IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of Alireza Akbari in Venezuela

October 14, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 72/2025 on October 8, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Alireza Akbari in Venezuela, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights to life and personal integrity.

The beneficiary is an engineer and an Irish citizen and he travelled to Venezuela on June 24, 2025. His family last had contact with him on June 27, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then. The party who requested these precautionary measures said no details were known about when, where, and how he had gone missing or about who might have been involved in his disappearance. Based on talks with other detained foreigners, the presumption is that he may have been arrested by Venezuelan law-enforcement officers.

The party who requested these precautionary measures said that there was no indication that a criminal case might have been launched against the beneficiary. There is also no information about where he might be detained, even though his representatives have visited penitentiary facilities and attempted to file a writ of habeas corpus, which the authorities rejected with the argument that such a writ required his relatives’ physical presence. The party who requested these precautionary measures further said that Akbari had had no access to consular protection. The State failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations, the IACHR considers that the beneficiary is at risk, and that the risks he faces might become increasingly harmful for his rights. In that assessment, the IACHR took into consideration the pattern of State actions when foreigners are arrested in Venezuela’s current context—the whereabouts of the affected foreigners are often not known, the State fails to provide relevant information, the legal status of the affected individuals is uncertain, their requests for judicial remedies are rejected, and they are not allowed to appoint private lawyers and are denied consular assistance.

The IACHR also deemed serious the fact that very little information has been provided about the beneficiary’s factual and legal situation, the time that has gone by since he went missing, restrictions on his legal defense embodied in language barriers, and geographical distance from his family.

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 rights to life and personal integrity of Alireza Akbari; 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
   6. Should the beneficiary not be in State custody, adopt all measures necessary to establish his whereabouts
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 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 American Convention on Human Rights and other 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. 209/25

2:40 PM