Civil Rights Defenders Call for Global Action as Maduro’s Regime Escalates Repression
After months of relentless repression, Nicolás Maduro is set to take office today, January 10th, as President of Venezuela following the controversial elections in July. During these elections, the opposition managed to collect over 80% of the electoral records, reporting 67% of the votes for opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. In contrast, the government claimed victory with 51.95% of the votes, without presenting any supporting evidence.
Venezuelan citizens have been persistently demanding in the streets that the Maduro government recognize Gonzalez as the new president, and the defense of their right to right to free and fair elections. This demand has resulted in 1,794 political prisoners and approximately 20 deaths by December, among other severe human rights violations, as reported by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights last week.
Nevertheless, yesterday saw massive peaceful protests in various cities within Venezuela and abroad. Despite the heavy militarization of the country, repression and intimidation against activists and political leaders, the approval of laws contrary to international law, VPN blockages, direct attacks on independent journalists, and the recent detention of prominent human rights defender Carlos Correa, citizens continued to demand freedom and the swearing-in of Gonzalez as the new president. Human rights organisations like Foro Penal reported 17 new arbitrary detentions as of January 9th.
Following Maduro’s swearing-in, a further crackdown on civic space and rights and freedoms in Venezuela is anticipated. Maduro has announced the commencement of a constitutional reform process, which will be accompanied by the implementation of several recently approved laws, such as the “AntiNGOs” Law, the Simón Bolívar Law, and the “Antifascist” law, which is still under debate in the National Assembly. These laws aim to refine the mechanisms of repression through legal regulations and target anyone who dares to question the current government and demand human rights be guaranteed.
Civil Rights Defenders is deeply concerned about the safety and integrity of those involved in the human rights movement in Venezuela. Human rights defenders and their families are currently at very high risk of being detained, disappeared, tortured, or even killed. Therefore, we demand that European and Latin American governments that maintain relations with Nicolas Maduro´s government, demand the respect for the right to defend human rights within Venezuela, particularly the the rights of all arbitrarily detained defenders, and the respect of peaceful assembly and expression, and the respect for the will of the Venezuelan citizens as expressed in the elections on July 28.
