Michelle Bachelet: “Since September, we have seen 93 incidents related to Venezuela's civic space, including threats”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, presented a further oral update on the human rights situation in Venezuela.

In the framework of the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council, he said: “Since September last year, when he last updated until today, we have seen 93 incidents related to Venezuela's civic space, including threats.”

He went on to say that “the reform of the justice system and the restructuring of the police are promising steps, as are measures to address overcrowding in prisons. These reforms must be implemented immediately,” he asked.

In another order, he stated that “the recent conclusion of a memorandum of understanding with the Office of the Criminal Court Prosecutor is an excellent opportunity for the Venezuelan government's commitment” to human rights. He also said: “We continue to observe the challenges to due process.”

“I reiterate that all arbitrarily detained persons must be released and due process must be guaranteed. They must have adequate medical care,” he said.

Subsequently, he said that he continues to be concerned about the prosecution of members of the NGO Fundaredes. “Its director is still in detention and his health is worrying,” he stressed.

Bachelet also referred to the need to “strengthen dialogue” among all actors in society and said that “it is encouraging to know about the discussions for the resumption of negotiations between the government and the opposition.”

Regarding freedom of expression, his office documented “the closure of at least eight radio stations” and the blocking of access to various websites.

“I continue to be concerned about the lack of availability of public information,” she said, while also expressing her discomfort that national budgets have not been published since 2018.

Finally, he dedicated a few lines to armed violence on the border with Colombia. “The presence of non-state armed actors has increased violence on the border with Colombia. The clashes led to the forced displacement of hundreds of Venezuelans,” he said.

In her previous report, the former president of Chile had detailed that the system of abuse and torture applied by the Nicolás Maduro regime to the population but, above all, to opposition dissent, is still in force in Venezuela.

Ahead of Thursday's session at the UN, Tamara Taraciuk Broner, director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, said that the meeting represents an opportunity for the member states of the Human Rights Council to expose the three simultaneous human rights crises taking place in Venezuela: the repression, the humanitarian emergency and the migration crisis.

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