UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA: HUMAN RIGHTS FOR A GOOD LIFE
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ALBA Banmujer CAI CCPI CDH CIDH Celac Cepal Conarepol Conatel COPP CPNB CRBV CTV Dibise Enusc EPT FAO Fonden Fundaproal IDENA Inamujer INE IVSS Lopnna Mercal Mercosur MPPE Mppeu MPPS Oacdh ODM OEA PAE Pdval Pdvsa PEI PIB PNUD Prodinat Resorte TARV TIC TSJ UBV Unasur UNES Unesco UPI UPIE USD
Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America Women’s Development Bank. Comprehensive Care Centers. Community’s Comprehensive Protection Center. Human Rights Council. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. National Commission on Police Reform. National Telecommunication Council. Organic Code of Criminal Procedure. Bolivarian National Police Force. Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Confederation of Venezuelan Workers. Bicentennial Arrangement for Citizen Security. National Urban Citizen Security Survey. Education for All. United Nations Organization for Agriculture and Food. National Development Fund. Strategic Food Programs Foundation. Autonomous Institute National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents. National Institute for Women. National Statistics Institute. Venezuelan Social Security Institute. Organic Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents. Food Market, S.A. Common Market of the South (South America). Ministry of People’s Power for Food. Ministry of People’s Power for Higher Education. Ministry of People’s Power for Health. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Millennium Development Goals. Organization of American States. School Feeding Program. Venezuelan Food Producer and Distributor, S.A. Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. Economically Inactive Population. Gross Domestic Product. United Nations Development Program. IDENA’s Program on Protection and Dignity for Working Children and Adolescents. Act on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television. Anti-retroviral Therapy. Information and Communications Technologies. Supreme Court of Justice. Bolivarian University of Venezuela. Union of South American Nations. National Experimental Security University. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Comprehensive Protection Units. Specialized Comprehensive Protection Units. US dollar.
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UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA: HUMAN RIGHTS FOR A GOOD LIFE I. METHODOLOGY AND CONSULTATION PROCESS 1. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (BRV), in order to prepare the Universal Periodic Review, created an inter-institutional working group composed of the five branches of Government, under the coordination of the Ministry of People’s Power for Foreign Affairs, to conduct an internal dialogue and a timely and social consultation process. The outcomes of this process were outlined in a document underpinned by the Simon Bolívar National Project 2007 – 2013 1 which, first, defines the strategic vision of the nation’s development; second, is based on the guarantee of human rights of every person, inspired by the doctrine of the Liberator Simón Bolívar; and, third, strengthens a new inclusive and participatory social structure. 2. For the Venezuelan State and society, to responsibly participate in the process of designing, implementing and evaluating public policies at the different levels of governance is an active principle, based on public policies for social inclusion. Thus, the intervention in this mechanism developed by the UN Human Rights Council, has led to its fulfillment, by allowing people 2 to give their opinion on the policies’ bases from a human rights approach. 3. Training meetings, encounters and workshops were the main activities undertaken with the communal power, organizations and social movements, along with the cooperation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other bodies and entities that compose the Government. II. CONTEXT 4. The BRV is located in the north of South America; it has a population of 28,384,132 million people and a territorial extent of 916, 455 Km 2. It is a secular State and its official language is Spanish, being the indigenous languages used officially by indigenous peoples. 5. Venezuela is also characterized by its biological diversity, including ecosystems such as beaches, mountains, flat lands, desserts and jungles. Besides being a Caribbean State, it is also an Andean, Atlantic and Amazonian State. It is located among the six countries of greater natural diversity of the American continent. 6. Venezuela is considered in the world as a big energy player and as the country with the largest hydrocarbons reserve. It has large fresh water bodies, gas fields and other minerals. 7. Since the constitution-making process in 1999, Venezuela is experiencing a democratic and peaceful revolution towards the building of socialism. The State took over the commitment for the social, cultural, economic and political development enshrined in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (CBRV), in accordance with the principles of equality and full respect of human rights.
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8. Venezuela is a social and democratic State subject to the rule of law and justice. As the highest values of its legal order and performance, it advocates life, freedom, justice, equality, solidarity, democracy, social responsibility, and in general, the pre-eminence of human rights, ethic and political pluralism. 9. Venezuela is a decentralized Federal State under the terms enshrined in the Constitution, which reads: sovereignty is untransferable and resides in the people, who exercise it directly as provided in itself and in the Law, and indirectly, through the vote and the bodies exercising the Government. 10. The promotion and protection of human rights enshrined in the CBRV and all that are inherent to the human being, are guaranteed by the Venezuelan State through the implementation of public policies. III. HUMAN RIGHTS REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 11. The CBRV sets forth in a transversal way the universal and inalienable guarantee of human rights by taking into account modern trends which have been developed in the comparative law and international treaties. In its dogmatic section, specifically in the Title III, named “FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND GUARANTEES, AND DUTIES”, the CBRV enshrines across 111 articles the civil, political, economic, social, familial, cultural, educational, and environmental rights, as well as the Indigenous Peoples’ rights. 12. The promotion and protection of human rights are guaranteed by the bodies of the Government. These bodies have their exclusive functions, which are exercised on the basis of the principles of honesty, participation, speed, efficiency, effectiveness, clarity, cooperation, accountability and responsibility. 13. The State consists of Municipal, State and National Branches. Likewise, The State is divided into: the Legislative, Executive, Judicial, Electoral and Citizen Branches. 14. The Citizen Branch comprises the following bodies: the Office of the Ombudsman, Office of the General Attorney and the Office of the Comptroller –General. 15. The Office of the Ombudsman is in charge of promoting, defending and monitoring rights and guarantees enshrined in the Constitution and international treaties on human rights, as well as legitimate, common or collective interests of citizens. Among its functions, the Office of the Ombudsman has the responsibility of ensuring proper functioning of public services; bringing actions of unconstitutionality, protection, habeas corpus, habeas data, and other actions and resources required for fulfilling its functions. 16. The Office of the Ombudsman complies with the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions3. 17. The General Attorney Office has among its functions conducting prosecution of cases, ensuring respect for constitutional rights and guarantees during a judicial proceeding, as well as those set forth in the international treaties and agreements signed by the Republic. 18. The Office of the Comptroller –General of the Republic is the body in charge of the control, supervisory and monitoring of the expenditures, incomes, national and public goods, as well as operations relating to the aforementioned points.
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MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN PROTECTING AND PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS ERADICATION OF POVERTY 19. Venezuela is aware of the social debt that previous governments have had with the excluded people. Also, considering that poverty is a prevailing factor in the violation of human rights, Venezuela has persevered in implementing public policies aimed at eradicating poverty under the principles of universality, freedom from costs, equality, inclusion, solidarity, fairness and social justice. Principles that have forcefully contributed to the design of programs in order for public policies to be developed. 20. The Venezuelan State has got to decrease households in extreme poverty, from 21 percent in 1998 to 7.1 percent in 2010, according to studies conducted by the National Statistics Institute (INE). 21. These outcomes are the result of public policies aimed at improving the income and wealth distribution; raising successively the minimum wage, food vouchers for paid workers and pensioners; and gradually reducing the unemployment rate. This has had a positive influence on the improvement of the purchasing power of the abovementioned households and on the reduction in population inequality. 22. The creation and implementation of social missions 4 is a strategic response devised by the State in order to achieve the social action efficiency and to ensure human rights for people. 23. Venezuela has made an unprecedented investment on social issues during this decade, from 12,465,054 thousand dollars in 1999, to an accumulated investment of 393,478, 011 thousand dollars up to 20105, clearly duplicating 1999’s investment in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. 24. For the first semester of 2010, the Gini coefficient stood at 0.3898, which indicates that Venezuela is the country with less inequality in Latin America. 25. The ECLAC, supported by UNDP, has expressed that Venezuela is one of the countries in the region that has achieved a further reduction in inequality and poverty during the last decade. Moreover, FAO recognized that Venezuela ranks 10 th among the peoples with better nutrition in the world. 26. The Venezuelan State along with the popular power has successfully fulfilled the first aim of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of population in extreme poverty6.
