VP Colombia denounced enforced disappearances in Venezuela in a meeting with the UN

Human rights defender and coordinator of Voluntad Popular (VP) Colombia, Rafael Del Rosario, held a meeting on Friday with Julia Pimentel, the UN Officer in charge specializing in the protection of the human rights of women and vulnerable groups, in which he laid out the serious situation of enforced disappearances in Venezuela.

During the meeting, held at the office of the High Commissioner in Colombia, the leader and host of the program Desterra2 discussed cases such as that of José Riera, who has been missing for more than a month, which remain unanswered by Nicolás Maduro’s regime.

Likewise, Del Rosario denounced the condition of political prisoners Freddy Superlano and Roland Carreño, recently moved to unknown locations, which increases the uncertainty about their safety and integrity.

In response to these complaints, Julia Pimentel noted that situations of this kind are highly concerning in the Venezuelan case and recalled that, according to the 2024 Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, similar findings reflecting patterns of risk and violation of fundamental rights have been repeatedly documented.

The meeting also made it possible to broaden the discussion to the situation of Venezuelan migrants in the region, who, in addition to fleeing violence and political persecution, face new forms of vulnerability during their transit and settlement in other Latin American countries.

In this regard, Pimentel reiterated that, under international standards, all migrants and people on the move have human rights, regardless of their migration status. She further stressed that “being a migrant does not mean being outside the law or outside protection. Dignity has no borders.”

The UN representative encouraged consulting the 2024 Annual Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which compiles findings and statistics on the security and human rights situation between January and December of that year.

For his part, Del Rosario highlighted the role of civil society organizations in documenting and denouncing enforced disappearances.

“Our work is to make visible what is happening in Venezuela and to remind the world that behind every disappearance there are families crying out for justice and truth,” declared the coordinator of VP Colombia,

This space for coordination marks a significant step toward regional coordination in defense of the rights of Venezuelans, and the pursuit of their freedom.