Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will call for the removal of the Law for the audit, regularization, action and financing of non-governmental and related organizations proposed by the Venezuelan authorities.

The UK firmly supports the right of civil society to operate freely in all countries, including Venezuela. Recent years have seen a worrying deterioration of the human rights situation in Venezuela, where the Maduro regime has used force against peaceful protesters, stifled media freedom, carried out arbitrary detentions and harassed journalists and human rights defenders. The UK is closely monitoring the proposed Law on control, regularization, operations and financing of non-governmental and related organisations, which would limit further the civil and democratic space. We raised the proposed bill at the UN Human Rights Council in March. We urge the Venezuelan regime to undertake constructive dialogue with the international community to ensure this space is protected in accordance with International Law.