Source: Amnesty International –
- Venezuelan authorities commit enforced disappearances as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population, particularly those they consider dissidents, which amount to crimes against humanity.
- Out of the 15 cases of people forcibly disappeared that Amnesty International has documented since July 2024, 11 remain subjected to enforced disappearance, including Venezuelans and citizens of the United States, France, Spain, Ukraine, Colombia and Uruguay.
- The International Criminal Court and national courts exercising universal jurisdiction should investigate and – where sufficient evidence exists – prosecute those allegedly responsible, up to the highest authorities.
The Venezuelan authorities have committed, and continue to commit, enforced disappearances as part of their policy of repression of dissidents and those they perceive as such, Amnesty International said in its report Detentions without a trace: The crime of enforced disappearance in Venezuela, which analyses the situation of 15 individuals forcibly disappeared between the presidential election of 28 July 2024 and 15 June 2025.
Based on this new report and the organization’s body of research over the past decade, Amnesty International concludes that these serious human rights violations and crimes under international law are committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population in Venezuela.
“Once again, the Venezuelan authorities are demonstrating that their cruelty knows no bounds. Enforced disappearance means not knowing where your family member is, what condition they are in, or even if they are alive or dead. It is a crime that puts the life and integrity of the forcibly disappeared person at grave risk and subjects their family to constant suffering, marked by the uncertainty, anguish and daily torment of being left to wonder their loved one’s whereabouts,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“The international community cannot normalize or ignore the human rights crisis in Venezuela. The scale and gravity of the crimes committed in the country – particularly the enforced disappearance of people – must stir the conscience of the world, and propel international justice into action. As an international crime, it not only entails the responsibility of the state, but also the criminal responsibility of the individual officials who commit it.”
The international community cannot normalize or ignore the human rights crisis in Venezuela. The scale and gravity of the crimes committed in the country – particularly the enforced disappearance of people – must stir the conscience of the world, and propel international justice into action.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
Amnesty research is grounded on international human rights law, according to which three elements must be cumulatively present for an enforced disappearance to be established: (1) the detention of a person; (2) by agents of the State, or persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State; (3) the official denial of the detention or the concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the detained person.
The time frame of the report begins with the presidential election of 28 July 2024 and covers the repression that followed the disputed result announced by Nicolás Maduro’s government. The government’s strategies to suppress expressions in favor of political change followed a familiar and recurring pattern, although on a previously unseen scale: 25 people lost their lives, at least 2,200 people were arbitrarily and unlawfully deprived of their liberty, and possibly hundreds of them were subjected to enforced disappearance with their detention denied or their fate or whereabouts concealed. In the case of the 15 people whose enforced disappearance was investigated by Amnesty International, the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM, in Spanish), the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN, in Spanish) and the Bolivarian National Guard stand out as the main state agencies responsible for such arbitrary detentions.
The whereabouts of 11 of the 15 forcibly disappeared persons, whose cases were investigated by Amnesty International, remain unknown. They are Andrés Martínez, Damián Rojas, Danner Barajas, Dennis Lepaje, Eudi Andrade, Fabián Buglione, Jorgen Guanares, Jose María Basoa, Lucas Hunter, Rory Branker and Yevhenii Petrovish Trush. Only the whereabouts of four people were established: Alfredo Díaz, who was subjected to enforced disappearance for four days; Eduardo Torres, who was forcibly disappeared for eight days; and Rosa Chirinos and Raymar Pérez, who were forcibly disappeared for four months.
At the time this report was finalised, at least 46 people were possibly forcibly disappeared, according to information collected by the organization Foro Penal.