PRESS RELEASE : UN HRC53 – Statement on human rights situation in Venezuela [July 2023]

The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 5 July 2023.

Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Venezuela, as delivered by Simon Manley, UK Ambassador to the WTO and UN in Geneva.

Thank you, High Commissioner, for your report. The UK notes your office’s improved engagement with the Venezuelan authorities.

Nonetheless, we remain concerned by the continued deterioration of social, economic, and cultural rights. According to the last National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI), 81.5% of the Venezuelan population live in poverty. More than nine million people have a chronic health condition and a strained public healthcare system does not have the capacity to respond.

Human rights defenders continue to operate under a high risk of arbitrary detention and harassment. Civil and political rights must be protected, including the right to participate in public affairs. It is right that your office closely monitors the situation, given the upcoming electoral period and the ongoing practice of disqualifying candidates without due process.

The Concluding Observations of the CEDAW in May also evidenced a challenging reality for women: unequal access to justice, little prevention of gender-based violence, and harassment of female rights defenders, journalists and opposition leaders and limited action against human trafficking.

High Commissioner,

What is your assessment on the adequacy of current guarantees and protections regarding civic space as elections approach? Is your Office engaging with the Administration to follow up on the recommendations issued by the CEDAW?

Thank you.