The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, presented this Friday on an update of her report on human rights in Venezuela.
Bachelet denounces that the forces of the Nicolas Maduro regime killed more than 2,000 people between January and August of this year.
“I am concerned about the high numbers of deaths of young people in marginalized neighborhoods as a result of military operations. My office registered 711 deaths from June to August, reaching more than 2,000 deaths since January 2020,†Bachelet told the Human Rights Council.
The former president of Chile expressed her concern about the decisions of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) that obstruct freedoms, about the non-consensual appointments of the National Electoral Council (CNE) , and the electoral changes. “It is crucial that in the coming months the civic and democratic space is protected, ” she said, ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 6.
She then said that his office continues to document cases of repression in peaceful protests in Venezuela, under the “state of alarm”, including arrests and deaths of protesters. “In Venezuela, restrictions on freedom of expression, the application of the Hate Law, attacks on defenders and journalists continue,” she stressed.
She also denounced her concern about the stigmatizing speeches of the country’s authorities, which hold those who return responsible for introducing the coronavirus into Venezuelan territory. “33% of the deaths from COVID-19 in Venezuela have been of health personnel, mainly due to the lack of protective equipment and water,” he denounced.
Finally, she argued that the pandemic was added to other pre-existing emergencies, such as food. She said that the rate of childhood acute malnutrition is around 15% and that some stop eating so that another family member can do so.
This update came after an International Mission commissioned by the UN to investigate the human rights situation in Venezuela once again focused on the brutality of the Venezuelan regime. It is that the global pandemic, the economic consequences, and some changes of political color in the region had removed the already known from the center of the debate.
In the 21 pages, the dictator Nicolas Maduro and his defense ministers, Vladimir Padrino Lopez ; and from the Interior, Nestor Reverol , as key figures in serious crimes committed by the country’s security forces. The report offers extensive information “that shows that the State authorities – both at the presidential and ministerial levels – exercised power and supervision over the civilian and military security forces and the agencies identified as perpetrators of the documented violations and crimes.”