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b. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS a. Right to life 27. The Venezuelan State guarantees the sanctity of life, as a basis for enjoying and exercising the other rights, when it expressly prohibits death penalty. Enhanced protection of this right covers conception, gestational cycle, mother-child health and goes on until the overall development of the person. This has had a positive influence on the birth mortality rate, which is 13.9 per 1,000 births in 2010, and on the life expectancy at birth, which goes even as far as 73.94 years. 28. Enforced disappearance of people and the slavery or servitude are constitutionally prohibited. Likewise, human trafficking, specifically women, children and adolescents trafficking in all its forms is criminalized. 29. Everyone has the right to a given name; to the surnames of their parents; to know the identity of his or her parents; to freedom of religion and worship; to freedom of conscience; to move freely within the national territory; to leave the republic and to come back; to associate with other people for lawful purposes; to assemble in public or private for peaceful purposes without prior consent; as well as the right to address requests to any authority and to obtain a timely and efficient response, for which a public service office has been created in the public bodies. ii. Right to citizen security 30. Citizen security is one of the upper values in the life of the Venezuelan people, and the State has the inalienable obligation to guarantee it. Historically, one of the major factors influencing the perception of insecurity of the population regards the general presence, performance and behavior of the different police forces. For that reason, the Venezuelan State considered extremely urgent to take on the re-structuring process of the police system which was used by previous governments to repress and control the most excluded people. 31. For that purpose, the National Commission on Police Reform (Conarepol, in Spanish) 7 was created in 2006, with the goal of building a new police model that is in line with the constitutional regulations, international principles of protection of human rights, and the demands of integration and equal provision of a police service. 32. The scientific and hard work undertaken by Conarepol led to: a rigorous diagnosis of the police forces’ features; an analysis of victimization surveys; a public consultation on demands of the community in this matter; and a set of recommendations. Subsequently, it made way for, in 2009, the Organic Law of the Police Service and the Bolivarian National Police Force 8 and to the Code of Conduct for civil and military officers performing police functions at national, state and municipal levels9. 33. With a basis in the preceding public policy, the State implemented by the end of 2009 the Comprehensive Plan for Prevention and Citizen Security, which reads: 1. the creation of the National System for Prevention; 2. the creation of the Integrated Police System; 3. the creation of the Bolivarian National Police; 4. the transformation of state and municipal police bodies; 5. the gradual consolidation of the Adversarial System of Criminal Justice that applies a protective model and other legislative reforms; 6. the fight against illicit drug trafficking; and 7. the Plan of Action to Humanize the Prisons System.
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34. With this plan, the National Experimental Security University (UNES, in Spanish) 10 was created as a part of the Alma Mater Mission, from which 4,222 officials have graduated and have successfully joined the Bolivarian National Police Force (CPNB, in Spanish) 11. Therefore, the police operating framework rate is fulfilled in line with international standards: “3,6 officers per 1,000 people� 35. The Bicentennial Arrangement for Citizen Security (DIBISE, in Spanish) is a national farreaching plan implemented in 2010, according to nationwide crime rate. In this arrangement national, state and local officers and communities work together with the support of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces. 36. It is important to stress that disarmament of the civilian population 12 and the fight against drug trafficking promoted a program in 2009 called Sowing Values for Life. This program trained 106 thousand community advisers involved in drug prevention programs 13. Additionally, Dibise goes to schools program, designed to run workshops regarding prevention to minimize the use of drugs and to provide an early warning to all educational institutions, was implemented in 2011. 37. According to 7th National Urban Citizen Security Survey14, by 2010 the number of victims of crimes decreased by up to 15.9 percent regarding 2009, while the proportion of people who perceive an increase in crimes decreased 18.5 percent. iii. Protection to people in natural disasters 38. Since 1950, urbanization in Venezuela was marked by an unplanned and rapid growth, deeply encouraged by the economic model underpinned by oil revenues. The high migration from countryside to big cities resulted in the settlement of countless households around these. This state of affairs, aggravated by the fact that more than half a century of absence of effective public policies in the area of housing, have led to continued threat of the right to life and to integrity of hundreds of families. 39. Since the end of 2010, the national territory have experienced one of the heaviest rainy seasons of this decade. This climate phenomenon, coupled with soils saturation (a result of environmental issues), provoked landslides and flooding from rivers and streams, affecting mainly the abovementioned family groups that, inter alia, lost their houses. 40. At this emergency and in order to deal with it, not in a temporary sense, but in a structural and holistic approach, the National Executive Branch asked for an Enabling Act. Through this Act, the Venezuelan State has immediately ensured basic needs of these families; also, it has created a legal order in this matter and has undertaken the Great Mission Housing Venezuela. 41. Likewise, the population started to exert a right that is not explicitly stated in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, but can be inferred from the mandate on Article 22: the right to dignified shelters specially designed for the comprehensive care of every national in case of emergency. This right is regulated by a special law 15.
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iv. Right to freedom of expression and information 42. The CBRV guarantees freedom of expression without censorship. Correspondingly, the person who exercises freedom of expression shall assume full responsibility for everything she/he expresses. Also, the right to truthful, relevant, impartial information and without censorship is recognized. 43. In order to oversee the realization of such rights, the State has created governing and regulatory bodies16. Similarly, the State has issued laws in that field, being the main one the Act on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television 17 which is intended to establish, for disseminating and receiving messages, social responsibility of radio and television service providers, electronic media providers, advertisers, national independent producers and users and, thus to encourage the democratic balance among their duties, rights and interests. This is aimed at promoting social justice and contributing to the citizen training, democracy, peace, human rights, and social and economic development of the nation. 44. Under this regulatory framework, the Venezuelan State has fostered the effective exercise of these rights through: 1. Creating 1,225 alternative and community media, which coexist with public and commercial media; 2. Creating 244 community radio stations throughout the country; 3. Granting 139 licenses to radio stations on Frequency Modulation (FM) to employers in the media sector, bringing the total to 469 radio stations at national level; 4. the 10 percent increase of licenses to State-owned FM radio stations18 5. Granting 32 licenses to commercial TV stations; and 6. Creating 37 community TV stations all over the country 19. Right to participation of the people in public affairs and right to vote 45. Venezuela experienced a crisis of the representative democratic system established in the Constitution of 1961, which was actually characterized by the monopoly of political parties and its total anachronism to achieve citizen participation in the management of public affairs. 46. The model of participatory, co-responsible and leading democracy of the population was enshrined in a transversal way in the CBRV. This model has led to substantial amendment of the electoral practice which runs from the concept of voting as a right, to enshrining of new ways of participation in the political, social and economic field 20: a new branch of the State was created, the Electoral Branch, which is in charge of ensuring the effective exercise of these rights. 47. In that sense, it is noteworthy to highlight the participation of the Venezuelan people, from 1999 to 2010, in 15 electoral processes 21. This demonstrates Venezuela’s democratic vocation, and reaffirms its sovereignty and self-determination through free, secret and universal vote. These elections are a clear indicator of political pluralism and total exercise of political freedoms given to Venezuelan people. What is more, this has been acknowledged by the Carter Center, the OAS and the hundreds of national and international social organizations that have participated as observers of these electoral processes22. 48. Likewise, it is noteworthy the leading participation of organized people in 41,235 communal councils with equal number of financial administrative areas (formerly known as communal banks), 319,290 registered cooperatives and 52 commune banks. Moreover, countless public consultations have been carried out, as well as processes of street parliamentarianism, citizen’s assemblies and positioning of the legislator People.
