He Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommended that Venezuela intensify its efforts to Eliminate institutional and racial discrimination against indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples through the adoption of affirmative action measures.
In it advance of his observations On two periodic reports from Venezuela, published this Friday, the Committee urged the country to ensure that public plans and policies to eliminate racial and other forms of discrimination are implemented effectively. taking into account inequality gaps and specific needs of indigenous peoples and the Afro-descendant population in order to achieve significant results in reducing poverty and the levels of inequality that affect them.
He also called for ensuring that indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants be consulted and participate in the design and implementation of social programs in their favor.
After Recognize Venezuela’s efforts in favor of indigenous peoplesThe Committee highlighted the high dropout rates and the lack of qualified teachers in schools, particularly in the areas where these people live.
Difficult access to basic services
He also expressed concern about the limitations faced by indigenous peoples in accessing quality and culturally appropriate health servicesas well as the obstacles to their access to the labour market.
In this regard, it recommended redoubling work to ensure availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of education for indigenous children, including through the promotion of training processes and ongoing teacher development in order to strengthen bilingual intercultural education.
Another recommendation was to reduce school dropout and repetition rates among indigenous children.
Regarding health services, he called on Venezuela to ensure their accessibility, availability, acceptability and quality, taking special consideration of the needs, traditions and cultural differences of indigenous peoples, particularly in the case of women.
For the labor market, the Committee asked the country to ensure that indigenous people have access without discrimination and have fair and satisfactory working conditions.
Protecting indigenous territories
Regarding the territories of indigenous peoples, the Committee’s experts said that the State must take measures to protect these lands, territories and resources so that these populations can securely enjoy their own means of livelihood and development.
He also asked for appropriate plans that prevent their displacement from the territories they have traditionally occupied and possessed, and of mitigation and compensation for damages or losses caused by activities carried out in their territories.
Similarly, he urged the country to not to deploy military forces or carry out military operations in indigenous territories without having previously consulted its inhabitants to obtain their free and informed consent and in compliance with human rights when such operations are essential.
Intimidation of human rights defenders
In another section, the Committee expressed concern about reports of acts of intimidation and retaliation against representatives of civil society and human rights organizations in Venezuela.
The Committee condemned these actions and urged Venezuela to adopt effective measures to prevent any type of harassment, intimidation or threats to human rights defenders and representatives of civil society for their cooperation with regional and international mechanisms for the protection of fundamental guarantees.
He also asked the country Thoroughly investigate all allegations about it.
Anti-Hate Law
The Committee’s observations analysed the Constitutional Law against Hate enacted in 2017, expressing concern about the lack of precision in the definitions used to qualify the deliand cited allegations of the use of legislation as a tool to limit freedom of expression and the number of criminal proceedings related to statements against the authorities and in defence of human rights.
In this regard, they urged the country to amend the Act to clearly define the expressions that constitute hate speechtaking into account the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular the right to freedom of expression.
“The Committee reminds the State party that measures aimed at monitoring and combating racist discourse They should not be used as a pretext to restrict expressions of protest. against injustice, nor those of social discontent or opposition,” he noted.
The 18 international experts appointed to the Committee receive their mandates from the Human Rights Council of the UN. They are not United Nations staff and do not receive remuneration for their work.
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