FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington - September 27, 2019— In response to the UN Human Rights Council resolution establishing an independent commission to investigate human rights violations in Venezuela, Freedom House issued the following statement:
“We applaud the United Nations for launching an independent fact-finding mission to document the rampant human rights violations in Venezuela and the Lima Group for its important leadership on pushing for this initiative,” said Deborah Ullmer, director of Latin America and the Caribbean programs at Freedom House. “The resolution is a critical step toward ensuring that victims of the Maduro regime and its allies gain access to justice and that perpetrators of gross violations such as arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and torture are held to account. International cooperation will be essential to end the suffering in Venezuela. We urge the United Nations to continue to support Venezuelan victims by rejecting Venezuela’s efforts to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council.”
Background:
On September 27, 2019, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution to create an independent fact-finding body to investigate extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture, and other abuses committed in Venezuela since 2014. The resolution was presented by the Lima Group, a regional intergovernmental body that includes Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Paraguay, and Peru. It was approved by a vote of 19 to 7. On October 16, the Maduro regime will seek to win one of two vacant seats on the UN Human Rights Council.
Venezuela is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2019 and Not Free in Freedom on the Net 2018.
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