Fernando Albán

Cases
Location of case in SG report
2019-112-009
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2019
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
  • Assistant Secretary-General
Dates of prior UN action
23 November 2018
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

of the Primero Justicia party

Type of rights defended
  • Unclear in SG Report
Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
No
Reported trigger of reprisal

In September 2018, Mr. Albán had travelled to New York where he participated in meetings with diplomatic delegations to the UN attending the General Assembly as part of a delegation of members of the party. He took part in meetings about possible UN-led initiatives to address the human rights situation in Venezuela, in particular action to be taken, among others, in the Security Council.

Engagement with UN body
  • UN General Assembly: UN General Assembly - General
Dates of engagement
September 2018
Type of attempted engagement
  • Participation in meeting on UN premises
Dates of mentioned reprisals
5 October 2018; October 2018
Location of mentioned reprisals
Caracas
Reprisal information

On Friday 5 October 2018, upon arriving at Caracas international airport from New York, Mr. Albán was taken into custody by members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Services (SEBIN) allegedly in connection with the failed assassination attempt against the President of 4 August 2018. The authorities did not inform Mr. Albán’s family or lawyers of his detention or whereabouts, and on 8 October 2018, according to official sources, Mr. Albán killed himself by leaping from the tenth floor of SEBIN’s administrative headquarters. OHCHR received reports indicating that Mr. Albán’s suicide was unlikely, including related to the restrictions of movement applied to prisoners under the custody of SEBIN.

Types of reprisals suffered
  • Detention/Imprisonment: Death in custody
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?
No
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
How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
3
In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
2020
Follow up information provided in SG report 0
  1. The case of Mr. Fernando Albán, a political opposition figure of the Primero Justicia party, was included in the 2019 report of the Secretary-General (AHRC/42/30, Annex I, paras. 116–117), following his detention and death in custody, after returning from New York to meet with different actors on the margins of the General Assembly. OHCHR received reports indicating that Mr. Albán’s reported suicide was unlikely, including related to the restrictions of movement applied to prisoners under the custody of SEBIN (para. 117). It was reported to OHCHR that, as a result of an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, on 2 September 2019 two officers of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Services (SEBIN) were indicted for breaking custody protocols where Mr. Albán was being held. The Attorney-General’s Office argued the two SEBIN officers decided without consultation to take off the handcuffs of Mr. Albán, which allowed him to throw himself through a window of the 10th floor of the SEBIN headquarters and commit suicide.
Followup Trends 0
No substantive information provided by SG report
Did the government respond? 0
No
In which SG report was this case followed up on? 1
2021
Follow up information provided in SG report 1
  1. The case of Mr. Fernando Albán, a political opposition figure of the Primero Justicia party, was included in the 2020 and 2019 reports of the Secretary-General263 following his detention and death in custody, after returning from New York to meet with different actors on the margins of the General Assembly. As a result of an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, on 2 September 2019 two officers of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Services (SEBIN) were indicted for breach of detention protocols. The September 2020 report of the FFM included the case of Mr. Albán, which noted that high-level officials publicly deemed his death a suicide, although forensic evidence raises doubts about this conclusion. The FFM noted that the examination did not apply the standards required by the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016) or the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. His family was unable to undertake an independent autopsy or to bury his remains, despite numerous requests (A/HRC/45/33, para. 51).
  2. According to information received by OHCHR, on 8 October 2020, the Twenty-Ninth Trial Court of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of Caracas Metropolitan Area nullified the accusations against the two officers on the basis of violations of due process guarantees. Reportedly, the legal counsel of Mr. Albán’s family did not have access to the decision. On 1 May 2021, the Attorney General announced new arrest warrants against the same two SEBIN officers on the charges of manslaughter, breach of detention protocols, and aiding and abetting escape.
Followup Trends 1
Stayed same
Did the government respond? 1
Yes
In which SG report was this case followed up on? 2
2022
Follow up information provided in SG report 2
  1. The case of Mr. Fernando Albán, a political opposition figure of the Primero Justicia party, was included in the 2019, 2020, and 2021 reports of the Secretary-General following his detention and death in custody in August 2018, after returning from New York where he met with different actors on the margins of the General Assembly.
  2. The 2021 report of the International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela included the case of Mr. Alban, noting that in May 2021 the Chief Prosecutor reported progress in what he called emblematic cases, including that of Mr. Alban, after having received questions from the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (A/HRC/48/69, para. 102). In this and two other cases, the Mission observed that the scope of investigations was either limited to less serious crimes or only the lowest-level perpetrators face criminal prosecution, or both. According to information received by OHCHR, on 3 December 2021, two agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 5 years and 10 months for manslaughter, breach of custodial regulations, criminal association, and aggravated aiding and abetting of escape in relation to the death of Mr. Albán. On 18 March 2022, during its oral update to the Human Rights Council, the International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela reported that in February 2022, the Tenth Chamber of the Criminal Court of Appeals of Caracas reduced the sentence imposed to the SEBIN’s agents to 2 years and 8 months. The officers were reportedly released.
Followup Trends 2
Stayed same
Did the government respond? 2
No