In the context of the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on the afternoon of June 24, and the relief efforts that are following, Amnesty International raises the alarm over the potentially devastating effects this disaster may have on the Venezuelan population and calls on Venezuelan authorities and international community to do all they can to provide relief to those affected.
“We stand in solidarity with all those directly or indirectly affected by this disaster, which now risks further compounding an already severe and protracted human rights crisis and humanitarian emergency suffered by the Venezuelan people for over a decade. The country’s health system has been decimated while state repression has greatly weakened human rights protection,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“The Venezuelan people have shown extraordinary resilience and solidarity in the face of this protracted human rights crisis. They must be urgently supported as they confront yet another major tragedy and they must be protected against neglect or injustice.”
“Amnesty International urges the Venezuelan authorities to provide relief and respond to the earthquakes in compliance with humanitarian and disaster relief standards as well as with international human rights law. The international community, in turn, must urgently mobilize to provide and deliver the critical humanitarian assistance that the Venezuelan people so urgently need.”
The Venezuelan authorities have disclosed limited and uncorroborated information on the full extent of the human or material damage caused by the earthquakes. In this respect, Amnesty International calls on Venezuelan authorities to ensure the prompt, credible and regular disclosure of information regarding the extent of the damage, the number and characteristics of those killed or injured, the relief efforts being deployed, the assistance routes for those affected, and the contingency plan for searching for those missing, and rescuing and treating survivors.
The organization stresses that authorities must guarantee the right to life, personal integrity, and freedom while assisting the population.
Access to information, freedom of the press, and freedom of expression have been severely restricted as a result of years of state-sponsored censorship, including the closure of dozens of media outlets, the blocking of social media platforms such as X, and the criminalization of journalists and human rights defenders. In the context of the current humanitarian emergency, the organization stresses the critical importance of immediately lifting all undue restrictions on the press, social media platforms, and essential online communications channels. The potential impact of not doing so could be measured in lives lost and rights irreparably affected.
Human rights and humanitarian NGOs are currently operating in a hugely restrictive environment as a result of a repressive legal architecture geared towards closing off civic space and targeting any form of perceived dissent. In order to offer an effective relief response plan, the Venezuelan authorities must immediately repeal the so-called Anti-NGO law and all other legal mechanisms that restrict, control and limit the lawful and necessary activities of these civil society organizations.
Critically, Amnesty International highlights concerns over those who are in detention and their current situation in the aftermath of the earthquakes. While the organization continues to call for the release all of those who are under politically motivated arbitrary detention, in the current context, Amnesty International also stresses the urgent call for humanitarian and human rights bodies and relatives of those detained to have access to all detention centers in order to verify the safety of all detainees and supply basic needs, including critical health care. Likewise, the Venezuelan authorities must immediately lift the unlawful and disproportionate restrictions on the liberty of the thousands of former victims of arbitrary detention. For instance, suspending precautionary measures for those who were arbitrarily detained for political reasons. These measures must be waived, if not completely lifted.
The urgent response needed to address this emergency will require international humanitarian assistance and solidarity to mobilize multilateral cooperation and state resources at a large scale. International humanitarian principles and human rights law should guide the procurement and deployment of these resources, namely the above-mentioned principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. Amnesty International calls on states, humanitarian actors, and donors to offer this funding and resources and to do so in cooperation with local civil society organizations.
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