The de facto government failed to respond to questions from seven different UN mechanisms regarding the disappearance of at least 73 Venezuelan migrants, including possible victims of human trafficking, who left Venezuela for Curaçao and Trinidad and Tobago in three different boats between April and July 2019. Once again, the Maduro government fails to honor its commitment of responding to communications from the UN thematic mechanisms in cases of human rights violations within 60 days.

Similar communications were simultaneously sent to the Netherlands (of which the territory of Curaçao is part) and Trinidad and Tobago about the cases of 15 and 58 missing persons, respectively. The Netherlands sent a timely, written response to all the questions from the UN mechanisms, detailing its actions to search for the disappeared and the actions of its public authorities to determine possible liabilities.

Similar to the de facto Venezuelan government, Trinidad and Tobago did not respond to questions from the UN mechanisms, in an act that denotes a deep contempt by those two governments regarding the serious situation of vulnerability of forced migrants and the need to know the truth, locate the missing persons, and determine criminal responsibilities for cases of human trafficking, including the responsibility of state agents.

The Venezuelan State has the duty to collaborate with these seven mechanisms that depend on the Human Rights Council. Since 2011, the Venezuelan government has received 83 communications from the thematic mandates and has only responded to 39, which means that more than half have remained without a response. Between February 2019 and September 2020, a total of 15 communications were received by the Foreign Ministry and only two have been answered, which shows the true and growing lack of cooperation of that government with the United Nations.

The new communication, dated September 14 and made public recently, was sent by the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children; the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances; the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants; the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material; the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences; and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

After recounting the facts of the disappearance of the migrants on board the boats “Jhonnaly José”, “Ana María” and “La Vela del Coro”, as well as the alleged ongoing investigations, the seven UN mechanisms stated: “While we do not wish to prejudge the accuracy of this information, we would like to express our deepest concern about the disappearance of at least 73 Venezuelan citizens and the possibility that they became victims of human trafficking; as well as the apparent lack of effective action on the part of the Venezuelan authorities to prevent human trafficking and to investigate and prosecute the alleged perpetrators in a timely and effective manner. We are particularly concerned about the fact that 73 people remain missing to date and that their families and legal representatives have not received information on the progress of the investigation.”

In an annex, the seven mechanisms detail the international treaties of the United Nations and the International Labor Organization (ILO) that are being violated by the Venezuelan State for failing to investigate the fate of the disappeared and establishing criminal responsibilities.

The following are the verbatim requests for information which were not answered by the de facto government:

1. Please provide any additional information and any comment you may have on the above-mentioned allegations.

2. Please provide information regarding any search operation that may have been conducted to find out the whereabouts of the missing persons, and its results; as well as the measures established to promptly inform the families of the disappeared.

3. Please indicate what measures are being taken by the legislation to combat trafficking in persons, prevent labor and/or sexual exploitation, and to supervise private recruitment agencies.

4. Please indicate the measures adopted by your Excellency’s Government to prevent the loss of life of migrants at sea.

5. Please provide detailed information on the fate and whereabouts of the mentioned migrants. If their fate and whereabouts are unknown, please provide detailed information on the investigations initiated concerning those cases. If the investigations have not taken place or have not been concluded, please explain the reasons for this.

6. Please provide information on the investigations initiated to determine the possible criminal responsibility of individuals and public authorities involved in the crime of trafficking in persons. Please also indicate how many criminal investigations have been carried out since January 2019 for human trafficking and how many people have been convicted, if any.

7. Please provide information on access to justice, redress, and reintegration available to repatriated migrant workers who may have been abused and exploited abroad.

8. Please specify the information on the boarding procedure for the ships and the authorizations that are needed for regular sailing.

9. Please provide information on cooperation between competent authorities, including immigration authorities, to identify victims of trafficking and the means and methods used by organized criminal groups for trafficking in persons, including recruitment and transportation, routes, and links between individuals and criminal groups involved in trafficking.

10. Please provide information on the humanitarian rescue plan and the role of the Coast Guard, National Guards, Maritime Police, Navy, and the National Aeronautical Institute in preventing human trafficking for labor and sexual purposes. Also, please specify the accountability mechanisms in the event that State officials are involved in human trafficking.

The full text of the communication can be consulted HERE (Spanish)

The complete systematization of communications sent to Venezuela by the thematic mechanisms of the United Nations can be consulted HERE (Spanish)

Translated by José Rafael Medina