During the last 6 months of 2016, political polarisation increased further in Venezuela. Confrontation between the government and the opposition-led National Assembly (NA) continued, with accusations from both sides of unconstitutional behaviour. On 2 September, the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia, TSJ) ruled that all NA decisions that had been taken since 28 July were unconstitutional, due to the re-incorporation into the NA of three opposition MPs suspended by the TSJ for alleged electoral fraud. In October, the TSJ accepted President Maduro’s annual budget proposal for 2017, having ruled that he did not have to secure NA approval.

The Opposition coalition (MUD) continued efforts to secure a recall referendum against President Maduro, which could have brought forward presidential elections. On 1 August, the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that the MUD had complied with the requirements to initiate the referendum process. However, on 20 October the CNE suspended the process, pending investigation of accusations from three local courts that in their regions the recall referendum process was void due to alleged electoral fraud by the MUD. The CNE also postponed governorship elections due in December 2016, until “mid-2017”. In response, the MUD carried out significant nationwide demonstrations on 26 October and announced NA discussions on the appointment of TSJ judges and CNE directors.

On 30 October, government and opposition representatives began a series of dialogue meetings under the umbrella of UNASUR and the Vatican, aimed at reducing political tension. On 12 November, UNASUR released a statement which included a call on both sides to work to solve economic problems, improve food and medicine supply, and resolve the legal dispute over the National Assembly’s position. On 6 December, the opposition said it would suspend its participation in the dialogue unless the government fully implemented confidence-building measures from the negotiations.

Political confrontation between state powers has contributed to poor security conditions and economic hardship including shortages of food and medicines remaining unresolved. For example, parliamentary legislation on political amnesty and human rights, resolving food shortages, and tackling corruption has been blocked. The Colombian government reported an estimated 6 million temporary crossings of Venezuelans into Colombia between July and December 2016 to buy food and medicines (nearly all returned promptly to Venezuela). On 13 September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Venezuelans had suffered a “dramatic decline in enjoyment of economic and social rights, with increasingly widespread hunger and sharply deteriorating health-care.” He also expressed “acute concerns regarding allegations of repression of opposition voices and civil society groups; arbitrary arrests; excessive use of force against peaceful protests; [and] the erosion of independence of rule of law institutions”. On 24 October, Human Rights Watch issued a report highlighting that many people found it difficult “to obtain adequate nutrition and cover their families’ basic needs.”

The rising level of violence, protests, and looting remains a primary concern. A local NGO estimated that the number of violent deaths nationwide in 2016 was around 28,000 (91.8 per 100,000 population). The NGO “Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict” reported a total of 5,772 protests and 711 cases of looting in January-October 2016. In late October, in Miranda State, 12 people disappeared and were subsequently discovered in mass graves by a government investigation, leading to the arrest of 11 army personnel accused of being involved. On the economic side, following the government announcement on 11 December of the withdrawal of the 100 Bolivar note – the highest denomination note, equivalent to approximately 12 pence at the lowest official exchange rate – riots and looting broke out in several Venezuelan States. The most severe violence occurred in Bolivar State between 16-18 December, which resulted in over 280 arrests and 5 deaths. Concerns remain on media freedom and access to information. On 4 August, UN and Inter-American experts issued a joint communiqué expressing their worry over the deterioration of media freedom in Venezuela. They said they were “deeply disturbed by the reports of attacks against journalists and independent media groups, escalating the pressure on the Venezuelan media. This [was] especially alarming given the country’s food and medicine shortages, economic crisis, and heightened social and political tensions”.

The government’s human rights record was reviewed in its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on 1 November at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. In her intervention, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Delcy Rodríguez, highlighted progress in access to education and health, and in women’s rights, since Venezuela’s first UPR in 2011. She cited the creation of the National Human Rights Council in 2015 and the National Human Rights Plan in March 2016 as evidence of the Venezuelan government’s commitment to tackling concerns. Venezuela will respond in March 2017 to the 274 recommendations from 102 states made during the review.

The UK’s statement and recommendations during the UPR reflected the UK human rights strategy in Venezuela. The UK called on the Venezuelan Government and Opposition to engage in an outcome-focused dialogue and requested that Venezuela invite a representative from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit by November 2017. The UK also probed on several areas of concern, including:

• Venezuela’s plans to issue standing invitations to UN Special Procedures
• independence of powers
• alleged accusations of harassment against human rights defenders
• poor access to public information, including official statistics and disaggregated human rights indicators
• violence against women

During the second half of 2016, the UK’s work in Venezuela on human rights and democracy has included co-ordination with the local EU Working Group on Human Rights and Democracy, the strengthening of democratic institutions, and work with human rights defenders and civil-society organisations on priority areas such as tackling violence against women and girls. In 2017, the UK will continue to promote human rights and democracy in Venezuela, against a background of political confrontation, security concerns, and economic challenges. A major UK human rights focus in 2017 will be to support meaningful and results-focused dialogue between political and social actors, aiming to resolve Venezuela’s challenges.