The policy to silence and quash opposition to the Venezuelan government continues, says the UN’s body of experts on Venezuela in its report to the Human Rights Council.
This week, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights will present his report on Venezuela, providing an overview of the human rights situation and the implementation of UN recommendations.
The NGO bill introduced in the Venezuelan National Assembly is a severe threat to civic space in the country, and will gravely limit defenders' ability to engage with international human rights mechanisms. Defenders should be supported and this bill withdrawn, write Calixto Avila (Provea) and Eleanor Openshaw (ISHR).
On 17 April 2023, ISHR submitted its annual submission to the report to the UN Secretary General on reprisals and intimidation against defenders engaging or seeking to engage with the UN and its human rights mechanisms.
Civil society spoke of the ongoing human rights crisis in Venezuela this week at the Council making evident that, despite Venezuela’s best efforts to denounce the Fact-Finding Mission, the Mission’s work and that of OHCHR are absolutely essential to victims of violations.
Olnar Ortiz Bolívar and Alexandra Lezama, human rights defenders from Venezuela, are attending the Human Rights Council 52nd session, where the Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela will present an oral update on the human rights situation in the country.
Alexandra Lezama is a human rights defender from Venezuela who came to Geneva to expose the facts and consequences of illegal mining and the contamination of the environment in the State of Bolívar.
Olnar is an indigenous human rights defender from Venezuela coming to Geneva to deliver important messages to the international community for the preservation of the Amazon and ancestral lands.
UN committee releases findings on socio-economic rights in China, calling for a clear regulatory framework for companies operating overseas. Prior to China's review, ISHR and the CICDHA coalition submitted a report looking at the human rights impact of 14 Chinese projects in 9 Latin American countries.
This report submitted to the UN explores 14 business ventures in Latin America in which companies and banks under China's jurisdiction have not complied with international human rights, labour and environmental standards.
