IACHR Condemns Persecution of Human Rights Defenders in Venezuela

August 29, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the persecution of human rights defenders in the wake of the presidential election in Venezuela and calls on the country's authorities to immediately end State-sponsored terrorist practices.

Since the election of July 28, human rights defenders are being subjected to repression by the State. This seeks to hamper their defense efforts, which automatically make these individuals suspicious in the eyes of the authorities and activate the regime's repressive mechanisms.

The IACHR is particularly concerned that defenders who have spoken up in favor of individuals who have been arrested in recent protests have themselves been subjected to intimidation and harassment by State authorities, as well as to arbitrary arrests. This has been the case with Kennedy Tejeda, who has been deprived of liberty since August 2 in the state of Carabobo after asking military authorities about the whereabouts of missing demonstrators.

Other human rights defenders have been deprived of liberty purely for advocating rights. The Commission notes the case of Yendri Velásquez, a defender of the rights of LGBTI persons, who was arbitrarily arrested when he was about to leave the country to appear before the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

In cases that have been documented, deprivation of liberty came coupled with a series of violations of judicial guarantees, including holding suspects incommunicado, forcing them to accept the representation of public defense lawyers, and not taking them before court in a timely manner. Suspects are reportedly being charged with crimes including terrorism and conspiracy.

The IACHR has also been informed of the arbitrary revocation of the passports of at least 36 defenders and journalists and members of these individuals' families, without them being officially notified of either the revocation or the State's reasons to conduct it. These measures—apparently aimed at hampering defenders' activities outside Venezuela—are reportedly scaring defenders and representatives of civil society, who have become wary of leaving the country in case their passports are revoked.

Repression, which has got worse in the crisis that followed the July election, is unfolding in a context that is rife with attacks on rights defenders, as has been amply documented by the IACHR. According to civil society reports, there were 592 attacks on rights defenders in Venezuela during the first half of 2024, up 92% relative to the first half of 2023. In July 2024, 56 attacks against rights defenders were reported, 20% of them over the three days that immediately followed the election.

In this repressive context, the National Assembly passed on August 15 the new "Law to audit and regularize the operations of non-governmental organizations and other similar institutions and to oversee their actions and funding." The IACHR has expressed concern about this legislation, which arbitrarily restricts the activities that may be carried out by non-profit organizations and enables the authorities of the regime to unilaterally dissolve all organizations who, by the regime's own criteria, engage in political activities or otherwise undermine national stability or Venezuela's institutions.

The Commission reminds Venezuela of how important the defense of human rights is to consolidate democracy and the rule of law. The IACHR therefore calls on the State to end harassment and arrests and to ensure that defenders may do their work in defense of human rights without intimidation.

A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their respective countries of origin or residence.

No. 198/24

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