The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asks the Venezuelan government on Monday not to ratify a law that will regulate the operation of non-governmental organizations and, on the contrary, to adopt measures to “rebuild democracy.”
“In Venezuela there is a hostile environment against organizations that defend human rights, in which smear campaigns, stigmatization, and acts of harassment as a consequence of their defense activities predominate,” said the IACHR and the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RELE).
For this reason “they urge Venezuela to refrain from approving any type of legislation or regulation that arbitrarily limits the right of association, freedom of expression and participation in matters of public interest” and they ask it to take “measures aimed at rebuilding democracy and the rule of law”.
On January 24, the Venezuelan parliament approved, in its first debate, a law that will regulate the operation of NGOs. The second ballot is pending and undated.
In addition to “limiting the activities that can be carried out by the organizations”, the bill grants the authorities the power to dissolve unilaterally those who participate in what it considers “political activities or that threaten national stability and the institutions of the Republic,” the IACHR explains in a statement.
The presentation of the project before the Assembly was characterized by stigmatizing references to 62 organizations, which were described as “enemies”, “traitors to the homeland” and “party façades”, complain the IACHR and RELE.
In Venezuela, many NGOs have assumed tasks such as collecting data on inflation, poverty rates and epidemiological data due to the lack of official figures or their opacity.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression is an office created by the IACHR, which in turn is an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OEA).