A/HRC/RES/45/20 4. Expresses deep concern that insecurity of tenure, lack of transparency in the process of designating judges and prosecutors, precarious working conditions and political interference, including in respect of members of the Supreme Court lacking personal independence from the authorities and the ruling party, undermine the independence of the justice system, contribute to impunity and the persistence of human rights violations and hinder the holding of free, fair, transparent and credible elections; 5. Strongly condemns the widespread targeted repression and persecution on political grounds, including through the excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, ill-treatment, extrajudicial execution and enforced disappearance by the security forces, and the violations of the independence of the National Assembly, including against its leadership and in the exercise of its functions concerning the National Electoral Council and through the violation of the rights of its members, their relatives and support staff, as well as the intervention in the autonomy and composition of several political parties; 6. Urges the Venezuelan authorities to adopt appropriate measures to address reported acts of violence and harassment; sexual violence against women and girls in detention in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which includes accounts of physical, sexual and verbal abuse, threats and intimidation; the sexual exploitation of women and girls for food, protection and privileges; and the ill-treatment, torture and denial of rights of women human rights defenders, nurses, teachers, civil servants, political prisoners and detainees in detention centres; 7. Welcomes the recent pardon of 110 people, most of whom had been arbitrarily detained, forced into exile or held under precautionary measures, and urges the Venezuelan authorities to immediately release all political prisoners and all other persons unlawfully or arbitrarily deprived of their liberty, prioritizing those particularly vulnerable to the COVID19 pandemic and those identified by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the independent international fact-finding mission and the Office of the High Commissioner; 8. Calls upon parties in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to engage promptly in, or in support of, a process that will ensure the holding of free, fair and credible presidential and parliamentary elections, with an independent national electoral council and an impartial Supreme Court, as well as full freedom of the press and the unfettered political participation of all Venezuelans and all political parties, without fear of repercussions or interference, respecting international standards; 9. Expresses deep concern at the human rights and environmental situation in the Arco Minero del Orinoco region, which is the site of labour exploitation of miners, including child labour, human trafficking and forced prostitution, and expresses particular concern about the violations of the rights of indigenous peoples in the region; 10. Deplores the restrictions to civic and democratic space, including under the “state of alarm” decreed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the continued killings of young men by security forces in marginalized neighbourhoods characterized by high levels of insecurity; 11. Expresses profound alarm that the independent international fact-finding mission found reasonable grounds to believe that the following crimes against humanity were committed in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela since 2014: murder, imprisonment and other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, enforced disappearance of persons, and other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health; 5 12. Decides to transmit all reports and oral updates of the High Commissioner on the situation of human rights in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the report of the independent international fact-finding mission to the General Assembly, and recommends that the Assembly submit them, in particular the report on the situation in the Arco Minero del Orinoco region, to all relevant United Nations bodies for appropriate action; 5 A/HRC/45/33, para. 161. 3