The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights He highlighted this Wednesday the reforms that the Venezuelan government has initiated related to justice, the police and detention, as well as the dissolution of the Special Action Forces of the National Police; however, he claimed that there is still a long way to go in favor of the fundamental guarantees.
Michelle Bachelet presented today to the Human Rights Council a report with the latest developments that have to do with economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, the rule of law and civic space in Venezuela, as well as with the implementation of the previous recommendations of his Office for that country.
During the interactive dialogue session for the discussion of her report, Bachelet encouraged the Venezuelan authorities to implement long-term structural changes and called for legislative initiatives to be supported by genuine consultations with civil society.
He referred to the dissolution of the Special Action Forces of the National Policerecommended by his Office, and considered that it opens the door to more lasting changes such as the civilian strengthening of the security forces.
He stressed that fewer deaths have been documented in the context of security operations than in previous years, however, he said that even so, “one death is already too many.”
The judicial sphere
“I continue to urge that they take conduct independent, thorough and timely investigations, with due process guarantees, leading to the accountability of all perpetrators, regardless of their rank, and full reparation for victims and their families,” he said.
Bachelet added that the Venezuelan government has shown a spirit of cooperation with her Office and hoped that she would soon grant her staff access to court hearings.
In this line, he stressed the need to strengthen judicial independence and separation of powersurging the authorities to appoint a larger proportion of incumbent Supreme Court judges through a public and transparent process.
After the visit of his team in the country to 21 detention centers in which he confidentially interviewed 259 detainees, he recognized the improvement of conditions and reduction of overcrowdingand urged to ensure more sustainable structural changes.
He reported that the efforts of his staff have contributed to the release of 68 staff, including 14 women. Bachelet requested the immediate release of all arbitrarily detained persons.
He also raised concerns about conditions in detention centers run by the intelligence services, where mistreatment and incommunicado detention have been reported. The personnel of his Office have not been able to allow him to visit those centers or those of military detention.
Civic and democratic space
With regard to civic and democratic space, the High Commissioner reported 166 undue restrictions, among which she cited the stigmatization, criminalization and threats against dissenting voices.
“The discrediting of these by institutional media continues,” he explained.
Regarding freedom of expression, it reported 34 cases of harassment, censorship and confiscation of media equipment of communication, in addition to the blocking of internet portals.
“There are still concerns about the use of anti-terrorist and anti-organized crime legislation against the legitimate work of human rights defenders and media workers. These practices must stop,” Bachelet pointed out.
Regarding the peaceful protests related to economic and social rights that have taken place in Venezuela, he pointed out that there have been no deaths and that arbitrary arrests have decreased compared to previous years.
The person in charge of monitoring human rights recalled that dissenting voices are part of a healthy civic and democratic space, and praised the recent creation of spaces for dialogue with civil societyas well as the Social Dialogue Forum.
“These spaces are essential to achieve genuine agreements and effective and must be protected,” he said.
Similarly, Bachelet reiterated her support for a social dialogue between the government and the oppositionwith Venezuelan leadership, and called for this dialogue to be resumed, giving priority to the participation of women and taking human rights and the rule of law as a basis.
Economic recovery
Addressing the issue of economic recovery in Venezuela, he argued that growth should contribute to reduce inequality gaps existing in the country and translate into a concrete improvement in the standard of living and access to basic services for the entire population.
In this sense, he fought for all available resources to be used to close the deficit of essential services and infrastructuresuch as health centers.
“The allocation of resources must follow a transparent process, while ensuring that there is access to information of public interest. It is essential to ensure transparency in terms of official figures and statistics,” he said.
Bachelet added that the lifting of sanctions sectoral “could help to address pre-existing challenges”.
Cooperation
In closing, he highlighted the agreement with the Venezuelan government to expand the field presence to 16 representatives of his Office and referred with satisfaction to the cooperation achieved in the last three years, made possible thanks to the trust of victims, civil society and authorities.
“With greater cooperation and commitment, I am convinced that it will be possible to contribute to improve the human rights situation of everyone in Venezuela”, concluded the High Commissioner.
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