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49. It is worth mentioning the enshrining, in the whole current legal order, of the right to citizen participation23. vi. Access to justice 50. In Venezuela, the Justice System 24 consists of TSJ, 1,179 courts all over the national territory; the General Attorney Office with 1,852 prosecutors in all its branches; 873 ombudsmen; the criminal investigation bodies and assistants; officials at the service of the aforementioned bodies; the prison system; alternative means of justice; citizens that participate in the mentioned system and the accredited lawyers to exercise 25. 51. Within this context, the Venezuelan State guarantees to everyone the right to free access 26 to national courts to enforce her/his legitimate rights or common or collective interests, and the effective protection of the same ones. 52. The Judicial Branch has interpreted the right to access to justice not only at the procedural level, but as the basis of an essential public policy of inclusion aimed at creating and implementing new social functions, characterized by the immediacy as a principle to contribute to break away from the paradigm of the writing process, characterized by an excessive formalism that depersonalizes it. 53. Among the functions that the Judicial Branch has throughout the national territory, are worth of notice: children and adolescents, which relies on a total of 164 courts 27; protection for women to guarantee a life free of violence, it has 38 courts; agricultural law, it has 21 courts; and an increased labor function, totaling 335 courts on the understanding that conciliation, besides a technique, is a fundamental principle for peace in the sector. 54. The TSJ started a program from 2007 called Mobile Court Program, which consist of visiting different communities in the country, carrying out studies in order to determine the existence of a structured Right in slums that allows understanding the social situation and the original form of right, being the principle of fairness of immediate implementation. For 2010, this program had reached 10,773 consultancies. 55. From a strictly jurisdictional perspective, access to justice is significantly reflected in the disclosure of requests for constitutional review, lawsuits for collective or common rights and interests, actions for constitutional protection; as well as in the significant decisions issued by TSJ with the aim of guaranteeing the exercise of human rights 28. 56. In order to effectively ensure this right, The Judicial Branch has conducted restructuring, evaluation and training processes. This has led to a total of 1,910 judges 29, specifically 6.6 judges per each 100,000 persons. 57. Also, the Judicial Branch has a technological platform that ensures an efficient and transparent legal process for the person awaiting trial. This has allowed Venezuela to be considered as the second more modern and technically more advanced country of Latin America30. 58. Meanwhile, the General Attorney Office has created prosecutor’s offices specialized on gender violence; the prison prosecutors that are in charge of ensuring respect for human rights of those persons deprived of liberty, and the municipal prosecutor’s offices that have among their functions to intensify direct contact and communication with each community.
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SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS i. Right to food 59. According to FAO31, Venezuela is the fifth country in the world that explicitly recognizes the right to food in its national legislation 32. 60. With the aim of ensuring this right, the Venezuelan State has fostered food programs and network for providing foods at fair prices throughout the country, through the Venezuelan Food Producer and Distributor, S.A. (Pdval), Venezuelan Food Corporation, Bicentenary Markets, Food Market, S.A.(Mercal), and the Strategic Food Program Foundation (Fundaproal). 61. The implementation of these policies over the decade, has made possible for five million Venezuelans, among homeless children, elderly people and adults, to receive free food on a daily basis through programs such as school feeding programs 33 and food houses. Moreover, 12 million people have been taken care of through Mercal network allowance nationwide. 62. This has led to a daily intake for the Venezuelan people of 2,790 kilocalories, representing an increase of 40 percent if compared to 1998. 63. The 58 percent decrease of the infant malnutrition rate from 7.7 percent in 1990 to 3.2 percent in 200934, ranks Venezuela among the five States of Latin America with the lowest rate of malnutrition in children up to 5 years of age. 64. In its report 2010, the FAO included Venezuela on the list of countries with greater food security, which reflects the success of national policies in terms of food access and distribution. Venezuela has achieved the established Millennium Development Goal in this regard and it is currently working on strategies for leading the indicator to zero. ii. Right to education 65. In Venezuela, education is a human right and an obligation 35. The State, with joint responsibility with the family and society, undertakes education as an unquestionable function and as a great deal of interest at all levels and modalities, as an instrument of scientific, humanistic and technologic knowledge to carry out its own purposes. 66. Among the most important policies and actions carried out by the State in this decade to ensure equal opportunities in access to education, there are: 1. the elimination of tuition fees in national schools at all levels and forms till undergraduate education; 2. physical plant construction and maintenance of existing facilities 36, along with comprehensive care of students through a full eight-hour day, health care services and food monitoring; 3. a progressive investment in this matters that were under 3 percent of the GDP before 1999, and ended up ranking more than 6.1 percent of GDP for 2011, by adding the budget assigned to the MPPE and the Mppeu 37; 4. strengthening of the curriculum, with the addition of integration axes: comprehensive health and environment, interculturalism, liberating work, information technologies and free communication, language, human rights, culture of peace and sovereignty and integral defense of the nation; 5. encouragement to teachers’ continuous update and professionalism, as well as work stability; 6. inclusion of people with disabilities, by creating facilities and conditions that provide equal opportunities for this population; 7. to municipalize the university education and to recognize the university autonomy; and 8. development of science and technology, sports and recreation as education and public health policies.
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67. These policies have helped to break the cycle of social inequity, thus creating a milestone regarding the development of a new educational system 38 that articulates conventional and unconventional programs39 to expand educational opportunities at all levels and modalities. 68. In this regard, particularly remarkable is the alternative model for adults’ education, through the implementation of Missions Robinson I and II, Mission Ribas and Mission Sucre. Currently, Venezuela has an adult literacy rate of 95 percent 40, which indicates that Venezuela is within the group of countries free of illiteracy. 69. Meanwhile, school data shows positive results in terms of expansion and consolidation of school enrolment at all levels. Educational enrolment for 2009-2010 was 7.7 million children, youth and adolescents, thus implying an increase of 24 percent between 1998 and 2010. Likewise, the net enrolment rate increased 28 percent in initial education, 7 percent in primary, 24 percent in secondary school education and 98 percent in high education (with minor in Science and Humanity). The dropout rate in primary education was on average 2 percent between 1998 and 2010, while in the previous decade, the average dropout rate of primary education was 5 percent; there has been a decrease of 3 percentage points and for secondary education for the same period was 7 percentage points decrease 41. 70. Another policy that has impacted the sector is "Canaima Education Project"42 which, in its first phase, has distributed 743,000 computers to national, state and private schools, thus being considered as the cornerstone policy in the pursuit of technological literacy. In this sense, the creation of 2,250 Bolivarian centers for telecommunications and computing that benefit more than 6 million students throughout the education system is worth mentioning. 71. The Venezuelan Government has highlighted the strategic importance of university education, as an open space to continuous training for all, to ensure the participation of our society in social, political, economic and cultural transformation. Within this framework the Ministry of Higher Education was created in 2002. After the adoption in 2009 of the Education Act, the organization was renamed as Ministry of People’s Power for Higher Education. 72. With the aim of achieving universal access to higher education, the Government has designed and implemented its municipal development, in close collaboration with the communities. The Municipal development has joined the search for a territorial balance 43 and it has been one of the strategic guidelines for policies that contribute to universal university education, as it is defined by the Government, in seeking the supreme social happiness and good living. 73. On the one hand, it aims to bring university education to the places where students reside, in order to open its doors to everyone regardless of age, family commitments, income, or employment status. The university gets closer to the communities, in order to be accessible to those who work, those who care for their children, those who can not travel away from their homes, and for those who live far from large urban centers, thus guaranteeing the right to education for all. 74. This rapprochement between universities and communities opens the real possibility of universal higher education, and with it, ensuring the participation of all in the generation, transformation and social appropriation of knowledge as the key for the building of a socialist society characterized by ethic, solidarity, leading democracy, a new production model and respect for human rights.
