Michelle Bachelet condemned the intimidation and criminalization of human rights defenders in Venezuela

Michelle bachelet sentenced this Monday persecution against human rights defenders and union leaders in Venezuela by the regime of Nicolás Maduro and criticizes the lack of disclosure of public data in the country.

“The role of civil society is even more essential and must be protected”, Underlined the High Commissioner for Human Rights, in her opening speech at the 48th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

The former Chilean president expressed his concern about intimidation and criminalization of activists and encouraged dialogue for university elections.

Regarding the lack of transparency on the part of the regime of Nicolás Maduro, he indicated that the lack of public data prevents adequate monitoring of public policies.

He also said his office assessed and made recommendations on the regime’s pre-trial detention centers and called for the release of political prisoners: “We remain ready to support the police and judicial reforms underway to support compliance with applicable human rights standards. Among the cases shared through our cooperation mechanisms, 152 detainees have been released since June 2020. I reiterate my call for the total release of all those arbitrarily detained, and I welcome the acquittal of Jaulio Bratar ”.

In addition, he regretted the difficulties of the population in the context of the economic crisis, as incomes remain dramatically low and insufficient to guarantee an adequate standard of living, which affects food and education. “The pre-existing humanitarian and economic situation has been worsened by both the covid-19 pandemic and sectoral sanctions, further limiting access to basic services. I reiterate my call for the lifting of these sanctions, ”he said.

In the Bachelet office report, countries are asked to maintain their humanitarian aid to Venezuela, especially with regard to the pandemic, and to ensure an equitable distribution of vaccines, which have been widely available in rich countries to the detriment of poor. .

Bachelet announced that last Friday the agreement between his office and the Venezuelan government was renewed so that specialized UN human rights staff can work in the country. Thanks to this last agreement, the observers of your entity in Venezuela have gone from six to twelve.

“I am convinced that the political dialogue currently taking place in Mexico can lead to significant solutions and result in further progress for the protection of human rights”, he concluded, referring to the process of dialogue between Chavismo and the opposition.

Afghanistan and China

In other aspects of her speech, the High Commissioner denounced that the new Taliban regime in Afghanistan is break their promises respect the human rights of women and grant amnesty to those linked to the previous government supported by the United States.

In his report, he assured that in one month of control of the Taliban “women have been gradually excluded from public space”. Girls over the age of twelve have already been banned from attending school in many parts of the country, and many women’s protection services across the country have been dismantled, while their staff have been threatened, he said. -He denounces.

Bachelet also regretted not having “meaningful access” to the Xinjiang region in China, where ethnic Uyghur Muslims live, and stated for the first time that his office “is finalizing the assessment of the information available on complaints of serious human rights violations in this region, to make it public.”

China refuses to conduct an investigation in Xinjiang. The United States, basing itself on studies by Western researchers, accuses China of having interned more than a million Uyghurs in “camps” in the region. Beijing denies this figure and claims that they are “vocational training centers”.

The environmental crisis

The intensification of environmental threats constitutes “the most important challenge for the exercise of human rights of our time”, declared Ms. Bachelet, calling on politicians to take action.

“The interrelated crises linked to pollution, climate change and biodiversity multiply threats, amplify conflicts, tensions and structural inequalities, and make populations increasingly vulnerable,” he said.

Bachelet underlined that this “triple planetary crisis”, largely caused by human action, is already having a broad and direct impact on a whole series of human rights, such as “the rights to food, adequate water and education, housing, health. , development and even life ”.

Pollution “is the cause of one in six premature deaths,” he said. Bachelet drew up a list of environmental crises including, among others, famine in Madagascar, desertification in the Sahel, water shortages in the Middle East, fires in Siberia and California, and flooding in China and Germany.

“It is imperative to tackle the triple global environmental crisis” and it is “doable”, he said.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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