A total of 62 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from Venezuela asked this Wednesday the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, to monitor and accompany citizens in the electoral process on July 28, in which a president will be elected in the Caribbean nation.
“We ask you, as the highest representative of the United Nations human rights protection system, to monitor, speak out loud and clear, and to take all actions within your mandate to support the Venezuelan population in its right to resolve its conflicts in a peaceful and participatory manner,” the NGOs said in a statement.
They also asked for this support so that Venezuelans can “choose their destiny” in a non-violent manner, so that they can exercise their right to vote “in credible, inclusive, transparent, competitive and legitimate elections” with guarantees and standards.
“We warn regarding the systematic, widespread pattern carried out by state institutions to violate rights enshrined in our Constitution and in international human rights treaties and covenants,” they added.
Systematic movements
According to the organisations, these “systematic” actions violate the right of the population to elect and be elected, generating “greater restrictions on civic space”.
“It is for this reason that we want to express our concern that, starting on July 4 (when the electoral campaign begins), the pattern of violations documented so far will increase exponentially,” they said.
According to the records of the Peace and Access to Justice Laboratory, 46 people have been “arbitrarily” detained so far this year in connection with the presidential elections, NGOs said.
They also said that at least 32 acts of harassment and 12 cases of persecution once morest political activists have occurred.
“In total, during 2024, 19 political leaders and officials linked to the opposition have been disqualified by administrative means. Of these, 12 mayors in office were elected by popular vote,” they added.
Dispatch of personnel
On June 25, the UN announced that it will send four electoral experts to oversee the presidential elections, responding to an invitation from the National Electoral Council of Venezuela.
The General Secretariat said in a statement that this “panel of electoral experts” will present its head, António Guterres, “an independent and internal report” on the development of the electoral process, and stressed that it will be “confidential” and the members of the panel “will not issue any public statement.”
New York / EFE
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2024-07-06 00:04:07
