Venezuela: Submission to the 54th session of the Universal Periodic Review

Introduction

1. CSW (Christian Solidarity Worldwide) is a human rights organisation specialising in the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). Impulso18 is a human rights organisation specialising in the right to FoRB in Mexico and advocates for FoRB in Latin America.

2. This joint submission, prepared ahead of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela’s fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR), outlines critical human rights issues, including the right to FoRB and the impact of illegal and armed groups.

Previous Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

3. Venezuela supported 119 out of the 328 recommendations it received during the third review, and supported a further 102 which it alleged ‘have been or are already being implemented’.¹ The state noted 48 recommendations and rejected 59.²

4. Supported recommendations included calls to ‘provide an enabling democratic environment for activities of political opposition, journalists and human rights defenders’³ and to ‘ensure that human rights defenders are protected from harassment, criminalisation and persecution, and adopt policy for the protection of human rights defenders’⁴, yet with the same breath Venezuela rejected recommendations to ‘fully respect freedom of expression and halt and prevent all acts of repression against members of the democratic opposition and civil society’⁵, and to ‘take all necessary measures to prevent acts of persecution and targeted repression, including based on political affiliation, and ensure that human rights defenders are protected without discrimination on any grounds.’⁶

5. These contractions reveal the systemic lack of political will to protect and promote human rights. In addition, Venezuela’s decision to reject a recommendation from Latvia to ‘Conduct full and impartial investigations of all threats and attacks against and killings of journalists, civil society actors and human rights defenders, and hold the perpetrators accountable’⁷, further highlights the lack of willingness by the state to fulfil its obligations to international human rights standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the state is party.

To read the submission in full, you can download the pdf here.

^1. United Nations, Report of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, 11 April 2022, https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/50/8; United Nations, Report of the Working Group of the Universal Periodic Review: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Addendum, ‘A/HRC/50/8/Add.1,. 1 June 2022, https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/50/8/Add.1

2. Ibid

3. Ibid,Recommendation from Ukraine, 31.175

4. Ibid, Recommendation from Slovenia, 31.171

5. Ibid, Recommendation from Denmark, 31.187

6. Ibid, Recommendation from Bahamas, 31.181

7. Ibid, Recommendation from Latvia, 31.201