July 5, Venezuela’s Independence Day, came with a precious piece of news for all those who hope for the country’s future: Michele Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights, announced that the Venezuelan judge María Lourdes Afiuni had been released from parole, after almost 10 years of confinement. But her release came with conditions — the judge in charge of her case left in place restrictions that precluded her from traveling abroad and limited her freedom of speech. Judge Afiuni was liberated along with a journalist, Braulio Jatar, and 20 other political prisoners. Thus, one of Hugo Chávez’s most arbitrary acts has finally been reversed.

Ms. Afiuni had remained in prison without trial for more than a year. Her crime had been to remand a banker, Eligio Cedeno, who himself had been jailed for more than a year without a trial, to supervised parole; the court demanded his passport and he had to report weekly to the judge. Instead, the banker fled the country and the judge was accused of “corruption, abuse of authority, aiding escape and association to commit crime.” In the women’s prison where she was confined, she suffered sexual and psychological abuse (death threats from inmates she had sentenced) and her health was seriously compromised.

Among many who sought to liberate Ms. Afiuni, we conducted direct negotiations with the Chávez government to press for her release. When the judge’s health was in jeopardy, she was granted house arrest. In the end she was put on parole, but for years no definite sentence ended the nightmare she had to endure. So we received the news of her release with a mixed reaction, because although it’s a step in the right direction, it was delayed far too long and is incomplete. The dire suffering of a brave and resilient woman of the law should have never occurred.

After years of protracted political confrontation in Venezuela, making María Lourdes Afiuni’s release fully unconditional would be an important step. But an estimated 590 people remain detained as she was, without trial, for political reasons and under harsh circumstances.