Photo: UN Photo / Jean-Marc Ferre
Past and ongoing human rights violations in Venezuela were back on the Council’s agenda this session, with States detailing levels of impunity and continuing abuses that far outweigh the small signs of progress made.
The 17th and 18th March saw Venezuela’s human rights record back in the spotlight at the Human Rights Council with interactive dialogues held with the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.
The High Commissioner noted that some progress had been made from addressing overcrowding in pre-trial detention centres, to the conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The High Commissioner emphasized that all announced reforms had to be implemented in ‘a meaningful, genuine and effective manner, to address past human rights violations and prevent their recurrence’ and stressed that the Office was standing by to offer technical advice on how this could best be done. No mention was made of the ongoing question of establishing a permanent OHCHR presence in the country.
Restrictions on civil society were reported on by the High Commissioner, who highlighted the case of Javier Tarazona, Director of NGO Fundaredes, who has now been arbitrarily detained for 271 days.
The phenomenon of the arbitrary detention of government opponents was highlighted by María Ramírez Romero. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions has called for her husband Juan Pablo Saavedra to be released.
‘There is no rule of law in the country,’ noted the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during the dialogue. This was echoed by the Fact-Finding Mission in their oral update to the Council. Their report to the Council is due in September. The majority of States and NGOs intervening spoke favourably about the work of the Fact-Finding Mission with several noting the importance of the Mission’s mandate being renewed in September.
The importance of the continued work of both the Office and the Fact-Finding Mission as independent and complementary mechanisms remains clear as a result of the Council dialogues, according to ISHR’s Eleanor Openshaw.
‘There is still so far to go in implementing UN recommendations related to addressing the human rights and humanitarian crises in the country. The work of OHCHR and the Fact-Finding Mission are focused on providing monitoring and reporting on the situation and providing technical’, she noted.
‘For that reason the UN must keep supporting the work of the Office and the Fact-Finding Mission and keep them both focused on the situation in the country.’
Local authorities in Geneva have announced their intention to place a permanent public monument paying tribute to persecuted human rights defenders, including the late Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli. The move follows a civil society petition to have a bust made in honour of Cao placed in a prominent location in the city.
On Tuesday 16 April 2024, ISHR delivered to both Geneva’s Administrative Council and its legislative counterpart, the Municipal Council, physical copies of the more than 1000 signatures collected in support of a memorial honouring Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli.
13 April 2024 marked one year since the Chinese authorities arbitrarily detained prominent human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, woman defender Xu Yan. As their health steadily deteriorates, 30 rights groups and the European Union have renewed their call for their prompt release.
