Venezuela: 11 organisations call for UN inquiry into "unprecedented human rights crisis"

Amnesty International and 10 human rights organisations urge the UN to act

International community effort could prevent additional human rights violations

In a public statement issued today, a coalition of 11 Venezuelan and international human rights organisations are urging the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry on Venezuela during its 42nd session in September 2019.

In the statement, the organisations detail why a UN Commission of Inquiry is the best answer the international community can offer to victims of Venezuela’s spiraling human rights and humanitarian emergency:

“A UN Commission of Inquiry would play a crucial role in addressing the rights to justice, truth and reparation for victims of rights abuses in Venezuela, advancing accountability, and encouraging rights-respecting policies. Such an effort could have an important deterrent effect to prevent additional serious human rights violations and possible mass atrocity crimes during the country’s ongoing crisis”.

Amnesty International’s Americas Director, Erika Guevara-Rosas, said:

“The international community seems to have forgotten victims of human rights violations who are suffering the consequences of crimes under international law. It is high time for the UN’s human rights body to take a decisive, victims-first approach towards an unprecedented human rights crisis in the country that continues to deepen. Meanwhile, millions are fleeing the country. The Human Rights Council has no time to waste”.

The coalition includes: Acción Solidaria, Amnesty International, Centro Derechos Humanos – Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, CEPAZ, Civilis Derechos Humanos, COFAVIC, Espacio Público, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists and PROVEA.