IACHR follows up on precautionary measures granted in favor of Andreina Baduel in Venezuela and extends them to Margareth Baduel

January 26, 2026

Washington, DC—On January 25, 2026, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) adopted Follow-up and Extension Resolution 8/2026, concerning Andreina Baduel and Margareth Baduel in Venezuela. Andreina Baduel had been granted precautionary measures in 2025 (MC-440-25).

In Resolution 8/26, the IACHR assessed the risks that human rights defender Andreina Baduel—head of the organization Family and Friends Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners in Venezuela (CLIPPVE)—continues to face, including unlawful surveillance, tracking, assault, and harassment.

The information the IACHR has had access to indicates that Margareth Baduel, Andreina Baduel’s sister, is also active with the CLIPPVE and has been subjected to harassment, tracking, and other forms of violence, so the risks extend to her. In particular, the IACHR was informed that, on October 11, 2025, armed attackers stormed into the building where Margareth Baduel lives, threatened the guard, and tampered with the gas tank in the beneficiary’s car, adding an unidentified substance to it with a view to allegedly putting her at risk.

The IACHR noted the State’s failure to provide the information that had been requested and its failure to implement protection measures, which appear to leave the beneficiary defenseless and vulnerable in Venezuela’s current context.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations in this case, and in keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR found that Andreina Baduel’s rights continue to be at risk and that the risks extend to her sister Margareth Baduel. The IACHR therefore decided to take the following action:

1. Continue to monitor Andreina Baduel’s situation, in keeping with Resolution 44/2025
2. Extend these precautionary measures in favor of Margareth Fabianna Baduel Oyoque and demand that the State take the following action:
   1. Adopt any measures necessary to protect Margareth Baduel’s rights to life and personal integrity
   2. Take any measures necessary to ensure that Margareth Baduel can continue to do her work in defense of human rights without being subjected to threats, harassment, or any other acts of violence for doing such work (in particular, the State needs both to ensure that its officers will respect the beneficiary’s rights and preserve her 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. Come to an agreement with the beneficiary and her representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken
   4. Report on any actions adopted to investigate the events that gave rise to the extension of these precautionary measures, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The fact that these precautionary measures have been extended 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. 017/26

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