Situation of Human Rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to implement fully and immediately the recommendations contained in the recent reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and of the independent international fact-finding mission and to investigate all violations and abuses of human rights and hold those responsible to account;

Also urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to respect, protect and fulfil the right of citizens to take part in the conduct of public affairs and the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, and urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cease its ongoing nationwide targeted repression and persecution on political grounds, including through the excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, including of children and adolescents, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, extrajudicial execution and enforced disappearance by the security and intelligence forces, intervention in the autonomy and composition of political parties, disqualification of opposition candidates from electoral processes and other restrictions to civic and democratic space;

Calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cease immediately all acts of intimidation, attacks, harassment, surveillance, reprisals and public defamation of opposition leaders, peaceful protesters, journalists and other media workers, lawyers, human rights defenders, persons who served in the electoral process, including as electoral observers, Indigenous Peoples and other civil society stakeholders, and in this regard also calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to put an end to undue closures of media outlets and to violations of human rights online, including through the blocking and shutting down of websites and digital platforms;

Calls upon all stakeholders and political and social actors to abstain from resorting to acts of violence and repression that might jeopardize the peaceful settlement of the Venezuelan crisis;

Urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to immediately and unconditionally release all arbitrarily detained persons, including political prisoners, prioritizing those in vulnerable situations and those who remain in pretrial detention beyond the limits set out in national law, while ensuring guarantees of non-repetition, and also urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to improve conditions of detention and to uphold due process and fair trial guarantees for all detainees, including communication with counsel of their own choosing;

Also urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to adopt appropriate measures to address reported human rights violations and abuses, such as acts of violence and harassment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against women and girls in detention;

Calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to ensure that criminal legislation, particularly counter-terrorism legislation, and its application fully comply with international human rights law;

Calls upon parties in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to engage in the preparation of a process that will ensure the holding of free and fair local, regional and legislative elections, with an independent national electoral council and an independent and impartial Supreme Court, full freedom of the press and the unfettered political participation of all Venezuelans and all political parties, without fear of repercussions or interference, respecting international standards and civil and political rights;

Calls upon the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to protect diplomatic facilities and personnel residing in Venezuelan territory, including individuals seeking asylum in such facilities, consistent with international law, in particular the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, bearing in mind the human rights of all individuals, including asylum-seekers;

Requests the High Commissioner to continue to monitor, report on and provide technical cooperation with a view to improving the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;

Also requests the High Commissioner to present to the Human Rights Council an oral update at its fifty-eighth and sixty-first sessions, to present to the Human Rights Council oral updates, to be followed by an interactive dialogue before the end of 2024 and before the end of 2025, and to submit a comprehensive report on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela containing a detailed assessment of the implementation of the recommendations made in previous reports to the Council for consideration at its fifty-ninth and sixty-second sessions, to be followed by an interactive dialogue;

Requests the fact-finding mission to present to the Human Rights Council an oral update on its work, followed by an interactive dialogue at the Council’s fifty-eighth and sixty-first sessions, and to submit to the Council a report on its findings and recommendations for future action by the Council, followed by an interactive dialogue at its sixtieth and sixty-third sessions;

Urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to resume cooperation in a full manner with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the fact-finding mission, to grant them immediate, full and unfettered access to the entire country, including to victims and places of detention, to provide them with all the information necessary to fulfil their mandates, and to ensure that all individuals have unhindered access to and can communicate with the United Nations and other human rights entities without fear of reprisal, intimidation or attack;

Also urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Court;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to continue its efforts towards the protection of human rights of migrants and refugees from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and, in this respect, to promote effective measures and best practices, in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and other relevant agencies, and invites all relevant stakeholders to enhance international cooperation with the host and transit countries of Venezuelan migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers;

Requests that the Office of the High Commissioner and the independent international fact-finding mission each be provided, in a timely manner, with all the resources necessary and the full administrative, technical and logistical support needed to carry out their respective mandates;

Encourages relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council to pay particular attention, within their respective mandates, to the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and urges the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to cooperate fully with their work, including by facilitating country visits;