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Document #2139105
OHCHR – UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Author)
GENEVA – Venezuela must ensure that proven merit and integrity are the basis for the appointment of the country’s Attorney General and the Ombudsperson on 27 March, UN experts* said today.
“Given the crucial roles these two positions play in safeguarding human rights and the rule of law, the National Assembly and all related actors must ensure that these processes are conducted according to applicable standards,” the experts said.
On 27 March 2026, Venezuela will appoint a new Attorney General and the Ombusdperson, after the resignation of the two incumbents.
“We regret that in the past, appointments to these positions were made outside the constitutionally established procedures and carried out in breach of minimum standards of merit, transparency, independence, citizen participation and accountability, appointing the same people over and over,” the experts said.
“Civil society and human rights defenders must play an integral part of these appointments, and their inputs must be considered in selecting the right candidate profiles,” they said.
Venezuela must publish the merit-based criteria for both positions and make the evaluation of all applicants against this criteria transparent, the experts said.
“Venezuela must start a new era and appoint the best profiles that meet the required criteria to these key positions,” the experts warned. “As a minimum measure, all individuals against whom there are credible allegations of conduct incompatible with human rights standards, especially those who have held decision-making authority relevant to criminalisation, arbitrary detentions and torture should not be shortlisted nor appointed until an independent and thorough investigation into those allegations is conducted.”
“Both institutions must deliver results for society as a whole, but especially for the victims of human rights violations and abuses of power. To this end, the first step must be a transparent and objective selection process and the appointment of individuals whose independence, competence, and commitment are recognized by all Venezuelan society,” the experts said.
“Venezuela must seize this opportunity and appoint individuals of proven merit and capacity to these two positions, as a first step to rebuilding trust and establishing an independent justice system and national human rights institution,” they said.
The experts have been in contact with Venezuela about their concerns.
GENEVA – Military strikes by the United States and Israel have dramatically worsened the human rights situation in Iran, with a growing death toll and exacerbating existing economic and environmental pressures for people in the country, UN experts* warned today.
“The people of Iran are under attack from outside and from within,” the experts said.
According to Iranian authorities, close to 2,000 civilians have been killed in Iran in airstrikes by Israel and the United States that also hit schools, hospitals, cultural and religious buildings, civilian housing and infrastructure. More than 3 million people are temporarily internally displaced, many fleeing cities that lack functional air-raid sirens or bomb shelters, with particularly severe impacts on groups in vulnerable situations, including at least five million Afghans living in the country.
“The people of Iran are enduring a long-standing pattern of human rights violations, including an extraordinary rate of executions, the systematic dismantling of civic space, and discrimination against women and girls,” the experts said.
They condemned the execution of three men in Qom this month, in connection with their participation in nationwide protests that began in December 2025.
“We have crossed a critical threshold,” the experts warned. “These are the first persons to be hanged in connection with the nationwide protests, following judicial proceedings that were reportedly marred by serious due process concerns. We are afraid they will not be the last,” they said. The most recent executions follow a pattern of using executions to suppress freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, as observed during the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement.
The experts also expressed grave concern at this month’s executions including an individual on charges of espionage in connection with Israel, as well as the execution of two men for baghi (armed rebellion against the foundations of the Islamic Republic of Iran).
“The US-Israeli military strikes not only violate the UN Charter but have dramatically worsened these conditions and intensified internal repression.”
Some retaliatory strikes by Iran have gone beyond the right of self-defence in the UN Charter, at great cost to countries in the region, they warned.
Iran’s Internet has been severed for 31 consecutive days, cutting people off from information and causing severe economic harm. The experts reiterated concerns about prison conditions and persons forcibly disappeared or who remain missing.
They called for consultations with the full spectrum of society on any peace deal. “Millions took to the streets across Iran demanding fundamental change. Their voices cannot be traded away in negotiations conducted without them.”
Any diplomatic process to resolve the present crisis must address the immediate release of those arbitrarily detained for exercising their fundamental rights, protection of civic space, restoration of Internet access, independent accountability for all violations by all parties, and the protection of civilians across the region, the experts said.
“An end to the war is urgent and necessary but it will not on its own resolve Iran’s human rights crisis,” the experts warned. “The deteriorating human rights situation in Iran did not begin with the strikes, and it will not end when they stop.”
They urged States that are genuinely committed to achieving peace to facilitate negotiations grounded in human rights and the will of the Iranian people.
*The experts:
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