The United Nations Human Rights Council (UN) approved this Friday, October 11, to renew for two years the Fact-Finding Mission in Venezuela and the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner, Volker Turk.
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With 23 votes in favor, 6 against and 18 abstentions, the project led by Chile and Argentina was supported so that the office of the High Commissioner continues to investigate serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity in the country.
The Council maintains the Mission’s mandate to continue investigating serious human rights violations such as extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including those involving sexual and gender-based violence, committed since 2014, with a view to combating impunity and ensuring full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims.
The mission, created by the Human Rights Council itself in 2019 and whose task is to investigate violations of fundamental freedoms in Venezuela since 2014, is chaired by Portuguese jurist Marta Valiñas and is completed by experts Francisco Cox (Chile) and Patricia Tappatá (Argentina).
The resolution urges Nicolás Maduro’s regime to cooperate with the mission as well as with the UN Office for Human Rights, whose local representation in Venezuela was expelled by Chavismo last February 2024.
Furthermore, the text deeply regrets that decision by the authorities and also expresses alarm at “the worsening of human rights violations and transgressions and the increase in restrictions on civic and democratic space,” especially in the context of the presidential election on 28 July.
The resolution adopted:
1. Strongly condemns all violations and abuses of international human rights law in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, some of which, according to the independent international fact-finding mission, may constitute crimes against humanity;
2. Urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to fully and immediately implement the recommendations contained in the recent reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the independent international fact-finding mission, and to investigate all human rights violations and abuses and hold those responsible accountable;
3. Also calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to respect, protect and fulfil the right of citizens to participate in the conduct of public affairs and the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cease its current targeted repression and persecution throughout the country on political grounds, including excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, including of children and adolescents, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances by security and intelligence forces, interference in the autonomy and composition of political parties, disqualification of opposition candidates from electoral processes and other restrictions on civic and democratic space;
4. Calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to immediately cease all acts of intimidation, attacks, harassment, surveillance, reprisals and public defamation of opposition leaders, peaceful protesters, journalists and other media workers, lawyers, human rights defenders, persons who served in the electoral process, including as electoral observers, indigenous peoples and other civil society actors, and in this regard also calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to end undue media closures and online human rights violations, including the blocking and closure of websites and digital platforms;
5. Calls upon all stakeholders and political and social actors to refrain from resorting to acts of violence and repression that may jeopardize the peaceful solution to the Venezuelan crisis;
6. Urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained persons, including political prisoners, prioritizing those in vulnerable situations and those held in pretrial detention beyond the limits established by national law, while ensuring guarantees of non-repetition, and also urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to improve conditions of detention and to respect due process and fair trial guarantees for all detainees, including communication with the lawyer of their choice;
7. Also urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to take appropriate measures to address reported human rights violations and abuses, such as acts of violence and harassment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against women and girls in detention;
8. Calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to ensure that criminal legislation, particularly anti-terrorism legislation, and its application fully comply with international human rights law;
9. Denounces the adoption of legislation that restricts the right of citizens to participate in the conduct of public affairs and the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to refrain from adopting legislation that further restricts these human rights;
10. Expresses deep concern at the continued erosion of the rule of law, insecurity of tenure, lack of transparency in the process of appointing judges and prosecutors, poor working conditions and political interference, including the appointment of Supreme Court judges who lack independence, which continue to undermine the independence of the justice system, contribute to impunity and the persistence of human rights violations and abuses, impact on access to justice for victims and hinder the holding of free and fair elections;
11. Calls upon the parties in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to commit to preparing a process that will ensure the holding of free and fair local, regional and legislative elections, with an independent national electoral council and an independent and impartial Supreme Court, full freedom of the press and unrestricted political participation of all Venezuelans and all political parties, without fear of reprisals or interference, respecting international standards and civil and political rights;
12. Calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to protect diplomatic facilities and personnel residing in Venezuelan territory, including persons seeking asylum in such facilities, in accordance with international law, in particular the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, taking into account the human rights of all persons, including asylum seekers;
13. Expresses deep concern about the situation of human rights and the environment in the Orinoco Mining Arc region and urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cease and investigate all violations and abuses of human rights in the Orinoco Mining Arc region, including those related to labour exploitation of miners, child labour exploitation, disappearances, trafficking in persons, contemporary forms of slavery and violations and abuses of the rights of indigenous peoples;
14. Requests the High Commissioner to continue monitoring, reporting and providing technical cooperation with a view to improving the human rights situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;
15. Also requests the High Commissioner to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-eighth and sixty-first sessions, to present oral updates to the Human Rights Council followed by an interactive dialogue before the end of 2024 and before the end of 2025, and to submit a comprehensive report on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela containing a detailed assessment of the implementation of the recommendations made in previous reports to the Council for consideration at its fifty-ninth and sixty-second sessions, followed by an interactive dialogue;
16. Decides to extend for a period of two years the mandate of the independent international fact-finding mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as set out in Human Rights Council resolution 45/20, to enable the mission to continue investigating serious human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including those involving sexual and gender-based violence, committed since 2014, with a view to combating impunity and ensuring full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims, with a particular focus on the human rights situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela before, during and after the 2024 presidential elections, and on violence perpetrated by armed individuals known as colectivos;
17. Requests the fact-finding mission to present an oral update on its work to the Human Rights Council, followed by an interactive dialogue at the Council’s 58th and 61st sessions, and to submit to the Council a report on its findings and recommendations for future action by the Council, followed by an interactive dialogue at its 60th and 63rd sessions;
18. Urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to resume full cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the fact-finding mission, to grant them immediate, full and unrestricted access to the entire country, including to victims and places of detention, to provide them with all information necessary to fulfil their mandates, and to ensure that all persons have unhindered access and can communicate with the United Nations and other human rights entities without fear of reprisals, intimidation or attacks;
19. Also urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court;
20. Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to continue its efforts towards the protection of the human rights of migrants and refugees from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and, in this regard, to promote effective measures and good practices, in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and other relevant agencies, and invites all interested parties to enhance international cooperation with host and transit countries of Venezuelan migrants, refugees and asylum seekers;
21. Requests that the Office of the High Commissioner and the independent international fact-finding mission be provided, in a timely manner, with all necessary resources and full administrative, technical and logistical support necessary to carry out their respective mandates;
22. Encourages the relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council to pay particular attention, within their respective mandates, to the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cooperate fully with their work, including by facilitating visits to the country;
23. Decides to remain actively engaged in the matter.