VENEZUELA: ILAAD SUBMITS AN URGENT PROCEDURE REQUEST TO THE UNITED NATIONS CONCERNING THE ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE OF FABIAN BUGLIONE REYES

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention (ILAAD), alongside JusticiaXLibertad and Venezuelan human rights lawyer Eduardo Torres, have submitted a request for urgent procedure to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances in the matter of Fabian Buglione Reyes.

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE OF A FOREIGN NATIONAL

On October 19, 2024, Mr. Fabian Buglione Reyes, a citizen from Uruguay living in the United States, was arrested at a checkpoint upon entering Venezuelan territory coming from Colombia. Following the arrest, he was taken to interrogation, stripped of his mobile phone, and held incommunicado.

On November 14, the Minister of Foreign Relations of Uruguay, Mr. Omar Paganini, confirmed on national television that he had no official information about the whereabouts of Mr. Fabian Buglione Reyes, since his arrest at the border, despite repeated requests addressed to the Venezuelan government. He considered that “clearly the situation is of great concern”.

Since then, his whereabouts remain unknown.

URGENT PROCEDURE REQUESTED TO THE UN WORKING GROUP ON ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCES

The urgent procedure request appeals to the Working Group to urge the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to immediately disclose the location of Mr. Fabian Buglione Reyes and ensure proper legal process, consular access, and independent verification of his safety and well-being.

The case of Mr. Fabian Buglione Reyes is indicative of a broader pattern. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has previously expressed concerns that enforced disappearances are being used to subject individuals to acts of torture. This appears to be renewed systemic practice in Venezuela since the start of the second presidential mandate of President Nicolás Maduro in 2018, especially in cases of enforced disappearance of foreigners.