IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of French citizen Camilo Castro in Venezuela

October 3, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 70/2025 on October 2, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Camilo Castro in Venezuela, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights to life and personal integrity.

According to the request for these precautionary measures, Castro, a yoga instructor with French citizenship, travelled to Colombia’s Venezuelan border for an administrative procedure on June 26, 2025. He has been missing since. The party who requested these precautionary measures said that Castro’s family had not been able to pursue judicial remedies because they were not in Venezuela and Venezuelan authorities require that the person who files requests of that kind be physically in the country. The party who requested these precautionary measures noted that, in this context, the beneficiary had not had access to a legal defense. Castro has allegedly also had no access to consular assistance. The State failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations in this case, the IACHR found that the fact that Castro’s whereabouts are unknown and the mere passage of time increase the probability that he will suffer harm to his rights. The IACHR further noted that Castro’s family and other loved ones had not been able to activate domestic mechanisms to establish his whereabouts and that the beneficiary had had no access to consular assistance. The State failed to report on any specific measures that might have been adopted to mitigate or otherwise address the risks he faces. 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 Castro’s rights to life and personal integrity; in particular, the State should take the following action:
   1. Report on whether the beneficiary is in State custody (and, if so, provide the reasons for and other details of his arrest) and on any measures taken to establish his fate or whereabouts
   2. Should the beneficiary be in State custody, say whether he has been charged with any crimes and whether he has been taken before a court of competent jurisdiction so his arrest might be reviewed, and immediately specify the court in charge of this criminal case (or state why he has not been taken before court)
   3. Enable contact between the beneficiary and his family, trusted legal counsel, and his country’s consular authorities, and grant them full access to the relevant criminal case file, should such a file exist
   4. Report on whether the beneficiary has been granted access to a translator or interpreter, so he might precisely understand his situation and exercise his rights
   5. Enable the beneficiary to contact his country
2. Report on any actions adopted to investigate the alleged 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. 201/25

6:15 PM