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75. In 2010, UNESCO reports recognized Venezuela as the fifth largest country in the world with gross enrolment rate in higher education -with 85 percent- and the second in Latin America and the Caribbean. 76. In 2010, records show a total of 172 higher education institutions, out of which 77 are Staterun and 95 are private. With regard to enrolment in the sector, this has amounted up to 2,293,914 registered students, out of which 2,184,327 are undergraduate students and 109,587 are graduate students44. As a consequence, 70.3 percent of those registered correspond to public institutions and private institutions 29.7 percent. iii. Right to health 77. Health policies developed by the Venezuelan State are governed by the principles of universality, equality, solidarity, freedom of charge, participation and multiethnic and multicultural relevance. Strategies to enforce these policies have been: 1. to expand and strengthen timely and freely health services; 2. to reduce maternal mortality and child mortality in children under five years; 3. to strengthen the prevention and control of diseases; 4. to promote pharmaceutical security and sovereignty; 5. to increase prevention of accidents and violent events; and 6. to optimize prevention of drug use and ensure treatment and rehabilitation of the affected population. 78. In 2003, Mission Barrio Adentro (Inside the Neighborhood)45 was created, in response to the major health and social needs of the population living in inaccessible areas whose inhabitants had been denied the exercise of that right. 79. This mission rescued the philosophy and objectives of Primary Health Care (PHC) in Venezuela and currently works in several ways: Barrio Adentro I, which develops the primary health care; Barrio Adentro II, which extends medical services and diagnostics through the Integral Diagnostic Centers, Chambers of Comprehensive Rehabilitation and High Technology Centers; and Barrio Adentro III, which aims to strengthen the hospital network. 80. In 2006, Barrio Adentro IV began with the opening of specialized centers such as the Children's Cardiological Hospital, which has significantly increased attention to the area of pediatric cardiology, going from 141 cases in 1998 to 600 patients per year today, and extending its action to the attention of children from other countries in the Region. 81. Following the concept of Barrio Adentro I and II, 6,172 popular clinics, 533 Integral Diagnostic Centers, 570 Comprehensive Rehabilitation Rooms, and 31 High Technology Centers have been made available to community. These centers perform high complexity testing for free. There are also 4,781 national dental units and 459 popular optical centers, achieving a total of 284 million medical services till 2010, and providing up to 60 doctors per each 100 thousand inhabitants. 82. Barrio Adentro III has provided emergency aid at hospitals to 7 million patients. It has also provided in external medical care for 6 million and has performed over 300,000 surgical procedures, thereby allowing improving the quality of health of the population in general.
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83. Another important policy has been the enhancement of medical care for people infected with HIV-AIDS46. In this sense, it is worthy to highlight the participation of social movements and communities, the universal and free access to ART 47, drugs for opportunistic infections, breast milk substitutes for children up to one year of age, free access to blood safety and updated standards of medical care. They have treated 37,825 people, as well as 1,250 victims of work accidents. They have put 85 projects for prevention into practice, and have also increased the budget for all these programs. 84. Likewise, the following achievements are worth highlighting: 1. free vaccination for the population, especially for children; 2. creation of Mission José Gregorio Hernández, to ensure access to health care for people with disabilities, serving 13,072 people house by house. In a second approach, 16,672 people benefited from equipment and appliances; and 3. creation of Mission Miracle to assist people in need of eye surgery, in the framework of this mission 1,247,125 surgeries have been provided in the last five years, with an average of 249,543 per year48. 85. Currently, 24 million Venezuelans, who represent 80 percent of the population, are served by a total of 13,510 public health centers for free. iv. Right to culture 86. A decade ago, the Venezuelan Government began a dialectical process with the participation of diverse sectors of the cultural sphere. This right, invisible in the past because it was reserved to certain elites, began to be exercised by all Venezuelans, once they realized their creative, patriotic and leading role. The strengthening of institutions in the area 49 allowed for actions to consolidate projects and refund institutional bases by democratizing spaces for common ground. 87. The results of these policies are evident in: 1. the performance, during 2010, of 10,118 cultural activities, which involved 63,112 popular artists and the attendance of 782,127 citizens, resulting in the most successful cultural program of Venezuelan history50; 2. the creation of 24 printing houses in order to democratize the book as a tool to transform the consciousness of Venezuelans; 3. the creation of the Villa del Cine (Cinema Village) 51; 4. the opening of 144 regional and institutional community cinema halls; 5. the creation of 52 Librerías del Sur (Bookshops of the South) as well as the development of international book festivals; and 6. the creation of the Libertador Prize for Critical Thinking of the National Center for History. 88. Similarly, 25 museums and art galleries, 3 archaeological sites and 11 houses for Cultural Diversity have been created all along the country. The implementation of the Mission Culture and the creation of a Bachelor’s degree in Education with a minor in Cultural Development have made possible the graduation of cultural activists who are now working in 98 percent of the municipalities, including the communities of indigenous and African descendants. 89. Special mention has to be given to the National System of Youth and Children Orchestras of Venezuela, which is one of the greatest works of social inclusion of the Bolivarian Government. This initiative is dedicated to the pedagogical, occupational and ethical rescue of children and youth, through the learning and collective practice of music for the training, prevention and recovery of the country's most vulnerable groups. Due to its strengthening during this decade, the National System now includes 11 national orchestras and 13 nuclei with the participation of thousands of children and adolescents from all over the country in the last decade.
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Access to science and technology 90. The Venezuelan State has made a great effort to bring to all levels of the population, especially to the excluded sectors, the uses of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Strategies and policies, in this field, have been oriented to structure the National Science, Technology and Innovation System, as well as to strengthen the scientific culture in accordance with the Article 110 of the Constitution. 91. The Simón Bolívar Satellite is an achievement of great importance by the Venezuelan Government. Putting into orbit the Venesat-1 was a landmark for the development of telecommunications in our country. Beyond the benefits of operating our own satellite, the possibility of applying Telemedicine and Teleducation has reinforced the concept of technological development with social relevance as the Development Plan of the Nation 2007-2013 establishes. 92. Likewise, it is remarkable the technological literacy of more than one million Venezuelan people by the Infocentro Foundation, which has 737 operational infocentros52 across the national territory. 434 out of these infocentros are connected to Venesat-1. In addition, this Foundation was awarded UNESCO´s Prize for Social Inclusion. 93. On the other hand, studies on access to telecommunication done by the National Telecommunications Commission (CONATEL, in Spanish) have yielded the following figures: 1 st. 31 per 100 Venezuelan inhabitants have access to Internet, which represents approximately 8.8 million net users nationwide. By 2000, in Venezuela there were 273,534 subscribers, while by 2009’s fourth quarter there were 2,033,858 net users. This represents an increase of 600 percent. 2nd. Mobile telephony is the field that presents the greater increase, reaching 95 percent of the population with 28.2 million lines. vi. Right to a healthy environment 94. As a public policy, the State has developed constitutional obligations in this field, through the enactment of different legal instruments 53 aimed at promoting, protecting and guaranteeing the realization of the environmental rights. This regulatory framework has allowed Venezuela to be among the top countries in South America with the greater investment in this area. 95. Venezuela stands out for having 66.2 percent of its territory covered by protected natural areas. From this percentage, 16 percent is comprised of National Parks, Wildlife Refugees, among other strict protection categories. This indicator reveals the importance given by the State to biodiversity conservation, as well as the preservation of natural resources, environmental culture legacy, scientific research, healthy and conscious recreational activities, and other values through the protection of incompatible use zones. 96. In this context, conservationist committees in Venezuela have executed a total of 4,951 environmental projects, since the creation of the Tree Socialist Mission in 2006, through which 42.5 million plants have been planted. 97. Another policy that has made a big impact on the population is the express acknowledgement by the Venezuelan State to the human right of access to water as an autonomous and differentiated right, from which an adequate quality of life is derived 54.
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98. Traditionally, previous governments considered that providing rural and popular sectors with drinking water and sanitation was expensive. In this regard, the State, since the beginning of the decade, has undertaken a vast plan of investment in water/sanitation infrastructure all over the country. This made possible that, in a short term, a great number of Venezuelans had access to drinking water supply and sanitation services. 99. The outcome of these important investments reflects the increase of access to safe drinking water, by means of the domiciliary pipeline networks between 1999 and 2001, reaching, at this date, 84.8 percent of the whole population. This way, the MDGs were met in advance, whose objective was to halve by 2015 the percentage of the Venezuelan population without access to drinking water by 1990. Nowadays, more than 90 percent of the population has access to drinking water. vii. Right to social security 100. Social Security is a fundamental and inalienable human right. The Venezuelan State guarantees this right to all the nationals and legal aliens living in Venezuela, in accordance with the principles of gradual progress and social justice. 101. Comprehensive protection to social security is covered by several laws that regulate this field55 and ensure, inter alia, the granting of retirement, old-age, disability and surviving dependant pensions. 102. By means of special measures undertaken by the Venezuelan State, this right has been guaranteed to traditionally excluded groups such as fishermen 56, peasants57 and housekeepers58, whose monthly pension is equivalent to the minimum wage, reaching a total of 70 thousand pensioners. These special measures also include: to allocate 60 percent of the minimum wage to 100 thousand Venezuelans who never contributed to the social security provider 59; to allow all those people who had not completed the required number of contributions, to pay the difference and, that way, to be granted their pensions. These measures benefitted 42,994 Venezuelan people. 103. By 2010, the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS, in Spanish) reached a total of 1,804,087 beneficiaries. This is a significant growth taking into account that in 1998 there were 191.187 pensioners. Nowadays, there are 12,157,710 insured people out of which 7,188,203 are men and 4,969,507 are women. Access to the public service of mass transportation systems 104. During this decade the State has made outstanding efforts, first, to guarantee the free movement of people and goods all over the national territory; second, to make possible the economic activities regarding transportation and its related services; and third, to attain a new national geopolitics in order to articulate national territory by means of multimodal infrastructural paths.
