Venezuela: UN expert concerned by reported retaliation against lawyer Perkins Rocha

GENEVA – A UN expert* today expressed serious concern that the kidnapping, detention and proceedings against renowned lawyer Perkins Rocha could be in retaliation for helping opposition candidates during Venezuela’s last election.

“Lawyers play a vital role in upholding the rule of law and the protection of human rights. Their work is indispensable for public confidence in the administration of justice and to ensure that everyone has access to justice,” said the Special Rapporteur for Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite.

Satterthwaite urged authorities to take measures to ensure that lawyers are not subject to attacks and reprisals for their work, and to protect those who have been targeted solely for their legal work.

Rocha was abducted by hooded state security officials on 27 August 2024, one month after the country’s presidential elections, and held in an unknown location. The authorities refused to say why and where he was being detained. Rocha was presented before the judiciary only on 29 August.

“I am seriously concerned that Mr. Rocha may have been subjected to torture and ill treatment while his whereabouts were unknown and now that he is held in the Helicoide, and that communication with his private defence counsel and family has not been allowed,” Satterthwaite said.

The Special Rapporteur expressed grave concern about the pattern of reprisals, including detention and criminal proceedings against opposition representatives and their counsel in Venezuela. She said the Rocha case appears to be the latest in a series of similar cases targeting those who expressed their opposition through democratic avenues to the current administration.

“Mr. Rocha must be able to meet with counsel of his choice and be released immediately from arbitrary detention so he may prepare his defence,” the expert said.

The Special Rapporteur has been in contact with the Government of Venezuela on this issue.