A/HRC/44/20 23. From 1 July 2019 to 31 May 2020, the non-governmental organization Observatorio Venezolano de la Conflictividad Social reported 2,689 protests demanding civil and political rights. 21 While some restrictions to the right to peaceful assembly were documented, security officers generally showed restraint and, in most cases, complied with international norms and standards on crowd management. The Government implemented training programmes and activities for security forces on the use of force and human rights standards.22 24. Security forces were also deployed in the context of opposition and student protests, with reports of intimidation of demonstrators, preventing them from reaching their planned destination or from gathering before the protest began. This was the case during national protests organized by students and members of the opposition on 16 and 21 November 2019. More than 20 people were reportedly arrested, including six human rights defenders who were monitoring the demonstrations in Cojedes State. In Lara State, five people were detained for two months. 25. OHCHR also documented attacks by pro-Government armed civilian groups (known as armed colectivos) against political opponents, demonstrators and journalists. Security forces made no effort to prevent these attacks. On 11 February, Government supporters and alleged armed colectivos attacked 12 journalists covering the arrival of Juan Guaidó at Maiquetía International Airport. On 29 February, in Lara State, members of armed colectivos attacked demonstrators and journalists who had gathered at a political rally convened by Mr. Guaidó. High-level officials often discredited the victims after the attacks. The opposition demonstrations of November 2019 were preceded and followed by acts of intimidation on social media against some journalists by alleged sympathizers of the Government and public officials. There were also reports of blocked access to social media around key protest dates. 26. In addition to limited access to public data and, in many cases, to self-censorship for fear of reprisals, media workers continued to be victims of threats and harassment (see para. 42). 27. Non-governmental organizations, especially those critical of the Government, continue to face obstacles in carrying out their work. OHCHR observed significant delays in the registration of new organizations or the updating of mandatory legal information owing to the length of the documentation review process. High-level officials also made negative statements seeking to discredit several human rights defenders and nongovernmental organizations and reiterated declarations about plans to adopt a law that would criminalize activities of organizations receiving funds from abroad. 28. OHCHR registered five forced evictions of the headquarters of trade unions in Bolívar State and five raids by security forces of the headquarters of political parties, nongovernmental organizations and media offices. There also continued to be threats to the independence of universities, in particular harassment of and judicial proceedings against some university authorities. 23 OHCHR welcomes the decision by the Supreme Court of Justice, in February 2020, to suspend the August 2019 measure that threatened university autonomy, hoping that it paves the way for a negotiated and sustainable solution consistent with university autonomy.24 29. In November 2019, the Government announced a new national security plan involving the use of the Bolivarian Militia to “secure peace” and the distribution of over 21 22 23 24 6 Calculations made on the basis of reports provided by the organization. See www.observatoriodeconflictos.org.ve/ (in Spanish). Response from the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the OHCHR questionnaire. Aula Abierta,“Informe preliminar: violaciones a la libertad académica, autonomía universitaria y otros derechos de los universitarios en Venezuela” (2019). Supreme Court of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Decision No. 0047-2020, 27 February 2020. In August 2019, the Supreme Court ordered public universities to conduct elections to appoint university authorities following new election rules and allowing the Ministry of Education to appoint new authorities if universities failed to organize elections in a six-month period.