GENEVA – A UN expert* today expressed serious concern that the kidnapping, detention and proceedings against renowned lawyer Perkins Rocha could be in retaliation for helping opposition candidates during Venezuela’s last election. “Lawyers play a vital role in upholding the rule of law and the protection of human rights. Their work is indispensable for public confidence in the administration of justice and to ensure that everyone has access to justice,” said the Special Rapporteur for Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Margaret Satterthwaite. Satterthwaite urged authorities to take measures to ensure that lawyers are not subject to attacks and reprisals for their work, and to protect those who have been targeted solely for their legal work. Rocha was abducted by hooded state security officials on 27 August 2024, one month after the country’s presidential elections, and held in an unknown location. The authorities refused to say why and where he was being detained. Rocha was presented before the judiciary only on 29 August. “I am seriously concerned that Mr. Rocha may have been subjected to torture and ill treatment while his whereabouts were unknown and now that he is held in the Helicoide, and that communication with his private defence counsel and family has not been allowed,” Satterthwaite said. The Special Rapporteur expressed grave concern about the pattern of reprisals, including detention and criminal proceedings against opposition representatives and their counsel in Venezuela. She said the Rocha case appears to be the latest in a series of similar cases targeting those who expressed their opposition through democratic avenues to the current administration. “Mr. Rocha must be able to meet with counsel of his choice and be released immediately from arbitrary detention so he may prepare his defence,” the expert said. The Special Rapporteur has been in contact with the Government of Venezuela on this issue. *The expert: Ms. Margaret Satterthwaite, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. She was appointed as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers by the Human Rights Council in October 2022. Professor Satterthwaite is an international human rights scholar and practitioner with decades of experience in the field. She is a Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law. The Experts are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity. UN Human Rights, Country Page - Venezuela. For further information and media requests, please contact: hrc-sr-independencejl@un.org. For media queries regarding other United Nations independent experts, please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) or John Newland (john.newland@un.org). Follow the latest news from the UN independent human rights experts on X: @UN_SPExperts