The International Secretariat of Amnesty International publishes its own website, with country specific news and campaigns. Do check out the Venezuela page.
Free Venezuelan Prisoners of Conscience
At least four human rights defenders are currently arbitrarily detained for defending human rights in Venezuela:
Javier Tarazona is an educator and director of an NGO FundaRedes. He was detained in 2021 when trying to report harassment from authorities to the public prosecutor’s office.
Rocío San Miguel is a lawyer and president of the civil society organisation Control Ciudadano. She was detained in early 2024 and sustained a shoulder fracture while in custody that requires urgent treatment.
Carlos Julio Rojas is a journalist and community organiser, detained since 15 April 2024 for raising concern over problems affecting his community.
Kennedy Tejeda is a young lawyer and volunteer for Foro Penal. He was detained on 2 August 2024 when inquiring over the whereabouts of two men thought to have been arrested.
All four prisoners of conscience have suffered grave human rights violations, including enforced disappearance in the days following their detention, denial of trusted legal defence, periods of incommunicado detention, denial of medical care, and some have been reported being subjected to torture.
This Urgent Action is on the AIUK site
Significant Events from Newsletters 2025
March 2025
Amnesty International has issued a new Urgent Action calling for the release of Javier Tarazona, detained in 2021, and Rocio San Miguel, Carlos Julio Rojas, and Kennedy Tejeda, all three of whom were detained in 2024. Javier Tarazona was the director of the non-governmental organisation FundaRedes, before he was detained whilst reporting harassment from the Venezuelan authorities Rocio San Miguel is a lawyer and president of the civil society organisation Control Ciudadno. Carlos Julio Rojas is a journalist. Kennedy Tejeda is a lawyer and volunteer for non-governmental organisation Foro Pena.
January 2025
Nicolas Maduro has been sworn in to the Presidency, prompting outrage amongst non-governmental organisations and in other countries. The US has announced a $65m bounty for his arrest, whilst the Presidents of Brazil and Colombia, longstanding regional allies, have refused to recognise Maduro’s presidency. Chile’s President, Gabriel Boric, stated that “I am someone from the left and from the political left I tell you: Nicolás Maduro’s government is a dictatorship”. EU countries have broadened sanctions against Venezuela.
Amnesty’s 2023 report on Venezuela
Amnesty’s 2023 report on Venezuela notes the continued repression of dissent, the lack of access to education, health, food, and water, the use of arbitrary detention and unfair trials, extrajudicial executions and inhuman detention conditions. Also important to note is the continued violence against women and girls, the repression of indigenous rights in the Orinoco Mining area and the refusal of the Maduro government to sign the Escazu Agreement, which guarantees peoples’ rights to participate in decisions impacting the environment.
Significant Events from Newsletters 2024
December 2024
Amnesty International has published a new Urgent Action calling on the Venezuelan authorities to stop their attacks in the media and through the judicial system on the non-governmental organisation Provea. While a high-ranking government official threatened them directly on a TV show a few weeks prior, the Forensic Criminal Investigations Police (CICPC, in Spanish) has now issued a summons to Oscar Murillo, PROVEA’s general coordinator, to give testimony in a case of an alleged crime under the highly contested ‘anti-hatred law’.
Amnesty International has published new research exposing the arbitrary detention, torture, ill treatment, and gross violations of the right to a fair trial of six children in Venezuela committed between 90 and 31 July. Four months on, at least 198 children remain subjected to either unfair detention, trumped up criminal charges, or the serious mental and physical consequences of abuse perpetrated by the Venezuelan authorities. In light of this situation, Amnesty International Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said:
“When it comes to protecting and respecting human rights, we have come to expect the worst from Nicolas Maduro’s government. Detaining, torturing, prosecuting, and punishing children crosses a line no state should ever cross. We demand the immediate and unconditional release and redress for all children currently suffering the endless cruelty of the Venezuelan authorities.”
October 2024
Amnesty International has demanded for the UN Committee for Human Rights to respond to the conclusions of the UN’s International Independent Fact-Finding Mission for Venezuela and to extend its mandate. The last report from the Mission details a critical human rights crisis and a new low in the deterioration of the rule of law after the recent presidential elections. Ana Piquer, who leads Amnesty’s work on the Americas, noted the bravery of the Venezuelan people who keep resisting the government’s repression, in contrast to the brutality of the Venezuelan regime.
September 2024
Human rights campaigners continue to express concern over the arbitrary detention of protesters in Venezuela. In its continued monitoring of repression in Venezuela, as of 26th August, Foro Penal outlined that there were 1,780 political prisoners, including 114 aged between 14 to 17 years old. Human Rights Watch have issued a statement noting “widespread human rights violations against protesters, bystanders, opposition leaders, and critics” and have called for governments to “push for independent verification of the electoral results”. Amnesty International has an Urgent Action, which we encourage members to sign.
Amnesty International has released a press statement outlining concerns that the Venezuelan government has used the Venezuelan government-backed app, VenApp, to report people voicing dissent. VenApp was launched by President Nicolas Maduro in 2022 ostensibly to receive public complaints on issues such as power outages and medical emergencies. It appears to have been repurposed with additional functionality after the announcement of Maduro’s re-election, enabling users to make reports against protestors. The app has since been removed from the app stores.
