Venezuela not only practices double standards regarding human rights before the international community; if necessary, it uses Venezuelan victims in other countries for its political ends. On the one hand, during the presentation of the report of the Special Rapporteur on Migrants before the Human Rights Council, the State entered the meeting room with relatives of detainees in El Salvador and denounced the enforced disappearance of its nationals, holding El Salvador and the United States responsible. On the other hand, behind closed doors, it continues to relentlessly address the suffering of thousands of Venezuelans who cry out for their relatives detained or disappeared after the 2024 electoral repression and who are also punished in retaliation for their demands for justice, while the rights of some 150 foreigners detained in Venezuela are violated in the same way as is being demanded of El Salvador.
This pattern of instrumentalizing victims and the human rights discourse characterized the State’s interventions before the Human Rights Council during the third week of June, which is not a novelty. In the context of the presentation of the report of the Independent Expert on sexual orientation or gender identity, the State disqualified the report for referring to its national health system, questioning that the expert “should conduct more extensive research and verify sources (…) and thus fully comply with the code of conduct of the special procedures,” and then resorted to its well-worn excuse of sanctions to “justify” the deprivation of rights.
A similar approach was taken with the presentation of the Rapporteur on Freedom of Association, who denounced the systematic repression of activism and the political opposition following the 2024 electoral fraud. Furthermore, she recalled that the Fact-Finding Mission concluded that “the repression of the protests was instigated by the highest civilian and military levels of the State, (…) through threatening public statements.” The State simply accused the report of being based on “politicized” and “unverifiable” sources, despite not responding to any requests for information sent by the Rapporteur after seven months.
Parallel to what happened in Geneva, in Venezuela, a senior spokesperson for the ruling party suggested that the government withdraw from the International Criminal Court, following the path forged by the American Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of the Organization of American States. The strategy of isolation and lack of cooperation remains intact in the state. The statement was issued during a political event with protesters and the ambassadors of Palestine and Iran. The official expressed “I dream of the day when Venezuela ceases to be a party to the International Criminal Court” and used the silence regarding Israel’s actions as an argument. Once again, the state is invoking the banner of human rights for its own purposes; in this case, conveniently—albeit pointlessly—trying to escape the jurisdiction of the court for crimes against humanity on which it will sooner or later be forced to rule.
Venezuela continues to misinform and criminalize the complaint because it is against its authorities, but to other countries it appears to act based on principles, when its attempt at manipulation is evident. A country with double standards and blatant exploitation of the principles and purposes that inspire the international community cannot be considered serious and therefore cannot be given the benefit of the doubt. Venezuela is not worthy of having cooperation offices from either the ICC or the OHCHR, or any other organization, because it has already provided excessive evidence that its actions not only oppose cooperation but, like victims and human rights, also uses these technical assistance spaces at its convenience.
The Venezuelan state only wants international cooperation for technical assistance purposes, where it is free from oversight and free to do whatever it sees fit, merely as part of its narrative about “collaboration” with international bodies. But the international community can no longer fall into this blackmail trap, especially the ICC and the OHCHR. If Venezuela continues to be impervious to technical assistance, it is important that the investigative and monitoring functions take on the greatest possible central role. In this regard, it’s time to reconsider the purpose of technical assistance offices because the victims are growing in number and the need for justice is greater. AlertaVenezuela calls on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open a case and file the corresponding charges for crimes against humanity, and on the High Commissioner to rethink an effective protection strategy in conjunction with other States and actors in the international community to ensure that these crimes and harm against the population cease.
After months of massive persecution and the accumulated damage done to Venezuelan society, it is clear that the only thing that the presence of the OHCHR and the ICC has worked for is to support the government’s purpose of giving it the appearance of cooperation and delaying action more aimed at achieving justice and accountability. Venezuela needs a different international response.