A/HRC/45/CRP.11 steps required by law.125 On 1 September 2016, a massive protest was held, referred to as “Occupy Caracas”, to demand the referendum.126 79. On 20 October 2016, the National Electoral Council postponed the recall process indefinitely, due to alleged fraud in the signature-collection.127 The suspension of the recall process increased tensions further, as lawmakers in the National Assembly announced that they would explore options for impeachment. On 26 October, the opposition called for a protest called “Occupy Venezuela”, in which hundreds of thousands of people participated. 128 80. In October and November, the international community made a fresh attempt to facilitate dialogues between the Government and the opposition, with the Holy See seeking to mediate. A leaked letter from the Holy See to the Government and opposition made reference to Government failure to implement urgent measures to alleviate the serious crisis in the supply of food and medicine, as well as failure to restore the constitutional role of the National Assembly and to release political detainees, among others. 129 The dialogues ended in January 2017. C. March 2017-December 2017: Escalation of Political Crisis 81. In late March 2017, the political crisis spiked following the Supreme Court’s issuing of two judgments that disrupted the constitutional order. On 28 March, the Supreme Court issued Judgment No. 155,130 ordering the President to take broad “civil, economic, military, criminal, administrative, political, legal and social measures” to ensure governability in the country.131 It also eliminated parliamentary immunity, referring to acts of the National Assembly as “treason,” and implying that deputies could be committing military crimes.132 82. The following day, 29 March, in Judgment No. 156,133 the Supreme Court held that it was assuming the legislative powers of the National Assembly, based on the legislature’s alleged continued contempt of the court’s decision regarding the participation of parliamentarians from Amazonas state (see above).134 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 See Report of the National Electoral Council, 6 August 2016, available at: http://www.cne.gob.ve/web/imagen/publicidad/2016/presentacion.pdf. See press release of the National Electoral Council, 10 June 2016, available at: http://www.cne.gob.ve/web/sala_prensa/noticia_detallada.php?id=3455. See CiberCuba, protestas en Venezuela el 1ro de septiembre de 2016, 2 September 2016, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL_98aNknoc; See also, Venezuelan Observatory on Social Conflict, “Conflictividad social en Venezuela en septiembre de 2016”, September 2016, available at: http://www.observatoriodeconflictos.org.ve/oc/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Conflictividad-social-enVenezuela-en-septiembre-2016.pdf. See http://www.cne.gov.ve/web/sala_prensa/noticia_detallada.php?id=3483. See La Patilla, Así fue la toma de Venezuela en Caracas – 26 de octubre, 26 October 2016, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfjjyh2zEp4. See letter from Cardinal Pietro Patrolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, to the Government of Venezuela and the Democratic Unity Roundtable, 1 December 2016, available at: https://www.infobae.com/america/america-latina/2016/12/07/la-carta-completa-que-el-vaticanoenvio-al-regimen-de-nicolas-maduro-y-a-la-oposicion/. Judgment No. 155 of 28 March 2017, available at: https://pandectasdigital.blogspot.com/2017/03/sentencia-n-155-de-fecha-28-de-marzo-de.html. Judgment No. 155 of 28 March 2017, chapter VIII, art. 5.1.1. Ibid., chapter VII (“It is appropriate to mention that parliamentary immunity only protects […] the acts carried out by the deputies in exercise of their constitutional powers (which is not compatible with the current situation of contempt in which the National Assembly finds itself)). Judgment No. 156 of 29 March 2017, available at: https://pandectasdigital.blogspot.com/2017/03/sentencia-n-156-de-fecha-29-de-marzo-de.html. Ibid., chapter IV, art. 4.4 (“It is advised that as long as the situation of contempt and invalidity of the actions of the National Assembly persists, this Constitutional Chamber will guarantee that parliamentary powers are exercised directly by this Chamber or by the body that it delegates, to ensure the rule of law”). 19