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The UN has been investigating murders, torture, violence and disappearances in Venezuela for a year. The team was unable to enter the country, as Venezuela’s ambassador to the UN described the mission as a “hostile act,” the BBC reports.
Venezuela has been going through a difficult economic and political crisis for several years. More than five million people have fled the country. The current power struggle between authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who has declared himself interim president and has the backing of the United States and many European countries, is exacerbating the crisis.
In the report Unveiled on Wednesday, UN investigators write that Venezuela’s security service has been using violence since 2014 to suppress political opposition and terrorize the country’s population. These are not isolated events, but systematic actions.
According to the UN Human Rights Council, President Maduro and the country’s political leaders are well aware of what is happening and are sometimes directly involved in individual cases. 45 people were held directly responsible, a list that could later serve as the basis for prosecution in an international court.
A typical approach It is that weapons are planted in an area that is perceived as loyal to the political opposition. Then the security forces broke in and shot people dead. Others are arrested and tortured. Venezuela stands out as a country with a high proportion of murders that are sanctioned by the state, the researchers write.
The UN Human Rights Council also claims that many have been arrested and tortured in connection with protests critical of the regime.
The report is based on 223 cases, but the UN Human Rights Council has identified almost 3,000 more cases.
