URU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 131: Henvendelse af 27. februar 2019 fra Bodil Heinø om situationen i Venezuela

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Alfred de Zayas' Human Rights Corner

This blog is devoted to legal, historical and human rights matters, in which issues of general

concern are addressed freely and spontaneously. It is intended to further an informal

exchange of views in the democratic spirit of freedom of opinion and respect for the opinions

of others, in an effort to understand rather than condemn, to propose constructive solutions

rather than grandstand. The perspective is both from inside and outside the box and the

added value lies more in the questions than in the answers.

FEBRUARY 23, 2019ALFREDDEZAYAS20 COMMENTSON

OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY

GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES AND TO THE HIGH

COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS MICHELLE

BACHELET

OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED

NATIONS SECRETARY GENERAL

ANTONIO GUTERRES AND TO THE

HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN

RIGHTS MICHELLE BACHELET

OPEN LETTER TO THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY

GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES

AND TO THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

MICHELLE BACHELET

from Alfred de Zayas, 23 February 2019

Dear Michelle Bachelet,

dear Antonio Guterres

URU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 131: Henvendelse af 27. februar 2019 fra Bodil Heinø om situationen i Venezuela

As former UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a

Democratic and Equitable International Order (2012-2018) I would

like to urge you to once again make your voices heard and make

concrete proposals for mediation and peace in the context of the

Venezuelan crisis.

The most noble task of the United Nations is to create the

conditions conducive to local, regional and international peace, to

work preventively and tirelessly to avoid armed conflicts, to

mediate and negotiate to reach peaceful solutions, so that all human

beings can live in human dignity and in the enjoyment of the

human right to peace and all other civil, cultural, economic,

political and social rights. I am particularly worried by the

Orwellian corruption of language, the instrumentalization and

weaponization of human rights and now even of humanitarian

assistance.

I look back at my UN mission to Venezuela in November/December

2017 as a modest contribution to facilitate the cooperation between

the United Nations and the Venezuelan government and to open

the door to the visits of other rapporteurs. See my report to the UN

Human Rights Council

https://dezayasalfred.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/report-

venezuela-dr-alfred-de-zayas-1.pdf

and the relevant recommendations.

I believe that it would be timely and necessary for both of you to

issue a statement reaffirming General Assembly Resolutions 2625

and 3314 and the 23

Principles of International Order

that I

formulated in my 2018 report to the Human Rights Council. See

para 14 of

https://dezayasalfred.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/report-alfred-de-

zayas-23-principles.pdf

URU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 131: Henvendelse af 27. februar 2019 fra Bodil Heinø om situationen i Venezuela

It would be appropriate to recognize the fact that the government

of Venezuela has put into effect some of the recommendations

contained in my report

—

and in the six page confidential memo

that I personally gave to Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza upon my

departure.

http://vtv.gob.ve/venezuela-onu-medicamentos-

alimentos/

Indeed, first the Venezuelan government released 80 detainees

—

including Roberto Picón and 23 others whose release I had

specifically requested

—

that was on 23 December 2017, followed

by other releases in the course of 2018. Alas, there has been

practically no information about this in the mainstream media,

although it is easily accessible in the internet. See also the

comments of Venezuela on my report

https://dezayasalfred.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/comments-by-

the-government-of-venezuela.pdf

in particular paragraph 46

(xvi) As a result of this on 23 December 2017, 80 people arrested for

acts of violence during the protests in the country were released;

and on 1 June 2018, 39 more people were released.

and paragraph 46

(xviii) In this regard, the Venezuelan Government values the

willingness and disposition of the Independent Expert, who was

pleased to inform the competent authorities of the requests he

received from some relatives of the persons deprived of their

liberty. His recommendations were accepted.

URU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 131: Henvendelse af 27. februar 2019 fra Bodil Heinø om situationen i Venezuela

Shortly after my visit Venezuelan authorities met with the UN

agencies and made additional cooperation accords, thanks to the

valuable efforts Peter Grohmann, the UNDP representative in

Caracas.

Now the government of Venezuela has formally asked the United

Nations for humanitarian assistance in connection with the current

crisis. We must not let them down.

