04 November 2025

Tamara Suju Roa joined the advocacy mentorship initiative for Crimean political prisoners.

Venezuelan criminal lawyer and human rights specialist Tamara Sujú Roa has become a mentor to Ukrainian human rights defender and volunteer Iryna Horobtsova through the Advocacy Mentorship Initiative.

Tamara Sujú Roa is one of the leading voices in the field of human rights protection in Venezuela. Using international platforms, she has for many years been fighting against political persecution, torture, and violence committed by the authoritarian regime. Her professional activity primarily focuses on combating the repressive regimes of Venezuela and Latin America, yet it also extends to other regions — including Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Colombia, and beyond. Her solidarity with Ukraine and Ukrainian political prisoners is an essential gesture of international support and shared struggle for freedom.

Iryna Horobtsova is a human rights defender and civil activist from Kherson. Before the full-scale invasion, she worked for a Ukrainian IT company and was actively engaged in civic initiatives, raising awareness about the occupation of Kherson. After the city was captured, she began volunteering — transporting medical personnel and assisting local residents who became victims of violence by Russian soldiers.

On 13 May 2022, her birthday, Iryna was abducted from her home in Kherson by Russian security forces. She has been illegally held for over two years in Simferopol Pretrial Detention Center No. 2. Russia accused Iryna of “espionage” and “transmitting data to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” using these fabricated charges as a pretext for repression and isolation. The occupation authorities sentenced her to 10 years and 6 months in a general-regime penal colony.
Read more about Iryna’s story here: https://cutt.ly/9r6niQXc

As part of the initiative, Tamara Sujú Roa expressed words of support to Iryna and emphasized the importance of sharing her story worldwide to demonstrate the scale of political persecution and human rights violations committed by Russia in the occupied territories.