Rights activists hail Venezuela’s departure from UN Human Rights Council A group of rights activists say they are heartened by the departure of Venezuela from the UN’s Human Rights Council last month. But they say not enough has been done to hold the government and other states accountable for abuse.
The group of activists, who are known as Avaaz, expressed their joy in a tweet on Tuesday.
Avaaz, which describes itself as “a global campaign network with 170,000 members and supporters from more than 200 countries,” was founded by the British barrister and activist, Stephen Saideman, in 2003.
Avaaz’s mission was to “fight corporations, governments and their own populations for just laws and policies that ensure a just world” and it is named after a Latin phrase meaning “voice” or “voice one’s opinion,” according to its website.
“We believe in the universality of human rights, and the power of ordinary people to change the world for the better,” said Saideman, in an article on the AVAZ website.
Last month, Venezuela, which is a member of the UN’s Human Rights Council, announced it would pull out of the body over what it called “discriminatory and inhumane” conditions at the hands of the human rights council. Venezuela, which has been experiencing a series of economic difficulties, was among the 19 states that submitted a final report to the council in late January.
The Human Rights Council, which is known as the HRC, has been criticized for its lax stance on the human rights of people in developing countries, including Venezuela.
“There does not seem to be any concrete action that is being taken to hold those in power responsible for the injustices being experienced by human beings in Venezuela,” said Maria Echavarria, professor of Latin American studies at the University of Iowa, who studies the human rights violations occurring in Venezuela.
Avaaz says it has been working with UN Secretary-General