Title: CIDH Demands Information on Detained Argentine Gendarmerie Nahuel Gallo from Venezuelan Government
In a significant development, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) has published Resolution 1/2025, urging the government of Nicolás Maduro to provide information about the whereabouts and legal status of Argentine gendarmerie officer Nahuel Gallo, who has been detained in Venezuela on charges of espionage and terrorism. The CIDH also called for Gallo to be allowed communication with his family and lawyers.
The CIDH’s decision follows a presentation made by the government of Argentine President Javier Milei before the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the release of a video showing Gallo alive but without specifying his location. The libertarian government and Gallo’s family maintain that he entered Venezuela to visit his wife and two-year-old son and demand his return to Argentina or, at least, a fair judicial process.
The CIDH, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), deemed Gallo’s case to have "requirements of gravity, urgency, and irreparability," enabling it to issue precautionary measures in his favor. The commission gave the Venezuelan government 15 days to respond to the resolution, starting from the date of notification.
The Instituto Casla, a human rights organization, had requested the precautionary measures on behalf of Gallo. The CIDH had initially sought responses from Venezuela on December 23, 2024, but did not receive a reply until now, causing the deadline for the chavista government’s response to expire.
Gallo’s situation is considered grave and urgent due to the lack of information about his whereabouts and the absence of minimal details about his legal status. The CIDH noted that Gallo’s family and lawyers have been denied information and access to him, with his mother even being denied the receipt of a disappearance report on December 17, 2024. Additionally, the CIDH highlighted that the institution that detained Gallo, the Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), has not provided any information about his detention.
In its analysis, the CIDH recalled that in its 2023 annual report, it had warned about the persistence of a policy of repression in Venezuela and had recommended that authorities abstain from making illegal or arbitrary detentions. The commission also lamented the lack of response from the Venezuelan government, which prevented it from evaluating the facts presented by the Instituto Casla and determining if Gallo’s situation of risk has been addressed or mitigated.
The CIDH expressed concern that agents of the state, who have a special position as guarantors of human rights, are allegedly responsible for Gallo’s detention. The commission emphasized the need for immediate measures to safeguard Gallo’s rights, particularly his right to life and personal integrity, which it considered the maximum situation of irreparability.
Resolution 1/2025 was approved on January 1, 2025, by CIDH President Roberta Clarke, Vice Presidents Carlos Bernal Pulido and José Luis Caballero Ochoa, and Commissioners Edgar Stuardo Ralón Orellana, Arif Bulkan, and Gloria Monique de Mees.
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