developments following the July presidential elections

Cases
Location of case in SG report
2025-149-001
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2025
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 Special Procedures: Thematic
  • UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
Dates of prior UN action
30 July 2024, 13 August 2024, 17 September 2024
Type of record
General situation addressed
Type of rights defended
  • Unclear in SG Report
Reported trigger of reprisal
  1. The High Commissioner for Human Rights and special procedure mandate holders raised serious concerns about developments following the July presidential elections. In this context, authorities launched a security operation referred to as “Tun Tun,” characterized by widespread detentions, enforced disappearances, home raids, online intimidation and harassment, and random stop-and-search operations by State security forces. These included the inspection of individuals’ mobile phones for content perceived by the authorities to be indicative of dissent. The authorities reported the detention of over 2,500 individuals under terrorism-related charges.
  2. OHCHR further documented that, in the context of post-election releases, officially reported at 2,006 individuals, civil society organizations were able to verify 1,485 releases at the time of writing, most of them under conditional measures. Released persons were reportedly instructed or coerced into signing documents prohibiting them from speaking about their detention, or conditions thereof. There are concerns that such measures inhibited the ability of released detainees to report potential human rights violations related to detention to OHCHR and international human rights mechanisms, fearing renewed detention, given the conditional nature of these releases. OHCHR also observed that State officials employed a hostile rhetoric directed at the United Nations and international human rights mechanisms during the reporting period, which has contributed to an overall climate of fear that inhibited willingness to cooperate due to fear of reprisals.
  3. In its 2024 report, the International Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela noted that its investigations continue to be limited by individuals’ fear of reprisals. Many of the family members and witnesses of most of those detained during the post-election crisis preferred not to provide their testimonies to the mission for fear of reprisals, in particular in the case of children and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. The Fact-Finding Mission noted further that the identities of sources, witnesses and victims had been anonymized where disclosure would pose a risk of reprisals to those concerned.
Engagement with UN body
  • OHCHR: OHCHR Field office
  • UN Human Rights Council: UN Independent Investigation
  • Unclear
Type of attempted engagement
  • Unclear
Dates of mentioned reprisals
July 2024
Location of mentioned reprisals
Venezuela
Reprisal information
  1. The High Commissioner for Human Rights and special procedure mandate holders raised serious concerns about developments following the July presidential elections. In this context, authorities launched a security operation referred to as “Tun Tun,” characterized by widespread detentions, enforced disappearances, home raids, online intimidation and harassment, and random stop-and-search operations by State security forces. These included the inspection of individuals’ mobile phones for content perceived by the authorities to be indicative of dissent. The authorities reported the detention of over 2,500 individuals under terrorism-related charges.
  2. OHCHR further documented that, in the context of post-election releases, officially reported at 2,006 individuals, civil society organizations were able to verify 1,485 releases at the time of writing, most of them under conditional measures. Released persons were reportedly instructed or coerced into signing documents prohibiting them from speaking about their detention, or conditions thereof. There are concerns that such measures inhibited the ability of released detainees to report potential human rights violations related to detention to OHCHR and international human rights mechanisms, fearing renewed detention, given the conditional nature of these releases. OHCHR also observed that State officials employed a hostile rhetoric directed at the United Nations and international human rights mechanisms during the reporting period, which has contributed to an overall climate of fear that inhibited willingness to cooperate due to fear of reprisals.
Types of reprisals suffered
  • Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Charge/Investigation/Prosecution - General
  • Detention/Imprisonment: Detention/Imprisonment - General
  • Disappearance/Kidnapping
  • Family/friends/acquaintances targeted
  • Online harassment
  • Property damage/raid/search/confiscation
  • 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?
Yes