Omar Mendoza
Omar Antonio Mendoza Gil is a human rights defender and promoter of Civic Space and Civil Rights in Venezuela. He is a lawyer specialized in the area of judicial processes and procedures and Human Rights and currently works as Advocacy Coordinator for the Iniciativa por una Justicia Igualitaria (Initiative for Equal Justice). He also provides free legal advice, assistance and representation to victims of human rights violations, political rights and persons with disabilities and coordinates the Somos Defensorxs Volunteer Network and the liaison team with allied organizations for the legal support of victims of persecution and arbitrary detentions in Venezuela. He has 8 years of experience in the defense of the human rights of students, human rights defenders and human rights defenders.
He was a member of the regional team of the Coalition for Human Rights and Democracy and founder of the university organization Foro de Estudiantes por los Derechos Humanos at the Universidad de Los Andes, in Venezuela. He has worked as an adjunct investigator in cases related to the International Criminal Court investigation against the Venezuelan government since 2018. He has collaborated with organizations such as 100% estrogen and Coalición por los DDHH y la Democracia presenting cases for verification and assessment.
HRDs have been working under restrictive policies for many years: the Maduro administration has continued the work begun by Chávez in restricting civil space and delegitimising HRDs, repeatedly accusing them of undermining the Venezuelan democracy with the alleged collaboration of the United States. HRDs are discredited and criminalised by state-controlled media (television, radio, print media) on a weekly basis.
