IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Calls on Venezuelan Institutions to Protect Rights of National Assembly President Juan Guaidó
February 28, 2019
IACHR Press and Communication Office
Tel: +1 (202) 370-9000
cidh-prensa@oas.org
Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) calls on national institutions in the State of Venezuela to
protect the rights to life and personal integrity of Juan Guaidó, in
compliance with the precautionary measure granted by the IACHR on
January 25, 2019.
The Commission has been informed that Guaidó—a beneficiary of
precautionary measures granted by the IACHR—has recently received
death threats. Those threats were allegedly issued in calls to
Guaidó’s relatives, and they were allegedly preceded by other risky
events that the Commission has been informed of. Such events include
visits to Guaidó´s home by alleged officials of a special unit of
the Bolivarian Police, as well as the temporary arrest he was
subjected to on January 13, 2019, which the authorities described as
“irregular.”
As the Commission noted in Resolution 1/2019, Guaidó is currently
the most visible opposition figure in a context of major political
pressure and profound social upheaval, which has led thousands of
people to mobilize on the streets of Venezuela in events that have
included acts of violence. The Commission believed that the evidence
submitted by the people who requested those precautionary measures
in the current political scenario shows an exceptional, highly tense
context with political divisions that focus on Guaidó’s situation.
Given Guaidó’s current profile and his recognition by several
countries as Venezuela’s interim president, the Commission considers
that he would be more vulnerable or at risk of suffering attacks.
Consequently, the Commission stresses Resolution 1/2019 and, in
particular, urges the national institutions of the State of
Venezuela to take any measures necessary to protect the rights to
life and personal integrity and to preserve the safety of Juan
Gerardo Guaidó and his family, in compliance with the standards of
international human rights law (including protecting those persons’
rights from dangerous acts that might be perpetrated by third
parties).
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. 050/19