I tell you Eyvin was a first time homeowner? Another major part of this American dream. His friends and family and house were all waiting for him in LA. But he didn’t get on his flight home. That was more than a year ago.
While he was in Columbia, near the border of Venezuela, with the woman he met, in a taxi on a dirt road, armed men approached them. At gunpoint Eyvin was asked to pay a bribe. He didn’t have the money. He was hooded and handcuffed and transported into custody. Snatched away from everyone he loves. Snatched away from liberty. Snatched away from everyone and everything he knows.
That infamous day was March 31, 2022.
Ever since then he has been detained by the government of Venezuela.
I am part of a coalition of friends and family called the Bring Eyvin Hernandez Home! Coalition. We are fighting for Eyvin. We are fighting for his freedom. We are fighting for his life. We have pushed for press coverage so that he is not forgotten and left behind again. We have gotten transcripts and court records. We have lobbied elected officials in D.C. and in California, advocated with members of the government, reached out to civil society groups, and submitted a complaint to the U.N regarding Eyvin’s arbitrary detention. The National Association of Public Defense has urged Biden to secure his release. So has the University of California School of Law, Eyvin’s alma mater, where we held a vigil.
The State Department has designated Eyvin as wrongfully detained. In February 2023, when this was first drafted, California’s state assembly, led by Isaac Bryan, passed a resolution urging Biden to bring Eyvin home. In March, we held a press conference and a rally in front of the downtown Los Angeles Courthouse urging Biden to bring Eyvin home. Timed with our rally, The Nation published this op-ed: It's Been a Year. Why Hasn't Biden Freed Eyvin Hernandez? The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion to urge President Buden to bring Eyvin home. The members of our coalition, led by Henry Martinez, Eyvin’s brother, have continued to push for Eyvin’s release, urging the Biden Administration to bring Eyvin home. Yet he continues to languish and Eyvin, his family and community, continue to suffer in the devastating heartbreak of his absence.
Eyvin is detained in deplorable conditions and used as a political pawn. He faces sixteen years on accusation of acts against the state. Eyvin is the last person on earth to ever be a spy. Despite that, he is locked up thousands of miles away from his loved ones and in a place where no family can safely visit.
Eyvin is not just anyone to me. He is my friend, my mentor, and also my trainer when I became a public defender in LA. I fight for him because of who I know him to be. I fight for him because I know that he would fight for me. I traveled so much for work overseas and have often thought,
what if this happened to me? How would I want my friends and family to respond? How would I want them to fight to save me?
So here I am, we are, asking you to fight for Eyvin to come home. Since his detention, the US government has gone down to Venezuela several times, including as recent as this month of June. Why is Eyvin still there? How can they leave him behind like this? We need your help!
Here are a few ways:
Share on social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok))
Donate: Fundraiser by Henry Martinez : Liberty and justice for Eyvin wrongfully detained
Reach out to people you know and your elected officials
Review the Coalition’s Ways To Help — Bring Eyvin Hernandez Home!
Anything you can do so we can move the momentum forward and get Eyvin safely home is greatly appreciated. Even if there is just one thing you do, that one thing creates a ripple effect in the world. I hope you are listening to your inner voice too.
Sincerely, and in solidarity,
Bahar
