Franklin Caldera Cordero
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2024-113-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2024
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 6.42375
Longitude: -66.58973
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Venezuela
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Independent Investigation
- Dates of prior UN action
- 2023
- Type of record
- Named individual
- Gender
- Male
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
Mr. Caldera Cordero is the Coordinator of the Victims’ Committee “S.O.S. Libertad Family”, an organization he founded after the arrest of his son for allegedly participating in an attack on a military base in what was known as Operation Aurora (A/HRC/54/CRP.8, Case 28, paras. 835–845).
- Type of rights defended
- Accountability & impunity
- Civil/political rights
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
- In its 2023 report, the International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela reported allegations of reprisals since 2021 against Mr. Franklin Caldera Cordero due to his cooperation with United Nations human rights representatives and mechanisms on the situation of his son, Lieutenant Franklin Caldera Ortiz. Mr. Caldera Cordero is the Coordinator of the Victims’ Committee “S.O.S. Libertad Family”, an organization he founded after the arrest of his son for allegedly participating in an attack on a military base in what was known as Operation Aurora (A/HRC/54/CRP.8, Case 28, paras. 835–845).
- Following the publication of the Fact-Finding Mission reports in 2021 and 2022, Mr. Caldera Cordero has reportedly been under physical surveillance and received anonymous threatening calls, including death threats against him and his family. Similar threats also took place after his participation in a meeting with the High Commissioner for Human Rights in January 2023 and following his statement at the Human Rights Council in March 2023 (A/HRC/54/CRP.8, Case 28, paras. 835–845).
- The Inter-American Commission for Human Rights issued precautionary measures in favour of Mr. Caldera Cordero in July 2023 noting threats against him and his relatives because of his public statements, engagement, and advocacy with United Nations representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights.
- Engagement with UN body
- UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
- UN Human Rights Council: UN Independent Investigation
- Dates of engagement
- 2021, 2022, January 2023, March 2023
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- Submission of information to UN
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- Since 2021
- Location of mentioned reprisals
- Venezuela
- Reprisal information
Following the publication of the Fact-Finding Mission reports in 2021 and 2022, Mr. Caldera Cordero has reportedly been under physical surveillance and received anonymous threatening calls, including death threats against him and his family. Similar threats also took place after his participation in a meeting with the High Commissioner for Human Rights in January 2023 and following his statement at the Human Rights Council in March 2023 (A/HRC/54/CRP.8, Case 28, paras. 835–845).
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Surveillance
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- Yes
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No