We condemn the attacks against Yendri Velásquez, Venezuelan human rights defender and asylum seeker in Colombia

As reported by the Defensoría del Pueblo de Colombia (Colombia’s National Human Rights Institution), Yendri Velásquez and other defenders are seeking international protection from Colombia due to the reprisals and attacks they have endured for exercising their right to defend human rights in Venezuela.

In its most recent report, the office of the United Nations Under-Secretary General, whose mandate is to act upon intimidations or reprisals for cooperating with the United Nations on human rights issues, called attention on the case of Yendri Velásquez, who was arbitrarily detained in Maquiteía’s airport in August 2024 on his way to Geneva (Switzerland) to represent a civil society organisation during Venezuela’s periodic review of the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). During his detention, the human rights defender was tortured and subjected to cruel treatment while he was questioned for a prolonged period.

The CERD expressed its concern about the detention of human rights defender Velásquez and urged the State to adopt effective measures to prevent any act of harassment, persecution, intimidation or threats against human rights defenders and other representatives of civil society.

Moreover, the Special Rapporteurs on human rights defenders, the promotion and protection of the right to free speech, and freedom of peaceful association expressed their concern in a public joint statement. They denounced the annulation of the passport of defender Yendri Velásquez, as well as his arbitrary detention when he was trying to exit the country.

Thus, given the intensification of the acts of harassment, criminalisation and attacks against those who defend human rights in Venezuela, we express our solidarity with the victims, their families, and the organisations and defenders who support them. Furthermore, we urge:

• The State of Colombia

a. To open a prompt, exhaustive, impartial and effective investigation into the attacks committed against Venezuelan citizens on its soil, among them, defender Yendri Velásquez, as well as potential threats, acts of vigilance or harassment against people under the Colombian jurisdiction, establishing individual responsibilities for the perpetrators.

b. To investigate potential transnational human rights violations against Venezuelans in need of Colombia’s international protection.

• The international community

a. To take a clear stance, ensuring and reinforcing the protection of Venezuelans in need of international protection, guaranteeing that asylum procedures are swift and fair, as well as ensuring that those responsible for human rights violations and other crimes are held accountable according to international law.

b. Alongside these demands of access to justice, we restate our solidarity and our support, particularly with Yendri Velásquez, his family and his loved ones, as well as with other human rights defenders and members of civil society organisations, who had been forced to leave Venezuela given the imminent risk they face in the country for exercising their right to defend human rights and their freedom of expression.

Signatories

1. Acceso a la Justicia- Venezuela
2. ALFAVIC- Venezuela
3. Alianza de Organizaciones por los Derechos Humanos del Ecuador- Ecuador
4. Asociación civil Lluvia de Arcoíris- Perú
5. Asociación de Abogados, Abogadas, Jueces y Fiscales de Derechos Humanos de América Latina y el Caribe- Uruguay
6. Asociación Pro Derechos humanos (APRODEH)- Perú
7. Caleidoscopio Humano- Venezuela
8. Centro de Prevencion, Tratamiento y Rehabilitacion de Victimas de la Tortura (CPTRT)- Honduras
9. Centro de Liderazgo e Innovación para Mujeres de las Américas- Perú
10. Centro LGBTIQ+ de Mérida- Venezuela
11. CIVICUS- Latinoamérica
12. Comité de Familiares de Víctimas de los Sucesos de Febrero y Marzo de 1989 (COFAVIC)- Venezuela
13. Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (CDH Guayaquil)- Ecuador
14. Comisión Colombiana de Juristas- Colombia
15. Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH)- Perú
16. Clima 21- Venezuela
17. Cristosal
18. Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con los Presos Políticos (FCSPP)- Colombia
19. Instituto Presa y Sociedad (IPSY)- Venezuela
    
20. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
21. Justiça Global- Brasil
22. Movimiento SOMOS- Venezuela
23. Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones (OVP)- Venezuela
24. Programa Venezolano de Educación Acción en Derechos Humanos (PROVEA)- Venezuela
25. Sociedad de Profesionales por la Dignidad y la Justicia (IUS Dignitas)- Guatemala
26. UDEFEGUA- Guatemala
27. Uquira- Venezuela
28. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
29. Xumek- Argentina
30. 100% Estrogeno ONG- Venezuela