HRC60: Oral statement during ID with the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela

Item 4:Interactive Dialogue with the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela

Speaker:Ellis Heasley

Thank you Mr President,

CSW thanks the independent fact-finding mission for its timely report.

Religious leaders from all groups in Venezuela are under constant surveillance. Government informants in congregations are common, and officers from the national intelligence service routinely harass and threaten those viewed as unsupportive of Maduro’s government.

Religious leaders who are perceived as saying the ‘wrong thing’ are treated as traitors and are likely to be arbitrarily detained or at times attacked by illegal armed groups supported by the regime.

Among those currently in detention is Pastor Gricelia Josefina Solórzano Malpica, who was arrested on unfounded charges of terrorism, embezzlement and conspiracy in June 2024.

Pastor Solórzano Malpica’s arrest was clearly political. She was accused of being one of those responsible for losing the internal elections of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela when she worked for the Legislative Council of Apure from 2008 to 2013.

The pastor has been transferred to a prison in Caracas over 400km away from her home in an effort to isolate her from her family and church and pressure her into providing information on other government targets.

CSW calls on the government of Venezuela to release Pastor Solórzano Malpica and all other unjustly detained religious leaders and human rights defenders immediately and without condition.

We also urge the government to guarantee freedom for religious leaders to carry out their work without harassment, threats or government pressure targeting them or their families.

Thank you.