IACHR urges Venezuela to immediately release political prisoners and to end the practice of holding them incommunicado

April 11, 2025

Washington, DC – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, and lengthy periods of being held incommunicado that political prisoners are subjected to in Venezuela. The State must take urgent action to unconditionally release all political prisoners and to enable them to immediately contact their families.

In 2025, the IACHR continues to monitor the situation of political prisoners. It has conducted public hearings on the issue and gathered direct testimony from victims of human rights violations and their families. There are currently 903 political prisoners in Venezuela, and at least 64 families have not been formally notified of the detention facilities where their loved ones are being held. In some cases, they have only found out that their missing loved ones are alive and in specific detention facilities based on the information shared by other inmates, or because penitentiary officers have called them to ask that they send medication or collect dirty laundry. The IACHR stresses that holding prisoners incommunicado for coercion purposes violates international and inter-American human rights standards.

Sometimes, when relatives of political prisoners go to detention facilities, they are mistreated by penitentiary officers. In particular, women who attempt to visit their loved ones are molested and subjected to invasive frisking. Further, in some cases, penitentiary officers deliberately refuse to allow visitors or to provide details about the health condition of individuals who are being arbitrarily deprived of liberty. This has been the case for Freddy Superlano, Perkins Rocha, and Américo de Grazia, all of them beneficiaries of precautionary measures granted by the IACHR.

The Venezuelan regime not only arbitrarily punishes government critics for legitimately exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, but also chastises their loved ones as a form of punishment. This makes relatives of political prisoners anxious and afraid.

The context around the election held on July 28, 2024, made the political and human rights crisis in Venezuela more serious. The report Venezuela: Serious human rights violations in connection with the elections, published in January, documents a repression strategy implemented by the regime to illegitimately remain in power. This strategy involved the use of State terrorism aimed at preventing the opposition's political participation, hindering free, fair, competitive, and transparent elections, and generally terrorizing citizens.

One of the most serious recurring human rights violation patterns of 2024 that were documented in the report involved arbitrary arrests and forced disappearances of government critics. Over the period January 1–July 27, at least 50 individuals who opposed the Venezuelan government or were perceived as being government critics were arbitrarily arrested, including human rights defender Rocío San Miguel. According to reports issued by the office of Venezuelan regime leader Nicolás Maduro, 2,229 individuals were deprived of liberty in the wake of the election of July 28, in the context of demonstrations against lack of electoral transparency. These included 177 children who were later released, along with an unknown number of adults.

The IACHR stresses the alert issued by Venezuelan civil society about the existence of hundreds of political prisoners in the country. According to the reports received by the IACHR, these individuals are being subjected to countless violations of judicial safeguards, including vague accusations concerning ambiguous charges, the imposition of public defenders, untimely presentations before courts that specialize in matters involving terrorism, and denials of access to the relevant case files or to a trusted technical defense. All this confirms the absolute lack of independence of the judiciary and the fact that the public prosecutor's office is being used to promote the regime's goals.

The State of Venezuela must release all individuals who are currently being detained for political reasons, protecting and ensuring respect for their rights to life and personal integrity. It is imperative to take measures that enable verification of prisoners' health condition and that facilitate visits from family members and legal representatives. The State of Venezuela must also take urgent action to restore the separation of powers and the independence of the different branches of government, which is an essential condition for a justice system that is both impartial and autonomous and fully respects human rights.

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. 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. 072/25

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