The Independent International Mission of the United Nations (UN) for Venezuela stated this Tuesday that it sees reasonable grounds to believe that the Government of Nicolás Maduro committed “crimes against humanity” before, during and after the presidential elections of July 28. , marked by the persecution of opponents and the repression of protests after the elections.
In a 158-page report covering the period from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024, the mission accuses security forces and pro-government armed civilian groups of murders, forced disappearances, acts of torture and sexual violence and gender.
The security forces were “massively involved” in human rights violations such as arbitrary arrests, excessive use of force to repress protests, or cruel and degrading treatment, the document indicates, pointing to the civil intelligence services (SEBIN) as responsible. and military (DGCIM), as well as the Bolivarian National Guard and the National Police.
He also assures that “the statements of the highest authorities of the State, especially after July 28, incited repression and contributed to generating a climate of hostility and violence.”
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Other institutions highlighted in the report are the National Electoral Council, which “failed to comply with basic measures of transparency and integrity”, the National Assembly, “instrumental in the approval of new laws contrary to human rights and restrictive of civic and democratic space”, or the justice system, which “continued to operate with a lack of independence.”
Although previous reports from the mission established in 2019 already accused the Venezuelan State of serious human rights violations, the new document highlights that the profile of the victims of repression “expanded significantly” in the electoral period, covering not only leaders of the opposition and social.
In the electoral context, abuses were also suffered by “ordinary citizens, simply for demonstrating their disagreement with the Government or with the results of the presidential elections announced by the authorities,” he indicated.
mission president
The mission chaired by the Portuguese jurist Marta Valiñas highlights in the report that in the 10 months prior to the elections at least 48 people were arrested in relation to conspiracies invoked by the Government, many of them in the so-called White Bracelet operation, and in the election campaign there were another 121 arrests for collaborating in opposition activities.
These types of campaigns “served as justification for the selective repression of the military, politicians and civil society activists,” said the report of the group of experts, which together with Valiñas is made up of the Chilean Francisco Cox and the Argentine Patricia Tappatá.
Repression increased after the election results, when the authorities, according to the report, “launched an unprecedented campaign of mass and indiscriminate arrests,” with a number of arrests, which could be counted in the thousands, “only comparable to the protests of 2014, 2017 and 2019”.
Geneva / EFE
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