Venezuela Unfit for a New Human Rights Council Term

Venezuela's human rights record, including as a member of the Human Rights Council, should preclude it from serving another term on the council, 36 international and Latin American human rights organizations said today. Elections for the 2016-2018 term of the council will be held in New York on October 28, 2015, by the United Nations General Assembly. Members of the Human Rights Council are required to uphold the highest standards in the protection and promotion of human rights.

The Venezuelan government's human rights practices, its rejection of the work of international human rights bodies, and its voting record at the Human Rights Council during the past three years make it unfit to hold a seat, the groups said.

While serving on the Human Rights Council, the Venezuelan government has seriously violated basic human rights standards the body is meant to promote. In 2014, Venezuelan security forces violently cracked down on largely peaceful protests systematically over a period of weeks. They arbitrarily arrested demonstrators and bystanders, severely beat and tortured them in detention, and denied them basic due process rights.

The government also arrested and prosecuted opposition politicians and lesser-known critics on arbitrary grounds, brought criminal defamation charges against owners and journalists working in critical media outlets, and harassed and intimidated human rights defenders who questioned these and other abuses of power.

In addition to its disregard for fundamental freedoms within its borders, the Venezuelan government has rejected meaningful scrutiny of its human rights record by international human rights bodies. It has not allowed the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to visit the country for over a decade, and has not allowed any UN special rapporteurs to visit since 1996. It withdrew from the American Convention on Human Rights in 2012, depriving Venezuelans who suffer abuses from seeking protection from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. It rejected key recommendations issued during the 2011 Universal Periodic Review of its human rights record by the Human Rights Council and did not fully carry out those it accepted.

Venezuela also has one of the worst voting records at the Human Rights Council. It has repeatedly rejected resolutions aimed at addressing serious human rights violations, including country specific resolutions on Belarus, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine that were endorsed by other Latin American governments. At the UN Security Council, it blocked measures to curb abuses in South Sudan and Syria.

The groups said that reelecting Venezuela to the HRC would send a dangerous message that the international community is indifferent to Venezuela's violations of human rights and rejection of human rights mechanisms, and that the principles that the Human Rights Council was created to protect are not meant to be taken seriously.

Acción Solidaria en VIH/Sida (Venezuela)

Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH) (Peru)

Asociación por los Derechos Civiles (ADC) (Argentina)

Asamblea de Educación (Venezuela)

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña Tlachinollan, A.C. (México)

Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez, A.C. (Centro Prodh) (Mexico)

CEPAZ (Venezuela)

CIVICUS

Ciudadanos en Apoyo a los Derechos Humanos, A.C. (CADHAC) (Mexico)

Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello (Venezuela)

CIVILIS Derechos Humanos (Venezuela)

Coalición de Organizaciones por el derecho a la salud y la vida (CODEVIDA) (Venezuela)

Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (Colombia)

Comisión para los Derechos Humanos del estado Zulia (CODHEZ) (Venezuela)

Corporación Humanas (Chile)

Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (Peru)

Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF)

Espacio Público (Venezuela)

Fenasopadres (Venezuela)

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

Instituto de Estudios Legales y Sociales del Uruguay (IELSUR) (Uruguay)

Fundación Aguaclara (Venezuela)

Fundación Ensayos para el Aprendizaje Permanente (FEPAP) (Venezuela)

Fundación Myrna Mack (Guatemala)

Human Rights Watch

Observatorio Ciudadano (Chile)

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela)

Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones (Venezuela)

Observatorio Venezolano de Salud (Venezuela)

Programa Venezolano de Educación Acción en Derechos Humanos (PROVEA) (Venezuela)

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Transparency International

Transparencia Venezuela

Unión Afirmativa (Venezuela)

Venezuela Diversa (Venezuela)