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105. In this regard, it is noteworthy to mention that the Caracas Subway, with 28 years of operations, is the main mass transportation system of the Venezuelan Capital. It is connected with the rest of the State rail systems. The Caracas Subway also has the Metrobus service, which is a surface transportation system connected with the underground. Currently, the Caracas Subway transports two million users daily. Meanwhile, Los Teques Subway, inaugurated in 2006, has been used more than 41 million times, changing forever the life of its users. The Subway services have also spread to cities like Valencia and Maracaibo. 106. The Ezequiel Zamora Central Rail System, along its first stretch (Caracas-Cúa), from its inauguration in 2006 to 2010, has been used 56,042,037 times by the inhabitants of the peripheries. This train has made a great impact on the population’s good living. 107. The Simón Bolívar Rail System along its first stretch (Puerto Cabello-Acarigua) is primarily intended to develop the North-Coastal Axis, through a multimodal, modern, fast and cheap transportation system; which may be able to mobilize more than 400 thousand people and more than two million tons of freight per year. Nowadays, only freight is transported through this stretch. 108. Trolmérida, inaugurated in 2007, is a mass transportation system that comprises two trolleybus lines and a cable car system called Trol-cable. Currently, the trolleybus lines are operational and the cable car one is under construction. This is the first trolleybus system built in a city with less than 500 thousand inhabitants in Latin America. 109. San Agustín Metrocable is a cable car transportation system inaugurated in 2010. It is the first hi-tech mass transportation system built in a popular sector. Metrocable mobilizes around 15 thousand users daily, directly benefitting 40 thousand inhabitants of the San Agustin sector. Formerly, these people moved to the downtown by more time-consuming and expensive conventional transportation means. Metrocable is composed of 51 cars that provide users, even those disabled ones, with comfort and security. V. PROTECTION OF SPECIFIC GROUPS Women 110. In Venezuela there is a regulatory framework for the promotion and protection of women’s rights, namely: provisions of the CBRV; the Organic Law on the Rights of Women to a Life Free of Violence60; the reform to the Organic Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents (LOPNNA, in its Spanish acronym)61; the Law for the Protection of the Family, and Responsible Motherhood and Fatherhood62; the Law of Partial Reform of the Penal Code 63; the Law of Equal Opportunities for Women64; and the Law for the Promotion and Protection of Breastfeeding 65. 111. Based on this legislation, the Venezuelan State has established public policies in all its constituent institutions for the protection of the effective and efficient exercise of women’s rights, through the equality of opportunities, the adoption of positive measures to strengthen their right to non-discrimination, as well as the elimination of obstacles and prohibitions that are rooted in the socio-cultural patterns of our societies.
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112. In this regard, it is worthy to remark the creation of the Ministry of People’s Power for Women and Gender Equality66 in 2008. This Ministry comprises: the National Institute for Women (Inamujer, in Spanish) and its Regional Institutes, the National Office for the Defense of Women’s Rights67, the Women’s Development Bank (Banmujer), the Mothers of the Slum Foundation and the Women Care’s Offices and Shelters68. 113. Regarding the exercise of women’s political rights, it is noteworthy to mention: 1. alternating participation in the elaboration of the lists of candidates for public offices 69; 2. the Meeting Points with Inamujer70; 3. the School for the Exercise of Citizenship; 4. the Gender Subcommittee of the National Statistics Institute (INE), which includes afro-descendant and indigenous women groups. 114. Regarding the work sphere, a balance in the working force 71 has been attained; thus, progressively more women are employed and paid in the non-agricultural sector 72. This shows a decrease in the female unemployment rate from 12.5 percent to an 8 percent in 2009. 115. Meanwhile, National Public Health System addresses women’s integral, sexual and reproductive health issues. In this regard, in 2006 the Mother Project 73 emerged, which was formerly identified with the slogan “Healthy Mothers and Children”, and currently named Child Jesus Mission and it has 16 maternal shelters. 116. Aiming at fostering women’s economic development, Banmujer has trained a number of women on fields such as manufacturing, agriculture and provision of services. Likewise, between 2000 and 2010 women were granted with credits. 117. Regarding access to justice, 38 courts specialized on women and gender equality protection, as well as 59 Prosecutor’s Offices specialized on Violence against Women 74 have been created. Similarly, Specialized Technical Units for the Comprehensive Care of Female, Children and Adolescent Victims, and the Victims Care Unit at each Federal Entity have been established. Children and Adolescents 118. Since the enactment of LOPNNA75, the National System for the Protection of children and Young People enhanced its practical importance. The National System is ruled by the Autonomous Institute National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (Idenna, in Spanish). 119. Public policies regarding children and young people are based on a group of legal provisions76, resolutions, agreements and coordinated actions between the State and the organized society, in order for children and adolescents to fully realize their rights, especially for those of them who are at social vulnerability and risk. 120. In this regard, the creation of the Mission Children of the Slum by the Venezuelan State in 2008 is worth highlighting. This mission was created with the goal of expeditiously providing working, homeless and at risk children and adolescents under the tutelage of National Underage Institute77 with comprehensive protection. It is important to stress that the National Plan for familial inclusion is developed within the framework of this Mission. This Plan promotes the use of surrogate families as a mean to guarantee the integral development of those children and adolescents who are in custody of the State, under the figures of familial integration and adoption.
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121. Plans and strategies are implemented following three strategic lines, namely: 1. Prevention: at Community’s Comprehensive Protection Centers (CCPI, in Spanish) medical attention is provided for children and adolescents aged between 0 and 12 years, at social risk situation, in order to provide with comprehensive medical care in order for them to be able to fully exert their rights; and the Program on Protection and Dignity for Working Children and Adolescents (Prodinat, in Spanish); 2. Protection: through the Comprehensive Protection Units Program (UPI) made up of 33 Protection Unities and 4 Specialized Protection Units (UPIE); Comprehensive Care Centers (CAI), the program of communal shelters; and 3. Participation and organization: for the promotion and support to the Simón Bolívar Seedbed of the Nation Children and Adolescents Organization, to concretize their active and outstanding right to participate for those aged between 16 and 17. 122. Tutelage of this very vulnerable group is complemented by: 164 specialized courts; Prosecutor’s Offices, 275 public Defender’s Offices; Administrative Defender’s Offices of Protection and the Joint Commission Against Sex Abuse and Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, whose function is focused on the coordination of actions in order to gradually eradicate all forms of abuse and exploitation. Indigenous and afro-descendant groups 123. A well developed system for the protection of the indigenous peoples is entrenched in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, by recognizing their preexistence which is to be historically preserved in order to strengthen their sense of national belonging. This is possible by the acknowledgement of the contributions made by the indigenous and afro-Venezuelan cultures to the formation of our identity and essential social institutions. The Venezuelan State joins the international tendency of constitutional recognition of peoples’ rights as specific and originary rights; as well as by incorporating a multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual character which characterizes us as a democratic society. 124. All the above mentioned factor have led to profound political and cultural changes during this last decade, and also has caused a reorientation of the elaboration and execution of public policies, aimed at guaranteeing the respect for the validity of the aforementioned rights, as well as their effective exertion. This changes the old paradigm, which defined the indigenous peoples as simple recipients of policies, into a new paradigm in which these peoples are authentic participants in the implementation of such policies. 125. Along this vindication process of these rights, the National Boundary Commission for Indigenous Peoples' Habitat and Lands has advanced in the demarcation of their lands and habitat. Likewise, a special law in this field 78 and the Organic Law of Indigenous Peoples and Communities79 were passed. Also, the Ministry of People’s Power for Indigenous Peoples was created in 200780. 126. Similarly, these rights have been exerted within the current legal order through a total of 46 laws related to this field; this way, assumed obligations are complied by adopting international conventions and covenants. 127. The existence of State institutions, with specific bodies such as Defender’s Offices and Prosecutor’s Offices is worth highlighting. They were created in order to address different issues of indigenous peoples’ realities within all its complexity. Additionally, the incorporation of indigenous representatives as congressmen in the National Assembly and the federal and local deliberating bodies deserves special mention.