August 2024
In the run-up to the election, Amnesty International has called for a commitment to human rights, noting an escalation in repression during the election period. Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International, noted that “Venezuela has been through one of the most deplorable periods in its history as regards human rights”. Piquer’s statement notes that the months leading up to the election saw “incessant attacks on civic space, tens of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, reprisals… and arbitrary and abusive administrative measures”. The statement also reiterates Amnesty’s call for the unconditional release of Rocio San Miguel, Javier Tarazona, and Carlos Julio Rojas, who we continue to campaign for.
June 2024
Amnesty International has released further information for Juan Carlos Marrufo, who has been held in politically motivated arbitrary detention since March 2019. As well as subjecting him to isolation and a lack of drinking water, the authorities have denied him medical testing and treatment. The pattern of events mirrors those suffered by Emirlendris Benitez and Maria Auxiliadora Delgado, who we are also campaigning for and who also require medical attention. Please write to the Penitentiary Minister in this Urgent Action calling on the minister to provide medical attention for the three immediately. Please send your letters c/o the Venezuelan Embassy in London: 1 Cromwell Rd, South Kensington, London SW7 2HW
May 2024
Amnesty has publicised the relentless persecution of civil society and dissidents. Ana Piquer, Americas director, noted that “In Venezuela, Maduro’s government has started the year with an alarming intensification of the policy of repression that it uses to try to curtail civic space, critical voices, and political opposition… these are not new or isolated events. They’re part of a state policy against anyone who might be considered a threat to the current government’s continued grip on power”. We strongly encourage everyone to share Amnesty’s recent public statement (in Spanish), outlining the alarming escalation of persecution in the country.
April 2024
Venezuela has announced that it will hold its Presidential Election on 28 July, earlier than expected. The accelerated timetable will provide the opposition with little time to promote a replacement for Maria Corina Machado, who has been barred from standing despite receiving almost 90% of the vote in the opposition primaries. The opposition’s second choice, Corina Yoris, has also been prevented from running, although they have now managed to inscribe ex-diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez.
March 2024
On 9th February, Rocio San Miguel (above), a well-known human rights defender, was arbitrarily detained at the airport in Caracas, Venezuela. Her forced disappearance follows a widely documented pattern of disappearances in the country. Rocio San Miguel was a highly prominent expert and lawyer who had been monitoring the actions of the Armed Forces in Venezuela, including alleging cases of torture, murder, and arbitrary detentions perpetrated by the state authorities.
We are calling on all those who have not done so already to sign our Urgent Action, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Rocio San Miguel. The Action also calls for a definitive stop to the policy of repression against those considered to be opposing the government. Whilst the Attorney General’s Office publicly acknowledged her detention but has only recently provided information as to her whereabouts; her lawyers have received no response to their queries. Rocio San Miguel has had no access to family members or to legal representation.
We have issued a second Urgent Action calling for the Venezuelan authorities to stop withholding detainees’ medical care. The Action comes after the unexpected transfer of Juan Carlo Marrufo to a separate prison, almost three years into his politically motivated arbitrary detention. The authorities have continued to deny him testing and treatment. His health is declining. Juan Carlos’s wife, Maria Auxiliadora Delgado, and Emirlendris Benitez also require immediate medical tests.
Amnesty International has also filed a submission with the Argentinean criminal court asking that it investigate crimes against humanity in Venezuela. The lawsuit notes that the Venezuelan justice system has demonstrated that it has “neither the will nor the capacity to genuinely and adequately investigate, prosecute, and criminally punish the perpetrators of serious human rights crimes”. A previous lawsuit, filed in the Argentinean court in June 2023 by victims of crimes against humanity and the Clooney Foundation, had made similar allegations and was supported by Amnesty at the time.
February 2024
On 9th January 2024, the National Assembly of Venezuela resumed consideration of a bill that will restrict and potentially criminalize and close down non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Venezuela. The bill passed a preliminary vote on 24th January 2023 and its final passage into law may be imminent, forcing NGOs to comply with measures violating their right to freedom of association or to face criminal prosecution. We have published an Urgent Action calling for the removal of the bill, which we urge members to sign.
In light of their need for immediate medical care, we are also calling for members to sign an additional Urgent Action for the provision of healthcare to Emirlendris Benitez, Maria Auxiliadora Delgado, and Juan Carlos Marrufo, who have been detained by the Venezuelan authorities on charges without evidence.
January 2024
Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, ordered more than 5,600 military personnel to participate in defensive exercises, in the latest escalation over the Essequibo region of neighboring Guyana. Maduro claimed that he was launching an action ‘of a defensive nature in response to the provocation and threat of the UK against peace and the sovereignty of our country’ after the UK Ministry of Defence announced that it would send a patrol vessel to Guyana. The Venezuelan administration has claimed that the oil-rich Essequibo region belongs to Venezuela; Guyana has referred the issue to the United Nations; both countries had agreed not to use force.