UN calls for Venezuela investigation into alleged killing of civilians
The government has purportedly refused to probe security officers over alleged extra-judicial killings of more than 500 people in the crisis-stricken country
Geneva — On Friday, the UN human rights chief called for an international investigation of atrocities in Venezuela, blasting the government’s chronic refusal to probe security officers over the alleged killings of civilians. "The failure to hold security forces accountable for such serious human rights violations suggests that the rule of law is virtually absent in Venezuela," said Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, as his office launched a new report on reported abuses in the crisis-stricken country. Zeid asked the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to set up its highest-level probe — a Commission of Inquiry — for Venezuela and suggested The Hague-based International Criminal Court may need to get involved. UN investigators were denied access to Venezuela. Some of the findings were based on remote monitoring as well as interviews with victims, witnesses, civil society groups and others. Other evidence includes material compiled by former attorney-general Luisa Ortega Díaz, who was sacked by Presi...
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