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128. Regarding education, the State has implemented mechanisms to foster the process of multilingual intercultural training and instruction, thus guaranteeing, with the cooperation of UNDP, the inclusion and permanency of indigenous languages such as Bari, Punme, Baniva, Warekena and Wayuu from Amazonas, Apure and Zulia states into the education system by printing schoolbooks translated into these languages. 129. Furthermore, the Indigenous University of Venezuela, the University of Indigenous Peoples and the University of Amazonas Territory were founded. Likewise, the Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UBV), the University Villages of Pendare and Gran Sabana, from the Pemon ethnic group, located in Bolívar state were opened. 130. After the creation of the Indigenous Health Direction appointed to the Ministry of People’s Power for Health in 2004, the right to health of 40 indigenous peoples distributed across the national territory is guaranteed. This right has been enhanced with the creation of the comprehensive community training program for medical doctors at the Latin American School of Medicine of La Habana81. More than 21 people from Wayuu, Pemón, Kariña and Barí, Warao, Añu, Yekwana and Yeral ethnic groups have graduated from this training program. 131. The creation of offices for services and guidance to the indigenous people, spread all through the eight indigenous populated states, continues to guarantee the access to a high quality care with an intercultural approach. Furthermore, 1,583 community agents for first aids, 310 Defenders of the Indigenous Health, 48 vaccinators and 95 cultural paramedics were added to the National Public Health System in 2007. 132. In 2005, the Presidential Commission for the Prevention and Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and other Distinctions within the Venezuelan Education System 82 was created. Furthermore, the Subcommittee for Legislation, Participation, Guarantees, Obligations and Rights of the Afro-descendants was created in 2008. The Permanent Commission for Indigenous Peoples of the National Assembly elaborated the Bill against Racial Discrimination, which was unanimously passed in first discussion at the National Assembly in 2011. VI. INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS, REGIONAL UNION AND INTEGRATION 133. With the development of internal public policies and the regional cooperation, Venezuela has encouraged transformation regarding the international context; the country has also put initiatives among the States into practice and has promoted the emergence of new mechanisms. Our country is inspired by the principles of people’s sovereignty and self-determination, thus it creates tools aiming to serve the States in the eradication of the social gaps caused by an old aged exploitation, colonial and neocolonial dominance which still persist in our region. 134. In virtue of the aforementioned, public policies from a human rights’ standpoint have been formulated. Mechanisms of union, integration, dialogue and regional political agreement in Latin America and the Caribbean have shown an interest in including a social political dimension, as well as a respectful, solidarity and human rights approach into the unity and integration agenda since 2000 and up to the present. Likewise, progress regarding these topics have been observed, as well as in the political and legally binding agreements in the realm of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur, in Spanish), the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America / People’s Trade Treaty83 (ALBA- TCP, in Spanish), the Union of South American Nations (Unasur, in Spanish) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac, in Spanish).
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135. Venezuela has strengthen its relations with the Human Rights Universal System, and has persevered in stepping forward cooperation through UNDP, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Venezuela, among others. In addition, high level meetings has been held increasing the flow of information and assistance in this field; this shows the commitment, fulfillment, respect and willingness to be assisted and to provide timely information about the advances achieved on human rights in our country. Venezuela is also building a progressive relation with all the special thematic procedures and bodies created in virtue of the Human Rights Treaties. OBSTACLES AND LIMITATIONS 136. Since the constitution-making process that elaborated the CBRV, this country is living a revolutionary process, which is pacific, democratic, and supported on our Liberator Simón Bolívar’s doctrine. This process is committed to the respect to its sovereignty and self determination, on the leading participation of the people, on the promotion, protection and realization of the human rights, as well as on the consolidation of a multipolar world, in the quest for the full happiness, a better quality of life and the wellbeing of the Venezuelan population. Being aware of this, the people has defended and consolidated the Bolivarian Revolution against internal destabilizing threats and against any intervention of a foreign power. 137. The implementation of public policies for social inclusion has not been an easy task, particularly because the miserably aligned Venezuelan opposition has not only persisted in defending the economic interests of foreign powers, certain social elites as well as the exclusive private productive sector, but also in overlapping these interests over Venezuelan people’s rights 138. Thus, on April 2002, Venezuelan democracy was the victim of a coup d’état supported by several sectors, such as the American Government, business and labor-union elites, all the opposition parties, and even a group of the Venezuelan catholic church. Consequently, they attained to overthrow the legitimately elected President Hugo Chávez Frías, during 48 hours; however, he was reinstated by the intervention and willingness of the Venezuelan people and the patriotic armed forces. 139. On December 2002, an illegitimate general strike took place. It was convened by Fedecamaras’ businessmen and supported by the labor center Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV, in Spanish). Subsequently, PDVSA’s senior officials joined this strike and fostered a national oil industry lock out lasting until February 2003, when defeat was admitted by them. It is estimated that Venezuela lost about 15 billion dollars during this sabotage. 140. On August 15th, 2004, an unprecedented electoral process was held, the Revocatory Referendum for the President Hugo Chávez Frías’ term, convened by the Venezuelan opposition. The outcome of this Referendum was the ratification of the current President of the Republic by most of the people. 141. Destabilizing actions has been unsuccessful in Venezuela. On the contrary, the democratic system, its institutions and leaders have gained on strength. In addition, an important social alliance with the popular power has been created with rock-solid foundations, enabling the State to implement public policies through social programs and missions. Both mechanisms are based on the promotion, protection and exertion of human rights, giving priority to the historically excluded sectors of the population.
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CHALLENGES 142. The fight against poverty is threatened by the so-called process of globalization, the neoliberal policies and the high food prices worldwide. However, ending poverty is not an impossible mission. In this regard, the Venezuelan State has emphasized the design, implementation and monitoring of a set of public policies to increasingly improve the quality of life of our people and their well being by investing the necessary resources in the social issues. 143. To fully guarantee the right to life and specifically to public safety is still a challenge. However, the efforts to design and implement public policies in this area aimed at combating it with an eminently scientific approach remain constant. 144. The promotion and protection of human rights must continue and deepen through sensitization and training of police, judges, prosecutors and public defenders in the field. For this purpose, the National Prosecutors College, the National Judicial College and the National Experimental University of Safety have been created and strengthened; all of the above are major initiatives in which the syllabus of studies are the subjects of human rights, as a central focus that contributes to their effective implementation. 145. The right to adequate housing is constitutionally guaranteed. However, the absence of public policies in this field for more than half a century combined with the effects of climate change have made it insufficient for the Venezuelan Government to meet the demands of a growing number of families struggling for a decent roof in this decade. The Great Mission Housing Venezuela, planned for the following years, is an enormous effort of the Venezuelan State to structurally address the problem of housing shortage in the country. 146. The activation of different actions for the promotion, protection and monitoring of human rights, with emphasis given to the enforcement of compliance with the rights of the Venezuelan sex-gender-diverse population is still a challenge. The Ombudsman’s Office has worked in this issue in a special way, but the efforts to expand its total coverage are still insufficient. In this regard, the Ministry of People’s Power for Communes has developed sensitization seminars with its staff to appropriately deal with this population in a conscious way. 147. The prison situation in the global scope is a problem that Venezuela has not escaped. Therefore, to guarantee human rights to the inmates is a real challenge for the Venezuelan State, however it continues to seriously and forcefully address this issue. It is worth mentioning that our Government has still to combat a legacy of over half a century in the form of a culture of gangs that made their business out of prison’s violence. 148. In 2008, Superior Council of Prisons was created in order to articulate all the bodies that comprise the justice system. This institution has submitted to the National Assembly the draft of the Organic Code of Prisons. Similarly, progresses have been made in assessing and diagnosing the procedural and criminal situation of prisoners. Inter-agency committees have been organized for the humanization of prisons. Also, a legal order and a ministry have been created and endowed with greater resources and autonomy for the Public Defender. Contingent actions have also been raised to strengthen and optimize the operation of courts with jurisdiction in criminal cases that promote their celerity.
