Update: FREE VENEZUELAN PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE

Javier Tarazona, Director of local NGO FundaREDES, was arbitrarily detained on July 2, 2021 after attempting to report harassment from security officers at the Attorney General’s Office in the city of Coro (Western Venezuela), and charged with inciting hatred, treason and “terrorism”. His pre-trial hearing took place on December 16, 2021, after more than five months of delays. Javier Tarazona is a prisoner of conscience, having been arbitrarily detained for his human rights work. Tarazona’s health has seriously deteriorated due to lack of medical treatment. We urge the authorities to release him immediately and unconditionally.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Please take action as-soon-as possible. This Urgent Action expires on February 10, 2022.
2. Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
3. Click here to let us know the actions you took on Urgent Action 75.21. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

CONTACT INFORMATION

---

SAMPLE LETTER Dear Nicolás Maduro, I am deeply alarmed that prisoner of conscience and human rights defender Javier Tarazona, director of the organization FundaREDES, continues to be detained and subjected to an unfair criminal proceeding. He must be released immediately and unconditionally, in so that he can receive the medical attention and treatment he requires urgently. FundaREDES monitors, documents and reports human rights abuses committed by non-state actors in border areas of Venezuela. The charge he faces, and for which Javier Tarazona continues to be unfairly detained, appears to be politically motivated as SEBIN (Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional) agents detained him without a warrant and the court charged him with “terrorism”, both elements of the well-documented pattern of arbitrary detentions. Two other FundaREDES defenders, Rafael Tarazona and Omar de Dios García, are also subject to arbitrary criminal proceedings that must be closed immediately. We urge you to immediately and unconditionally release prisoner of conscience Javier Tarazona, close all criminal investigations into these three human rights defenders, and end the harassment and criminalization of non-governmental organizations in Venezuela. Sincerely, [YOUR NAME] ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• READ THE FULL URGENT ACTION: Word or PDF
• GET INSPIRED: Read about the people you have helped
• READ TIPS for writing effective letters and emails
• CONTACT US: [email protected]