Venezuelan authorities were urged by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to free everyone who has been unlawfully arrested since the 2024 presidential elections.
Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk called on Venezuelan authorities “to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained, and to ensure due process and fair trial standards are met,” in a statement released by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
What human rights violations has the UN reported?
Human rights violations by Venezuelan authorities and pro-government organisations increased during the country’s 2024 presidential elections. Human rights advocates, journalists, and demonstrators have all been “subjected to intimidation, persecution, limiting the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly” in Venezuela, in addition to being arbitrarily detained and having their identities enforced.
Following the contentious election, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) study published in April revealed that “more than 2,000 people have been detained for protesting, criticizing the government, or supporting the opposition.” Many, both domestically and abroad, raised “concerns about the legitimacy of the results” in response to the news of Nicolás Maduro’s reelection.
Eduardo Torres, a lawyer and part of the Venezuelan Education-Action Program on Human Rights was last seen on May 9 and went missing recently, according to the UN statement. The International Federation for Human Rights and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders made an urgent appeal, claiming that Torres was routinely harassed and threatened by Venezuelan police officers and that his passport was revoked to prevent him from leaving the nation.
Role of UN in highlighting rights violation in Venezuela
A 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.”
The United Nations has been a key entity in denouncing and directing international scrutiny towards human rights abuses in Venezuela, specifically through the efforts of its Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The FFM has continually recorded and reported a broad variety of abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and politically motivated persecution, particularly during times of increased repression like the 2024 electoral period. Such violations have usually been directed at political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists, and even children and individuals with disabilities.
The International Service for Human Rights was among the rights organisations that urged the Venezuelan administration to “stop all repression” and adhere to human rights norms earlier this year. Because it “undermines the rights to freedom of expression and association,” the UN statement also called for the repeal of the Law on the Control, Regulation, Performance, and Financing of Non-Governmental and Related Organizations.