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149. Ensuring the right to asylum and refugees is a challenge for the State, especially considering that there is a dynamic border between Colombia and Venezuela. Therefore, more actions are available for efficient operation of applications in this area. 150. The Venezuelan Government is strengthening their statistical systems for better monitoring and evaluating the public policies and programs focusing on human rights. 151. Training and creating awareness in all of our people as agents of their own development remains a challenge to build a better country. CONCLUSION: HUMAN RIGHTS TO LIVE LIVING 152. In presenting this report, BRV confirms its willingness to continue the dialogue and cooperation with the HRC and the OHCHR. The issue of human rights is very broad and difficult to cover in full in a document of this nature; however, it has presented an excellent opportunity to mobilize internal issues in our country, both governmental and from the society in general, and to obtain views on the exercise and fulfillment of human rights. Thus, it manifests a high commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights, recognizing the importance of this mechanism to produce forms of exchange and consultations according to which the country's historical political vision on this issue was analyzed. We confirm the importance of the conclusion of the Venezuelan State, popular power and other social organizations and movements, as this joint led to an interactive process of synthesis at all levels for the current session of the UPR at hand, and for the future.
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NOTES The Simón Bolívar National Project / First Socialist Plan sets out the main guidelines for a deep democracy in Venezuela, as well as for the economic and social development of the Nation for the period 2007 – 2013. This Plan consists of the following programmatic guidelines: I. New Social Ethics. II. Supreme Social Happiness. III. Revolutionary Leading Democracy. IV. Socialist Production Model. V. New National Geopolitics. VI. Venezuela: Global Energy Power VII. New International Geopolitics. 1
Due to the limitations in the number of words set for this document, it is not possible to a apply a gender-based approach in the writing of each article, noun and adjective. However, the gender approach is enshrined in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. 2
Human Rights Commission Resolution 1992/54 of March, 3, 1992. It is accredited by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. 3
Social Missions emerged as implementation bodies of the public policies directed to ensuring the fundamental rights of the population, such as education, health, food, identity, work, culture, among others. Emphasis was given to those sectors of the society historically excluded, without neglecting those already included. These Missions are allocated with extraordinary resources from the national Budget, and their coordination is inter-institutional and inter-ministerial. One of the essential elements for their creation and functioning is the active and leading participation of the organized communities. (See descriptive appendix) 4
This includes the expenditures agreed among the central administration and the provincial and municipal governments, PDVSA’s social inversion and FONDEM. (See appendix) 5
6
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Fulfilling the Millenium Goals 2010. Caracas, September 2010. ISBN 980-6456-12-2.
7
It was set up by the Ministry of Interior and Justice by Resolution of April 10, 2006.
It was published in the Official Gazette number 5,940 on December 7, 2009. This Law abrogated the Decree with the status and force of law on Police Service and National Police Force, through an extraordinary publication in the Official Gazette No. 5,880 on April 9, 2008. This Law was also the result of Conarepol’s work. 8
9
Resolution number 364 of September 21, 2006 of the Ministry of People’s Power for Interior and Justice.
10
As stated in the Official Gazette No. 39,120, dated February 13, 2009. Decree No. 6,616.
Another essential body for the implementation of this new police model is the Police General Council, whose function is to design the necessary public policies for the police reform and the implementation of the Organic Law on Police Service and National Police Force. 11
During 2011, the Presidential Commission for Disarmament was appointed and the Bill for Disarmament and Control of Ammunition was discussed at the National Assembly. This bill is aimed at establishing by laws, as well as recovering and controlling legal and illegal firearms and ammunition within the national territory. 12
By 2010, 63,820 kilograms of different kinds of drugs were confiscated; 12,955 people were arrested by means of 9.890 procedures. During the last years, 17 heads of international drug trafficking organizations have been transferred extradited. In this regard, in 2010, the National Plan against Drug Micro-trafficking has seized 12,182,550 doses. This means that more than 12 million doses did not reach consumers. 13
14
It was done by the Ministry of People’s Power for Interior Affairs and the Institute of National Statistics.
Decree with status and force of special law on Dignified Refugees for the protection of the population in case of emergencies or disasters. This Decree was published in the Official Gazette No. 39,599, on January 21, 2011, whose goal is to regulate the co-responsibility of both the people and the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, within the framework of the democratic and social State subject to the rule of law and justice. Its objective is the construction, conditioning, organization, comprehensive care and management of the refugees all over the country in order to protect the population in case of emergencies or disasters. 15
16
Ministry of People’s Power for Communication and Information and National Telecommunication Commission (CONATEL).
Law on Social Responsibility in Radio, Television and Electronic Media, published in Official Gazette No. 38,081 on December 7, 2004; and its reform published in the Official Gazette No. 39,579 on December 23, 2010, and reprinted due to material errors, in the Official Gazette No. 39,610 on February 7, 2011. 17
By 1998, 97% of the licenses of frequency-modulated sound broadcasting were in the hands of private media companies, and only 3% was managed by the public sector. Furthermore, there were no community media. 18
By 1998, the distribution of open television licenses was the following: 31 licenses were granted to commercial television stations; there were no community television stations. 19
20 These are tools for the participation and the leading role of the people exercising their sovereignty, namely: the election for public positions; the referendum; the popular consultation; the revocation of terms; the legislative, constitutional and constitution-making initiatives; the street parliamentarianism; hall-type meetings; and citizen’s assemblies -whose decisions are binding-. It is noteworthy the development of selfmanagement and co-management mechanisms, namely: the communal councils, the communes, communal savings banks and socialist production corporations; as well as the conformation of nomination and evaluation committees for the conformation of the bodies of the State, and the system of justice administration. 21
See appendix
23
These Organizations have not only made recommendations and suggestions to the Bodies of the Venezuelan Electoral Power, but have also congratulated this institutions for the progresses made, the transparency and plurality that characterize electoral processes. 23
See appendix
24
Regulated by the Law of the System of Justice, published in the Official Gazette No. 39,276 on October 1, 2009.
25
This System is allocated with no less than 2% of the annual ordinary budget by the Venezuelan State.
Venezuelan justice is free. The Judicial Power is neither authorized to set fees or tariffs, nor to demand payment for its services, in accordance with Constitutional Article 254. 26
There are 37 coordination offices for the Protection of the Child and the Adolescent nationwide; 12 superior courts, 76 lawsuit, advocacy and trial courts, and 39 small trial courts. 27
28
See appendix
It is noteworthy to mention that, in 2009, judicial policies focused on a new king of judge, and the Judicial Management Program was applied through the National School of Magistrates. Consequently, it was possible to provide specialized training in the judicial field which is related to justice administration. Among the students there were lawyers from the Bolivarian University of Venezuela. 29
30
According to the comparative study on e-Justice, published in the 13th Ibero-American Judicial Summit.
31
Annual Report. FAO.
Article 305 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Decree 6,071 with status and force of organic law on security and agricultural and food sovereignty, in an extraordinary publication of the Official Gazette No. 5,889 on July 31, 2008. 32
In the educative sphere, this right is fully guaranteed, benefitting more than 3,971,885 children through the School Feeding Program (PAE, in Spanish) 33
34
According to the estimates of the governing body in this field, the National Nutrition Institute and FAO.
It is democratic, multicultural, free of charge up to the undergraduate studies. Education is also compulsory in all its levels and it is comprehensive, high-quality, and egalitarian. Venezuelans fully exert this right, with no limitations other than their aptitudes, vocation and aspirations. 35
By 2010, 4,500 new educational institutions were built and 2,400 were restored along with the participation of the PTA and the Communal Councils. 36
37
Ministry of People’s Power for Higher Education.
