The IACHR and the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression asserted in a joint statement that in Venezuela there is a hostile environment against organizations that defend human rights. Both instances indicated that NGOs are the target of smear campaigns, stigmatization, and acts of harassment as a consequence of their defense activities.
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They urged the Legislature to refrain from approving any type of legislation or regulation that limits the right of association, freedom of expression and participation in matters of public interest.
On January 24 the National Assembly (AN) of 2020 approved, in the first discussion, the Bill for the Inspection, Regularization, Action and Financing of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Related Organizations.
The pro-government deputy Diosdado Cabello, during the presentation of the project, explained that the initiative is a response to an “irregular situation” that has occurred in the country, “coincidentally with greater force” with the coming to power of the ruler Nicolás Maduro.
For Cabello, it is necessary to create legal mechanisms for organizations to be held accountable because “it is not an option to sit idly by in the face of an attempt to hand over the country’s wealth to imperialism.”
The bill was deplored by more than a hundred NGOs. On Friday, January 27, some 120 organizations presented a document in which they warned about the new steps taken by the Nicolás Maduro administration to close the civic space, as well as to criminalize and persecute NGOs and human rights defenders.
In a Press conference, the coordinator of Laboratorio de Paz, Lexys Rendón, asserted that the criminalization of NGOs “is only the tip of the iceberg” of the content of the Bill of Control, Regularization, Action and Financing of NGOs and related; “It seeks control of all aspects of Venezuelan society.”
