Washington. DC. RFK Human Rights denounces the arbitrary detention of Kennedy Tejeda in Venezuela, a dedicated human rights defender and member of the Foro Penal legal team.

Kennedy Tejeda was last seen in the morning of August 2, 2024, when he visited the Comando Rural de Montalbán, a detention center in Carabobo state, to provide free legal assistance to political detainees. On the evening of August 2, at 8:30 p.m. members of Foro Penal contacted Kennedy’s mother, Mrs. Kennia De Tejeda, who informed them that an official in Montalbán told her that Kennedy had been detained and allegedly transferred to the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) in Valencia, Carabobo state, without providing any reasons for his arrest. His whereabouts remained unknown for the next 20 hours. In the afternoon of August 3, Foro Penal confirmed that Kennedy is currently in the custody of the DGCIM but he remains incommunicado. His mother managed to bring him some food this morning, but she was unable to see him or verify his well-being. Additionally, his lawyers have also been denied access to him.

On July 29, 2024, the day after the elections that resulted in Nicolás Maduro claiming yet another presidential term amidst overwhelming evidence of his defeat in the ballots, a large number of citizens around Venezuela started demonstrating in the streets. Government authorities have been cracking down on protesters, arresting hundreds. Foro Penal, one of Venezuela’s top human rights organizations and its network of pro-bono lawyers, registered information about detentions through its hotline, and regional coordinators attended courts and detention centers to represent hundreds of detainees in criminal proceedings, at the request of the detainees’ family members.

However, Foro Penal’s lawyers and volunteers are experiencing harassment and intimidation from security forces. This emerging pattern of intimidation and repression further obstructs the right of detainees to receive adequate legal representation, while simultaneously endangering the safety and well-being of the lawyers and human rights defenders involved. 

We urgently call on the relevant authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Kennedy Tejeda from detention, and demand them to immediately stop the harassment and persecution of human rights defenders and lawyers in Venezuela. We also demand absolute respect of the right to freedom of assembly and expression in accordance with Venezuela’s international law obligations. We urge international justice and human rights mechanisms to closely monitor, document, and denounce the serious human rights violations that are ongoing in the country.