Regulated, inter alia, by the Organic Law of Education, released in an extraordinary publication in the Official Gazette No. 5,929, dated 15 August 2009. 38
There are several forms of education provisions, namely: 1. Simoncito (initial education comprising two terms: nursery level from zero to three years; and preschool level, from three to six years, approximately). 2. Bolivarian Schools (education for children aged between six or seven to eleven or twelve years, approximately) 3. Bolivarian High Schools (education to the adolescent and youth aged between 12 or 13 to 18 or 19 years approximately). 4. Robinsonian Technical Schools (technical/vocational education to the youth and the adult). This is done by fulfilling the constitutional provision that education must be comprehensive and high-quality for all. 39
40
Education for All (EFA) report. Page 348.
National Voluntary Presentation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on implementing the Internationally Agreed Goals and Commitments regarding education, July 2011. 42 It develops according to the agreement between Portugal and Venezuela. 41
43
This is included in the National Plan for Economic and Social Development (2001-2007)
44
Undergraduate figures include the Mission Sucre students.
45
Within the Framework of the Cuba-Venezuela Agreement.
National AIDS/STD Programme reports to the Direction of Programmes of the Vice-Ministry of Collective Health Networks of the Ministry of People’s Power for Health, and is intended to plan, establish norms, accompany and manage the financing for the multispectral response to HIV and other STD. Additionally, it provides management, epidemiologic vigilance and assistance. This program represents the political and programmatic response to the comprehensive care of HIV. The main areas of this program are those of Education and Prevention in its four axes: the Integrated National Program for the Control of Tuberculosis (it identifies and manages HIV and tuberculosis co-infections); National Program of Blood Banks; the National Reproductive Health Program, the National Epidemiologic Directorate (STD Epidemiologic Vigilance). 46
47
Anti-retroviral therapies.
25
Likewise, the State through the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS) carries out nationwide assistance program, among which there are: attention to renal patients, there are 137 units of hemodialysis with the capacity to attend 10,541 people; pharmaceutical services: with special coverage of high-cost medicines, guaranteeing treatments for degenerative diseases; a network composed by 68 clinics for patients requiring long terms of hospitalization, with capacity for 4,455 people; educational and therapeutic care under the modality of agreement to people with shearing and motor needs; as well as broader clinical and dentistry laboratory services totally for free. 49
Among them there is its regulatory body: Ministry of people’s Power for Culture and its 33 attached bodies.
50
Ministry of People’s Power for Culture. 2010 report and accounts.
51
The Cinema Village has filmed 378 feature films and short movies, as well as 303 funded films.
The Infocenter program dates back to September 2000, when the pilot center was opened in Parque del Este, Caracas. In 2001, the Government opened 240 fully operational Infocenters nationwide. This initiative enforces Decree 825 which officializes the use of Internet as a priority for the cultural, economic, social and political development of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The initial investment was 17 billion bolivars and was basically devoted to the democratization of Internet, provided at no cost. In May 2007, the Infocentro Foundation was created and appointed to lead the program. This foundation is attached to the Ministery of People`s Power for Science and Technology. The foundation must provide the suitable facilities (Infocenters, Mobile Infocenters, Infospots), technological infrastructure (computers and other device, connectivity, software applications), human resources (personnel of the Foundation, coordinators, supervisors and social network trainers), networks to articulate the mechanisms of the foundation and the community for their social and technological training. All of the above is to be done in the framework of a plan to fully integrate and articulates the variety of projects that express the foundation’s policies, with the view to achieving its main objectives. In February 2010, in the framework of the reopening of the Infocentro Proyect, a new era began under the sign of the Infocenters’ management transfer to the organized communities. 53 See appendix on Environmental acts. 52
It is defined as “the right of everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, affordable water for personal and domestic uses”. Through this definition the principles of equity, sustainability, participation and solidarity are included, which are essential elements for both the conservation of this resource and the safeguard of the human dignity. 54
The Law of Social Security, released as an extraordinary publication in the Official Gazette No. 5,891, dated July 31, 2008. Partial reform of the Law of the Statute on the retirement and pension system for the national public administration officials and employees, from the provinces and municipalities, published in the official Gazette No. 38,426 dated April 28, 2006. 55
56
57
Decree No. 7,402, published in the Official Gazette No. 39,414 dated April 30, 2010. Idem
58
Decree No. 5,370, published in the Official Gazette No. 38,694, dated May 30, 2007.
59
Decree No. 5,316, published in the Official Gazette No. 38,673, dated April 30, 2007.
60
Published in the Official Gazette No. 38,668, dated April 20, 2007.
61
Extraordinary publication in the Official Gazette No. 5,859, dated December 10, 2007.
62
Published in the Official Gazette No. 38,773, dated September 20, 2007.
63
Extraordinary publication in the Official Gazette No. 5,768, dated April 13, 2005.
64
Extraordinary publication in the Official Gazette No. 5,398, dated October 26, 1999.
65
Published in the Official Gazette No. 38,763, dated September 6, 2007.
66
Decree No. 6,663, published in the Official Gazette No. 39,156, dated April 13, 2009.
In 2010, through the Office for the Defense of Women’s Rights 10,574 women were assisted, to whom free legal assistance, drafting of legal documents and psychological assistance were provided. Nationwide, there are two shelters to accommodate women for whom their stay at home implies threats to their lives. In 2007, one hundred women and their children threatened of death were fostered. 68
This element has allowed that in successive electoral processes, such as the parliamentary elections in 2010, 29 women were elected. This means that in the institutions of the State, women have gotten important seats in the decision making process. 69
The National Public Power is comprised by: The Judicial Branch: It is composed by 32 magistrates, out of which 13 are women, as well as the president of the main justice body, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ). The Citizenship Branch: the National Ethics Council comprises three institutions, two of which are headed by women, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Office of the Ombudsman, respectively. The electoral Branch: It is constituted by five rectors, out of which four are women, and one of them is the President of the National Electoral Council.
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They are community women organizations created with the sponsorship of Inamujer, and whose fundamental role is to defend women’s rights within the Popular Power as reflected through the communal councils. The meeting locations are, in some way, branches of Inamujer, since their main goal is to struggle for the progress of women from the foundations by democratizing the awareness of their rights. 70
During the last twenty years women workforce has increased 150%, which is a significant breakthrough in the last decade. This translates into an average of almost 150 thousand positions for women per year. The previous figure of 1,991,086 women (34.5% of women aged between 15 and 64) participating in the work force in 1989, rose to 4,818,948 (49.7% of women aged 15 – 64 years) in 2008. This proportion has stabilized in about 50% since 2005. 71
The outcome of this indicator reflexes a greater women’s participation in economic activities and their major contribution to the production process, different from the so-called traditional activities. 72
It emerges in the national municipalities with the greater rate of deaths for endemic diseases, vaccine-preventable diseases and maternal disorders associated with pregnancy, childbirth, puerperium and gynaecological troubles. 73
In accordance with the international obligations undertaken by signing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará). 74
This legal instrument has been primarily intended to guarantee the full enjoyment and exertion of their rights and guarantees to all the children and adolescents living in Venezuela, through comprehensive protection that must be provided by the State, the society and the family since the very moment of their conception. As the principle for the implementation of the law, there is the “Best Interest of the Child”, which must be fulfilled in decision making processes involving children with the goal of ensuring their comprehensive development. 75
Among the promulgated legal instruments, the most relevant of which is the Organic Law of Civil Registry that fully realizes the constitutional guarantee for the right of everyone to identification and to be registered in the Civil Registry for free and guaranteeing the inclusion of children; the Law for the Protection of Children and Adolescents in Places for Internet, Videogames and other Multimedia Uses and the Law for the Prohibition of War Videogames and War Toys. 76
77
It regards those registered at the former National Underage Institute.
78
Published in the Official Gazette No. 38,344, dated December 27, 2005.
79
Published in the Official Gazette No. 37,118, dated January 12, 2001.
By 2009, the Ministry of People’s Power for Indigenous Peoples has identified 2,856 communities all over the national territory, and more than 800 thousand indigenous people from the various communities. As an outcome of this process of identification and dignifying the indigenous population has grown. This growth will be validated through the census that will take place on October 2001. 80
81
Within the framework of the Cuba-Venezuela Agreement.
82
Decree No. 3,645, published in the Official Gazette No. 38,182, dated May 9, 2005.
In 2004, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America / People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA/TCP) was supported and created. This alliance emerged as a counterproposal and a geopolitical and economic project granting priority to social issues, in keeping with the gestation of a multipolar world. 83
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