A/HRC/44/54 III. Access to justice, including for violations of economic and social rights 17. Victims of human rights violations continue to face legal, political and socioeconomic barriers in accessing effective justice, with women experiencing genderspecific challenges. A. Violations of the rights to life and security of person 18. In cases of violations of the right to life allegedly committed by security forces, OHCHR identified obstacles faced by the Office of the Attorney General to conduct effective investigations. One main structural obstacle is that criminal investigations concerning crimes allegedly committed by members of security forces depend on the forensic work of the Bureau for Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigations, which reports directly to the Ministry of Interior, Peace and Justice. The Ministry supervises other security agencies, such as the Bolivarian National Police and its Special Action Forces, creating a potential conflict of interest and compromising the independence of the investigation. The Bureau for Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigations also conducts security operations, and some of its members have themselves allegedly been involved in killings.25 Furthermore, OHCHR was informed that the operational capacity of the criminal unit against the violation of fundamental rights, created by the Office of the Attorney General to conduct its own forensic investigations into cases of human rights violations committed by security forces, has been significantly diminished since 2017. 19. The latest information provided to OHCHR by the Office of the Attorney General indicates that from 1 August 2017 to 30 November 2019, investigations were opened relating to alleged human rights violations by 766 members of security forces. This led to 505 officials being charged, 390 detained and 127 convicted. Of the convictions, 77 pertained to violations of the right to life, 18 to torture and ill-treatment, 6 to violations of the right to integrity, 3 to violations of the right to liberty, 6 to sexual violence, and 2 to enforced disappearances. 20. In cases of deaths in the context of protests, relatives of victims informed OHCHR that despite numerous requests for information from the Office of the Attorney General, the Bolivarian National Guard had refused to provide the names of officers who had participated in related operations. OHCHR also identified a high turnover rate of prosecutors and judges in such cases, causing continuous delays in the proceedings and therefore exacerbating the trauma of families. In the few cases where members of security forces had been charged, there were numerous adjournments of the trial. Interviewees informed OHCHR that when security officials are detained, they are not held in the detention centres as ordered by the judiciary, but in police compounds where they reportedly receive preferential treatment. 21. The Office of the Attorney General reported it had registered 958 cases of human rights violations related to protests that took place in 2014, 2017 and 2019. Of these cases, 474 were under investigation and 406 cases had been dismissed. A total of 44 individuals had been charged in relation to the cases while 10 others were in detention awaiting the outcome of their trials. 26 The information the Government provided did not specify if members of security forces had been convicted for human rights violations committed in the context of protests. 22. When deaths occur in the context of security operations, the modus operandi of such operations presents additional challenges for relatives of the victims who are seeking to access justice. OHCHR documented that after such killings, security forces were usually unwilling to give families information on the whereabouts of the victims. After days of searching, family members generally find the victim’s body in a morgue. Families regularly observed evidence of crime scenes having been manipulated to suggest a confrontation 25 26 A/HRC/44/20, para. 35. Information provided by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to OHCHR on 2 June 2020. 5