Photo: Frederico Parra Agence France-Presse The UN expressed its concern on Tuesday about the “climate of fear” prevailing in Venezuela after the contested re-election of Nicolas Maduro.
Javier Tovar – Agence France-Presse in Geneva
Published yesterday at 8:44 AM Updated yesterday at 6:38 PM
- Americas
UN experts deployed to Venezuela to monitor the July 28 presidential election say in their report that the “basic transparency and integrity measures” necessary for “credible” elections were not respected, sparking the ire of Caracas, which calls them “rubbish.”
The National Electoral Council (CNE) ratified the victory of outgoing President Nicolas Maduro with 52% of the vote in early August, without publishing the exact count and polling station reports, claiming to have been the victim of computer hacking.
According to the opposition, which published the reports obtained through its scrutineers, its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the election with 67% of the vote, a result rejected by Mr. Maduro.
The announcement of Mr Maduro's re-election for a third term sparked spontaneous protests, with 25 dead, 192 injured and 2,400 arrests according to official sources. The opposition, which has so far held only one demonstration, on 3 August, has called for large demonstrations on Saturday.
“The process of processing the results by the CNE did not meet the basic measures of transparency and integrity that are essential for holding credible elections,” the experts said, noting that the council did not follow “national legal and regulatory provisions.”
They singled out in particular the failure to publish results by polling station, as demanded by the opposition and part of the international community.
At the invitation of the CNE, a group of four UN electoral experts had been deployed to Venezuela to monitor the vote and produce an internal report of their observations to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Following the growing criticism of the vote, the UN finally published the preliminary report on Tuesday evening.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “categorically rejects” the report “which spreads a series of lies, violating in its content and method, not only the principles that govern the functioning of the groups of experts, but also the terms of reference signed with the Venezuelan electoral power”,
Caracas considers that this is an “absolutely thoughtless act that undermines confidence in the mechanisms designed for the cooperation”.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Even before the report was published, Jorge Rodriguez, the president of the parliament where the government holds an overwhelming majority (256 of the 277 deputies), had called the experts “scum”: “The UN group of experts […] has no word. They are scum without a word. They signed [an agreement with Venezuela] saying that their report was confidential, that only the electoral power of Venezuela and the Secretary General of the United Nations would have knowledge of it.”
He now wants to ban all foreign observation in Venezuela “so that never again will a foreigner come to take a position on anything related to the elections in Venezuela.” “Why do they have to come, in what capacity?,” he told the deputies.
He also targets the Carter Foundation, which criticized the re-election, and in particular the CNE’s failure to publish the detailed results. The Foundation also questioned the reality of the alleged computer hacking.
Mr. Rodriguez launched these attacks during an exceptional session of the National Assembly, which suspended its recess to begin examining laws deemed repressive by the opposition on Tuesday.
The Assembly must work on a law regulating NGOs and associations, another on social networks and a third to punish “fascism” — a term regularly used by the government to refer to the opposition.
Before a recess until Thursday, MPs approved several points of the NGO law, including the notification of “funding” or the “identification of donors, national or foreign”. NGOs are also prohibited from “receiving financial contributions intended for organizations with political aims.”
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“Climate of Fear”
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has launched an “urgent appeal” to the Assembly not to adopt the law, considering that it “would arbitrarily restrict the right of association, freedom of expression […] in a context of closing civic space.”
Another area of work: “the functioning of social networks.” Since the election, Mr. Maduro has regularly attacked them, assuring that they are trying to destabilize the country and cast doubt on the validity of his re-election. He suspended X for 10 days and launched a campaign to boycott WhatsApp.
Parliament will also consider a proposed “anti-fascism bill” with fines of up to $100,000 or outright bans for companies, organizations or media that “incite fascism.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on the authorities not to “adopt these and any other laws that undermine civic and democratic space in the country.”
“It is particularly troubling that so many people are being detained, accused or charged for incitement to hatred or under counter-terrorism legislation,” he said.
“In a climate of fear, it is impossible to implement democratic principles and protect human rights,” added his spokesperson, Ravina Shamdasani.