Statement by United Nations Human Rights Special Procedures: End detention of Venezuelan special envoy Alex Saab

[Spanish original below]

GENEVA (September 26, 2023) – UN experts* today urged the government of the United States of America to end the prolonged preventive detention of Alex Nain Saab Moran, Venezuelan Special Envoy, detained and extradited to the US. US on charges of money laundering.

Saab was appointed Special Envoy by the Government of Venezuela in April 2018 to carry out official missions in Iran in order to guarantee humanitarian deliveries to Venezuela, including food and medicine.

In July 2019, U.S. sanctions were imposed on him for allegedly being responsible for, among other things, participating in transactions or programs administered by the Government of Venezuela.

On June 12, 2020, during his third trip to Iran, in transit through Cape Verde, he was arrested and imprisoned by local authorities. Following an extradition request from the United States, he was finally extradited in October 2021. The Cape Verde courts dealing with his case reportedly rejected his numerous appeals against extradition, including his status as an ad hoc diplomat, the Court’s decision of ECOWAS, and discarded numerous official communications from the Government of Venezuela and the recommendations of human rights mechanisms, including the Special Procedures and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“We note with concern the irregularities reported in the arrest and detention in Cape Verde of Mr. Saab, before his extradition to the United States,” the experts said. “In particular, the information we received indicates that at the exact moment of his arrest, while he was in his place at the Amilcar Cabral International Airport, there was no red notice from Interpol, nor was he presented with an arrest warrant, but instead both were issued ex post facto,” they noted.

After his extradition, US judicial authorities dropped seven charges against him of money laundering, although they maintained a single charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“We deeply regret that for almost two years since his extradition, Mr. Saab remains awaiting trial for alleged conduct that is not considered an international crime and that, therefore, should not have been the subject of an extraterritorial or universal procedure,” said the UN experts.

“The actions against Mr. Saab are not only violations of his human rights, such as freedom from arbitrary detention, the presumption of innocence and the guarantees of a fair trial, but also a violation of the right to an adequate standard of living for millions of Venezuelans, as a result of the abrupt interruption of their mission to acquire essential goods,” the experts noted.

The experts were informed that, since his extradition, Saab had been detained at the Miami Federal Detention Center, which is not a penitentiary institution, but rather a pretrial administrative facility. The inmates of this center are not separated by crimes. He suffers from poor detention conditions, including poor quality food and inadequate medical treatment, which negatively affects his health.

“We call on the United States to fulfill its obligations under international law and immediately release Mr. Alex Nain Saain Moran and drop all charges against him,” the experts said.

* The experts:

Alena Douhan, Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights;

Livingstone Sewanyana, Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order.

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what are 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 for the Council’s independent investigative and oversight mechanisms that deal with specific human rights issues that address situations or thematic issues throughout the United Nations. 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 organization and provide their services in their individual capacity.

For more information and press requests, please contact: Damianos Serefidis (damianos.serefidis@ un.org and hrc-sr-ucm@un.org)