developments following the July presidential elections
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2025-149-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2025
- 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 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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
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3 relationships, 3 entities