UN Mission in Venezuela: requests to renew its mandate

A total of 29 human rights NGOs called on Monday for the Urgent renewal of the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuelawhich would otherwise conclude in October, in a context of “intensification of post-electoral repression” in that country.

«Disrupting the mission’s work at such a crucial time would have negative implications for the protection of victims, survivors and the general population“and could further encourage the Venezuelan government to continue its brutal repression,” they said in a joint statement.

UN Mission in Venezuela

The mission, chaired by Portuguese jurist Marta Valiñas and completed by Chilean Francisco Cox and Argentine Patricia Tappatá, was created in 2019 by order of the UN Human Rights Council with the aim of investigating extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment committed since 2014.

Already renewed twice (2020 and 2022), the mission promoted in the Council by several Latin American countries and Canada has issued various reports in which it has accused the Venezuelan authorities, including President Nicolás Maduro, of possible crimes against humanity.

Their work must continue, the signatory organisations said, at a time of violent repression of protests against the lack of transparency in the July 28 elections, in which more than 20 deaths and 2,400 arrests have been reported.

This repression is an indication that “the need to renew the mandate of experts is more urgent than ever.”said organizations including Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Crisis in Venezuela after the elections

He Venezuela’s National Electoral Council proclaimed Maduro the winner of the July 28 elections without presenting, as required by law, the disaggregated voting records, which were published by the opposition to support its allegations of fraud and its claim that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, who has been exiled in Spain since Sunday, was the winner by a wide margin.

The Venezuelan government claims that the records published on the Internet are “false” and has not yet presented any evidence that would prove that Maduro won.

Next September 19th A new report from the UN mission in Venezuela will be presented during the 57th session of the Human Rights Councilwhich began on Monday and at the end of the five weeks of debates, in the second week of October, the renewal of the mandate should be voted on.

For this renewal, it will need to obtain the majority vote of the Council made up of 47 UN member states, in which Latin American representation is currently made up of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Paraguay.

Other countries currently serving on the Council include the United States, China, India, France, Germany and Japan.

Among the NGOs that signed the joint statement are, in addition to AI and HRW, AlertaVenezuela, the Center for Justice and Peace, Espacio Público, the International Commission of Jurists, Laboratorio de Paz, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict and the World Organization against Torture, among others.