IACHR Files Application Before Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case Concerning Unlawful Detention of a Human Rights Defender and Adverse Health Effects on His Health in Venezuela

February 2, 2024

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed on December 20, 2023, an application before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Case 14,168, with regard to Venezuela. This case concerns the unlawful and arbitrary detention of Carlos Enrique Graffe Henríquez and the adverse effects that situation had on his health, as well as violations of his rights to a fair trial and to judicial protection in proceedings against him.

Human rights defender Carlos Graffe was involved in the Venezuelan Student Movement in 2007 and in 2008 founded ASOESFUERZO, an association focused on defending private initiative, free enterprise, economic freedom, and private property. He also founded the foundation Futuro Presente and the organization Un Mundo Sin Mordaza to defend freedom of expression and report human rights violations in Venezuela.

On June 7, 2017, Diosdado Cabello, a legislator at the time, appeared on the TV program "Con el mazo dando" and described Graffe as a "terrorist" responsible for acts of violence in the La Isabelica neighborhood, in Valencia. Later, on July 13, 2017, Graffe was arrested by officers of the State without a warrant and without being caught in the act. He was charged with inciting rebellion and with stealing military property and he was subjected to military judicial proceedings.

Graffe was detained in isolation at the Ramo Verde National Military Detention Facility, in inhumane conditions and deprived of family visits. Despite his health condition, linked to prior kidney surgery, he did not receive medical care. The ombudsperson's intervention to ensure adequate medical care and enable family visits met with no response. On November 15, 2021, precautionary measures were adopted to replace deprivation of liberty with other restrictions.

In Admissibility and Merits Report 341/22, the Commission said that Carlos Graffe's arrest had been unlawful, because there had been no court warrant and he had not been caught in the act. The IACHR further found that this arrest had been similar to cases where other human rights defenders had been criminalized at the time. The Commission noted that Graffe's preventive detention had been ordered by a military court with no competent jurisdiction in this matter and that it had not been adequately justified, which made it arbitrary.

Concerning the rights to personal integrity and health, the IACHR said that Graffe had suffered cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment while being held in isolation during his time in detention, without sufficient ventilation, sunlight, healthcare services, and hygiene. The Commission also noted that the State's omission of adequate healthcare permanently affected Graffe's health.

The Commission found that criminal proceedings against Graffe had violated his rights to judicial guarantees and judicial protection, specifically his right to an impartial and independent authority of competent jurisdiction and to adequate and effective judicial remedies.

The IACHR also stressed that violations of Graffe's rights had been linked to his work as a human rights defender and had sought to stigmatize and scare him to put a halt to that work. The Commission therefore found that the State was liable for violations of his rights to honor and dignity and to freedom of expression.

Based on various legal and factual considerations, the IACHR concluded that the State was liable for violations of the rights to personal integrity, personal liberty, judicial guarantees, honor and dignity, freedom of expression, judicial protection, and health, held in Articles 5.1, 5.2, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 8.1, 11, 13, 25.1, and 26 of the American Convention, concerning the obligations held in Articles 1.1 and 2 of that instrument. The IACHR further concluded that the State was liable for violations of Articles 1, 6, and 8 of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.

The Commission therefore recommended that the State adopt the following redress measures:

1. Provide comprehensive reparations—both material and immaterial—for all human rights violations mentioned in the report, including financial compensation and other redress measures.
2. Provide any physical and mental healthcare necessary for the rehabilitation of Carlos Enrique Graffe Henríquez, in agreement with him.
3. Conduct impartial, effective, and timely criminal law proceedings to establish what happened and to hold all perpetrators and masterminds accountable for it.
4. Immediately end all measures involving deprivation of liberty that continue to affect Carlos Enrique Graffe Henríquez, declaring military criminal proceedings against him completely void and erasing his criminal record.
5. Take measures for non-recurrence—including any necessary legislative changes—to ensure that military criminal courts are only used to try military officers, and only for crimes involving legal rights of the military.

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 countries of origin or residence.

No. 028/24

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