On 7 January 2025, people dressed in black and hooded detained Carlos Correa, a Venezuelan renowned human rights defender and director of the NGO Espacio Público. This same modus operandi has previously been used by State security forces to arbitrarily detain and forcibly disappear human rights defenders or people who may be critical of the government of Nicolás Maduro. To date, Carlos’ whereabouts and fate remain unknown. Carlos has health conditions that require immediate treatment.
Please take action on the right side of this page and send an email to the Permanent Mission of Venezuela to the United Nations in Geneva calling on them to:
- Immediately disclose the fate and whereabouts of Carlos
- Safeguard his physical and psychological integrity guaranteeing his access to ongoing medical treatment that he needs to maintain.
- Allow Carlos to communicate with his family and trusted lawyers, in respect for the right to due process.
- Immediately and unconditionally release Carlos and every human rights defender unfairly detained in Venezuela.
As documented by Amnesty International, Carlos Correa now joins a growing list of politically motivated arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders in Venezuela, which began with Javier Tarazona’s detention in July 2021, and continued with Rocio San Miguel in February 2024, Carlos Julio Rojas in April 2024, and Kennedy Tejeda in August 2024.
On 10 January, over 80 organisations, including ISHR, demanded the immediate release of Carlos Correa and warned that this arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance is taking place in the context of an intensification of harassment and persecution by the Venezuelan State towards human rights defenders. This crime is an attempt by the Venezuelan government to silence the work of civil society in the aftermath of the elections of 28 July 2024.