On 11 October, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (HRC) adopted by a vote of 23 to 6 —including 18 abstentions— the resolution “Human rights situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," led by Argentina, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay and Uruguay.
The resolution received the highest number of affirmative votes since the body’s creation—which, for the first time, exceeded the abstentions—and only six negative votes. This was a victory for the victims of the Venezuelan dictatorship.
The resolution renewed for a period of two years the mandates of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FFM). The FFM has recently published a report documenting that some of the human rights violations committed in Venezuela (such as arbitrary detentions, torture and sexual violence) constitute politically motivated persecution, a crime against humanity.
The mandates of the OHCHR and FMM are closely linked, as they are complementary and mutually reinforcing: while the Office focuses on monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation, as well as providing technical cooperation, the Mission strives to ensure accountability, which is vital to prevent and deter human rights violations in the future.
Within the Council, Argentina returned to the resolution core group in February 2024, as a result of the structural human rights crisis in Venezuela.
During his speech, Argentina's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Carlos Foradori, stated: “While holding this same position in September 2019, I witnessed the Venezuelan delegation affirming that the Office of the High Commissioner would have unlimited access to Venezuela's detention regions and centres and that the Venezuelan Government would fully cooperate. But in the end, the Government expelled its staff,” in reference to the expulsion of the staff from the OHCHR in February 2024, after it denounced the detention of human rights defender Rocío San Miguel.
On 27 September 2019, the Human Rights Council approved Resolution 42/25, led by Argentina, among others, which established the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FFM), whose mandate is to investigate extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment committed since 2014; ensure full accountability for perpetrators and justice for the victims; and present oral updates and written reports on its findings to the Human Rights Council during interactive dialogues with Member States and civil society stakeholders.
On this occasion, the FFM’s mandate was extended, at Argentina’s request, to include the investigation, in particular, of human rights violations and abuses committed in connection with the fraudulent presidential election held on 28 July in Venezuela, as well as the acts of violence by armed individuals known as colectivos.
