GENEVA, November 9, 2015 -- One month before Venezuela holds parliamentary elections, the UN agreed to hold a special assembly for Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro this Thursday, November 12, at its Human Rights Council in Geneva, prompting concerns by diplomats and human rights activists.
UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group based in Geneva, demanded equal time after the speech to invite Lilian Tintori, wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. "While standard UNHRC meetings allow debate, the format of the Maduro meeting will be a "monologue, with no dissenting voices," noted UN Watch.
Authoritarian Leaders Discover New Forum
"By granting a special UN forum for Venezuela's authoritarian ruler at the world's highest human rights body--where no questions can be asked or dissenting voices heard--the UN has created a dangerous slippery slope. It's only a matter of time now before Turkey's Erdogan, Syria's Assad and North Korea's Kim Jong-Un will, at each dictator's whim, request the same global podium, which they can otherwise only get every September in New York. The human rights council is liable to turn itself into a laughingstock," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group.
Diplomats Tried to Block Maduro Request
Fears of "possible negative perceptions" led at least some diplomats on the German-led 5-member UNHRC bureau to oppose Maduro's request for the extraordinary meeting, given the proximity of Venezuela's December 6th elections, according to minutes obtained by UN Watch.
"The minutes reveal strong resistance by at least some UNHRC diplomats to granting Venezuela's request to hold the special meeting," said Neuer.
Special Meeting for Abbas Created Precedent
"However, the council's recent decision to grant an identical forum to PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas tied their hands, as Venezuela could not plasibly be denied a privilege already granted to what the UN considers a non-member observer state--especially as the UN, however absurdly, just re-elected Venezuela as a member of the human rights council."
Venezuela Won Re-Election to UNHRC Depite Widespread Oppression
Neuer objected to the UN's highest rights body holding an extraordinary gathering for a ruler widely criticized as authoritarian.
UN Watch recently led the opposition to Venezuela's re-election to the UNHRC on October 28th--including a UN press conference featuring Venezuelan dissident and former UN ambassador Diego Arria--prompting sharp reactions from Caracas.
"Our recent report on Venezuela documents how the Maduro regime suppresses political opponents and student protesters, subjects prisoners to inhuman and degrading treatment, and restricts the media's ability to report freely."
"The arbitrary arrest, wrongful conviction and 14-year prison sentence against opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, as well as the ongoing arbitrary arrest and criminal process against Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, are among the most high-profile examples of the persecution and arbitrary imprisonment that civil society leaders and political opponents face in Venezuela," said Neuer.
More than 3,000 protesters, primarily university students, were detained during the pro-democracy demonstrations that took place between February and December 2014.
About 100 of them remain in prison, while the rest have been released on parole and banned from any political activism. Police and military forces in Venezuela frequently use brutal and disproportionate measures.
UN Watch is a Geneva-based human rights organization founded in 1993 to monitor UN compliance with the principles of its Charter. It is accredited as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).
