Venezuela: we condemn the systematic repression by the government against human rights defenders and demonstrators 

Following the results delivered by the Venezuelan electoral body after the July 28 elections, the undersigned organisations have monitored with deep concern the human rights situation in the country. 

We denounce before the world the aggressions against thousands of demonstrators who have legitimately taken to the streets exercising their right to association, peaceful assembly and expression. According to the Venezuelan NGO Foro Penal, more than 1,350 people have been arbitrarily detained throughout the country, without any procedural guarantees. We are particularly concerned about the situation in the states of Carabobo, Anzoátegui and the Capital District, where the largest number of people have been detained. In addition to demonstrators, the government has detained human rights defenders, activists and lawyers, and has prevented in most cases any independent legal representation by private defenders and civil society organisations. 

This tragic situation is an addition to the more than twenty demonstrators killed during the protests. These acts of physical and violent repression against the civilian population require immediate action by international courts and protection agencies, including the United Nations Security Council. 

In addition, we denounce the annulment and/or cancellation of passports of human rights defenders, journalists and activists, both inside and outside Venezuela. We have received dozens of complaints about the impossibility of leaving the country due to this phenomenon, at a time when the escalation of threats and intimidation against civil society has forced dozens of people to take refuge or to consider forced exile to preserve their lives and freedom. 

We have even heard of dozens of activists who have been disappeared for hours by security forces, and who have then had to go into hiding after threats from the security forces or incitement to public denunciation tactics by the Venezuelan authorities. 

We also denounce and condemn acts that violate the right to freedom of expression, carried out against demonstrators, users of social networks and the independent press. We are concerned about measures such as the blocking of digital messaging systems such as Signal or the announcement of the closure of the social network X for 10 days, actions that continue to violate rights and freedoms in the country, such as the right to information.  

Faced with this desolate panorama, which undoubtedly represents a systematic repression by the Venezuelan government against the citizens, the undersigned organisations: 

1. We demand that the Venezuelan government guarantee the life, safety and freedom of activists, journalists, lawyers, and people who defend human rights in Venezuela and that of their families, as well as provide all procedural guarantees to those who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained and release them immediately. 

2. We call on the governments of the region, multilateral organisations such as the OAS, the UN and the European Union to join the calls of civil society to the Venezuelan government to respect and guarantee their rights, and to take concrete and immediate action to stop this human rights crisis in the country. 

3. We ask the receiving countries of the people who have left Venezuela for humanitarian and security reasons to facilitate the migratory procedures and measures and the possibilities of regularisation. Likewise, that they expedite asylum and refuge processes requested by Venezuelan victims of these repressive measures. 

4. We join the demands of the international community that the Venezuelan government allow an independent, transparent and verified scrutiny of the results of the July 28 elections, which guarantee respect for the will of the people, democracy and freedom. 

Organisations signing the release: 

1. Civil Rights Defenders 

2. Wola 

3. Defiende Venezuela  

4. Provea 

5. Foro Penal 

6. Red Latinoamericana de Jóvenes por la Democracia (Juventud LAC) 

7. 4Métrica 

8. ConEnfoque 

9. El Derecho a No Obedecer – Corporación Otraparte 

10. CIVILIS 

11. Colectivo de Derechos Humanos para la Memoria Histórica de Nicaragua (Nicaragua Nunca Más) 

12. Instituto sobre Raza, Igualdad y Derechos Humanos (Raza e Igualdad) 

13. Un mundo sin mordaza 

14. Cubalex 

15. Justicia 11J 

16. Centro de Documentación de Prisiones Cubanas 

17. Iniciativa para la Investigación y la Incidencia A.C. 

18. Fundación Paz y Reconciliación 

19. Aula Abierta 

20. People In Need  

21. Acceso a la Justicia  

22. Mulier 

23. Laboratorio de Paz