UN high commissioner calls for immediate release of arbitrarily detained Venezuela government critics News
Confidencial, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
UN high commissioner calls for immediate release of arbitrarily detained Venezuela government critics

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) called upon Venezuelan authorities on Tuesday to release all people arbitrarily detained since the 2024 presidential elections.

In a statement published by the OHCHR, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged Venezuelan authorities “to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained, and to ensure due process and fair trial standards are met.”

The aftermath of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential elections saw an escalation in human rights abuses committed by Venezuelan authorities and pro-government groups. In addition to arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, critics of the Venezuelan government, including human rights defenders, journalists, and protestors, have been “subjected to intimidation, persecution, limiting the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”

A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in April documented widespread human rights violations following the controversial election, finding “over 2,000 people have been detained for protesting, criticizing the government, or supporting the opposition.” The announcement of President Nicolás Maduro’s re-election was widely contested within the country and internationally, with “concerns about the legitimacy of the results” expressed.

The UN statement highlighted the recent disappearance of Eduardo Torres, a lawyer and member of the Venezuelan Education-Action Program on Human Rights, last seen on May 9. According to an urgent appeal by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and the International Federation for Human Rights, Torres was consistently targeted with threats and harassment by members of the Venezuelan police force, and his passport had been cancelled to ensure he would not be able to leave the country.

Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Liz Throssell noted in the statement:

Our Office continues to be concerned by conditions of detention, in particular lack of access to adequate food and health care. Our Office has verified the deaths of at least three government critics held in custody since July 2024. These cases must be fully and independently investigated.

Americas Director at HRW Juanita Goebertus stated that “[t]he Venezuelan government has killed, tortured, detained and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change.” Goebertus further noted: “Governments should use any engagement with Maduro to achieve verifiable human rights improvements, including the release of people forcibly disappeared and arbitrarily detained.”

Earlier this year, several rights groups, including the International Service for Human Rights, called upon the Venezuelan government to “stop all repression” and comply with human rights standards. The UN statement also advocated repealing the Law on the Control, Regulation, Performance, and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organizations, asserting it “undermines the rights to freedom of expression and association.”

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