In an article published in the journal Democratización [Democratization] of the Institute of Political Studies FORMA, the co-director of the Commission for Human Rights of the State of Zulia (Codhez) invited Venezuelans to protect the Non-Governmental Organizations because their work “is a guarantee of a better future for the country”
Always in the spotlight for her reports and statements regarding the Venezuelan case, Michelle Bachelet has become a key figure in the fight for democracy in Venezuela, according to lawyer Juan Alberto Berríos Ortigoza, co-director of the Commission for Human Rights of the State of Zulia (Codhez).
“The role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (…) is essential to ensure that the validity of human rights is restored in the country,” wrote Berríos Ortigoza in an essay published in the journal Democratización, a publication edited by the Institute of Political Studies FORMA.
Berríos Ortigoza, a professor at the University of Zulia (LUZ), points out that the work of Bachelet’s office, as well as the UN Human Rights Council, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, and the Inter-American Commission and Court of Human Rights, are valuable contributions that underpin the domestic efforts to achieve the full validity of the Constitution.
In addition to recognizing the importance of the support received from abroad, Berríos Ortigoza underscores the commitment “of civil society organizations, whose perseverance and determination have drawn the attention of these international organizations to the situation in Venezuela.”
Faced with renewed attacks on NGOs by the Nicolás Maduro regime, which recently ordered the arrest of a group of activists of local organization Fundaredes, the LUZ researcher emphasizes that Venezuelans must protect these civil society groups because their existence “is a guarantee of a better future for the country”.
An enormous challenge
“The investigation of human rights violations, as well as the sanction of the perpetrators and the reparation to the victims, are the main challenges of our time, and they will mark the fate of the next century in Venezuela,” says Berríos Ortigoza.
The co-director of Venezuelan NGO Codhez indicates that “the result of these years of persistent human rights violations has been a complex humanitarian emergency, amid a context of political persecution that shows no sign of abating.”
Berríos Ortigoza observes that the strategy of the Chavista State since 1999 has sought the “reduction of civic space and the imposition of obstacles to citizen participation for political change.”
In this regard, the expert believes that the actions carried out by those in power “respond to a policy of social control and persecution that first pursued the objective of obstructing and later preventing the participation of activists and opposition political parties through various strategies that have involved the National Electoral Council, the Supreme Court of Justice, and the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic”.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
