IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of Gustavo de los Reyes Ruiz and his wife and son in Venezuela

January 22, 2025

Washington, DC – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 6/2025 on January 20, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Gustavo de los Reyes Ruiz and his wife and son in Venezuela, in the belief that they face a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their rights to life and personal integrity.

According to the request for these precautionary measures, the beneficiaries are being subjected to harassment and hounding by law enforcement officers for their political activity and their support for the Vente Venezuela opposition political party. On July 28, 2024, a day when presidential elections were held in Venezuela, De los Reyes was surrounded by law enforcement officers who sought to arrest him. He managed to escape, but on that day he was notified of a direct order to arrest him and his family, so he opted to hide and remain politically active from an unknown location. The persecution he is subjected to allegedly includes daily watches by law enforcement officers, who take photos and threaten his neighbors. This situation has persisted over time.

On December 23, 2024, De los Reyes was notified that officers of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN, by its Spanish acronym) had allegedly once again put the beneficiaries on their list of individuals who should be found and arrested. Further, the request for these precautionary measures alleged that the Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister had described De los Reyes as "an enemy of the revolution and a political target who should be neutralized." No formal complaint about these events could be filed before the authorities of competent jurisdiction, because filing a complaint would have exposed the beneficiaries to arrest. The State of Venezuela failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations made by the party who requested these precautionary measures, the IACHR took into consideration the fact that De los Reyes has in recent years been a leading figure of the opposition to the Venezuelan government. The IACHR considers that the events of 2024 sought to deprive the beneficiary and his family of liberty, in similar ways to other opposition leaders since the July 2024 presidential elections.

Further, according to the IACHR, no domestic remedies are available to request protection in favor of the beneficiaries, since the party who requested these precautionary measures said that it was precisely Venezuelan authorities who were causing the risks faced by the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries therefore lack access to material protection that might safeguard their rights.

Given these circumstances, the IACHR considers that De los Reyes and his wife and son face serious, urgent risks. Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR asked the State of Venezuela to take the following action:

1. Adopt any measures necessary to protect the beneficiaries' rights to life and personal integrity
2. Take any measures necessary to ensure that the beneficiaries can continue to be involved in political activities without being subjected to threats, harassment, or any other acts of violence for their involvement (in particular, the State needs both to ensure that its officers will respect the beneficiaries' rights and preserve their personal integrity—in compliance with the standards of international human rights law—and to protect those rights from dangerous acts that may be perpetrated by third parties;
3. the State must also report on any criminal investigations conducted against De los Reyes, disclose any court-issued arrest warrants in force against him, and grant him the appropriate judicial guarantees in the context of any investigations)
4. Come to an agreement with the beneficiaries and their representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken
5. Report on any actions adopted to investigate the events that gave rise to the adoption of these precautionary measures, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The fact that these precautionary measures have been granted and their adoption by the State of Venezuela do not entail a prejudgment on a potential petition that may be filed before the inter-American system to allege violations of rights protected by the applicable instruments.

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 017/25

5:55 PM