IACHR grants precautionary measures in favor of activist Aldo Roso Vargas in Venezuela

August 19, 2025

Washington, DC—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Resolution 57/2025 on August 16, 2025, to grant precautionary measures in favor of Aldo Roso Vargas in Venezuela, in the belief that he faces a serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to his rights to health, personal integrity, and life.

The beneficiary is an activist for the political party Voluntad Popular. Ahead of the July 2024 presidential election, he served as the party's campaign leader in the El Valle district in Caracas. On July 4, 2024, Roso Vargas was arrested amid allegations that he had been planning to sabotage that election. He is currently detained in the Yaguara district in Caracas, although no formal proceedings have been launched against him.

The petitioning party argued that he required surgery (as noted by his doctor), that this surgery had not been conducted, and that further delays put his health at risk. The petitioning party further argued that Roso Vargas' family had not had access to reports of his most recent medical evaluations and that the appointment of his legal counsel had not been formally accepted, preventing various legal remedies to protect the beneficiary. The State failed to provide information to the IACHR on this issue.

After assessing the legal and factual allegations, the IACHR found that the beneficiary has health issues that are allegedly not being adequately addressed and that his family has not been granted access to medical records that might enable them to see how his health condition is evolving and to see any implications for his current overall condition. Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the IACHR asked the State of Venezuela to take the following action:

(a) Adopt any measures necessary to protect the rights to life, personal integrity, and health of Aldo Roso Vargas

(b) Take all measures necessary to ensure that the beneficiary's conditions of detention reflect the applicable international standards, including the following:

 (i) Immediately conducting a comprehensive medical examination of his current health condition and ensuring that he has timely access to the specialist medical care and/or treatment he needs, as well as notifying his family and representatives of the results of this examination and care

(ii) Enabling the beneficiary's family and trusted legal counsel to visit him, without hindrance

(iii) Providing information about the beneficiary's legal status, enabling his trusted legal counsel to fully access the relevant criminal case file and to file legal remedies in his favor as deemed appropriate

(c) Come to an agreement with the beneficiary and his representatives concerning any measures that need to be taken

(d) Report on any actions adopted to investigate the alleged events that gave rise to the adoption of these precautionary measures, in order to prevent such events from happening again in the future

The fact that these precautionary measures have been granted and their adoption by the State do not entail a prejudgment on a potential petition that may be filed before the inter-American system to allege violations of rights protected by the American Convention on Human Rights and other applicable instruments.

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mandate is based on the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. Its mission is to promote and defend human rights throughout the Americas and to serve as an advisory body to the OAS in this area. The IACHR consists of seven independent members elected by the OAS General Assembly who serve in a personal capacity and do not represent their countries of origin or residence.

No. 167/25

11:26 AM