I think that the US should turn over all the humanitarian assistance

and medical supplies it has flown into Colombia and have them

distributed as soon as possible with the help of the United Nations

and other neutral organizations, including the International

Committee of the Red Cross.

Another item of information that is sorely missing from the

mainstream media is the delivery last week of 933 tons of food and

medicines at port La Guaira

—

coming from China, Cuba, India,

Turkey etc.

https://www.ghm.com.ve/llegaron-al-pais-933-

toneladas-de-medicinas/

https://www.uniradioinforma.com/noticias/internacional/556699/ve

nezuela-recibe-933-toneladas-de-medicinas-y-materiales-

medicos.html

Moreover an additional 300 tons of medicines and medical supplies

provided by Russia arrived by air.

https://www.dw.com/es/maduro-anuncia-arribo-de-300-toneladas-

de-ayuda-humanitaria-de-rusia/a-47576323

As I know from my conversations with Venezuelan ministers

during my visit in 2017 and the recent conversations I have had

with Venezuelan Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Jorge Valero

—

URU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 131: Henvendelse af 27. februar 2019 fra Bodil Heinø om situationen i Venezuela

Venezuela has always welcomed and repeatedly asked for

assistance from neutral and friendly governments so as to

overcome the adverse human rights impacts of the financial

blockade and the sanctions. Such help should be offered in good

faith, without strings attached.

I believe that this is the moment for Michelle Bachelet to accept the

invitation of the government of Venezuela, extended to her in

December 2018, to visit Venezuela personally. Her presence in

Venezuela should ban the growing danger of a military

intervention by foreign entities. She should endorse the efforts at

mediation launched by Mexico and Uruguay at the Montevideo

mechanism.

There are ominous parallels with the run-up to the Iraq invasion in

2003

—

an illegal war, as Kofi Annan said on repeated occasions

—

https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/16/international/annan-says-

iraq-war-was-illegal.html

It is obvious to any first year law student that the constant threats

against Venezuela are contrary to article 2(4) of the UN

‘Charter.

What many do not realize is that the threats, the

economic war, the financial blockade and the sanctions violate the

principles contained in Article 3 of the OAS Charter

e. Every State has the right to choose, without external

interference, its political, economic, and social system and to

organize itself in the way best suited to it, and has the duty to

abstain from intervening in the affairs of another State. Subject to

the foregoing, the American States shall cooperate fully among

themselves, independently of the nature of their political, economic,

and social systems; f. The American States condemn war of

aggression: victory does not give rights; g. An act of aggression

against one American State is an act of aggression against all the

URU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 131: Henvendelse af 27. februar 2019 fra Bodil Heinø om situationen i Venezuela

other American States; h. Controversies of an international

character arising between two or more American States shall be

settled by peaceful procedures; I. Social justice and social security

are bases of lasting peace…

Moreover, they violate numerous articles of Chapter 4 of the OAS

Charter,

Article 17

Each State has the right to develop its cultural, political, and

economic life freely and naturally. In this free development, the

State shall respect the rights of the individual and the principles of

universal morality.

Article 18

Respect for and the faithful observance of treaties constitute

standards for the development of peaceful relations among States.

International treaties and agreements should be public.

Article 19

No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or

indirectly, for any reason whatever, in the internal or external

affairs of any other State. The foregoing principle prohibits not only

armed force but also any other form of interference or attempted

threat against the personality of the State or against its political,

economic, and cultural elements.

Article 20

URU, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 131: Henvendelse af 27. februar 2019 fra Bodil Heinø om situationen i Venezuela

No State may use or encourage the use of coercive measures of an

economic or political character in order to force the sovereign will

of another State and obtain from it advantages of any kind.

Dear Michelle Bachelet, dear Antonio Guterres: The world looks up

to you in the hope that you can avert even greater suffering to the

peoples of Venezuela. They need international solidarity as

expressed in the report of Virginia Dandan, the then independent

expert on human rights and international

solidarity.

https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Solidarity/Dra

ftDeclarationRightInternationalSolidarity.pdf

I remain respectfully yours

Professor Dr. Alfred de Zayas, Geneva School of Diplomacy