Venezuela rejects UN ‘crimes against humanity’ claim

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Venezuelan security forces may have committed crimes against humanity against protesters, the United Nations human rights chief said on Monday as he called for an international investigation.

The Venezuelan foreign minister defended the record of the President Nicolas Maduro's government, rejecting the allegations as "baseless."

Venezuela has been rocked by months of demonstrations against the leftist president, who critics say has plunged the oil-rich country into the worst economic crisis in its history and is turning it into a dictatorship.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‍Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, addresses a session of United Nations Human Rights Council, June 6, 2017 in Geneva. /AFP Photo

"My investigation suggests the possibility that crimes against humanity may have been committed, which can only be confirmed by a subsequent criminal investigation," Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein told the UN Human Rights Council.

He said the government was using criminal proceedings against opposition leaders, arbitrary detentions, excessive use of force and ill-treatment of detainees, in some cases amounting to torture.

Last month, Zeid's office said Venezuela's security forces had committed extensive and apparently deliberate human rights violations in crushing anti-government protests and that democracy was "barely alive."

"There is a very real danger that tensions will further escalate, with the government crushing democratic institutions and critical voices," Zeid said.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza dismissed the UN claim as "baseless." /AFP Photo

The opposition, which boycotted the election for the Constituent Assembly, has accused electoral authorities of inflating turn-out figures for the July 30 vote.

However, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza told the Geneva forum: "We have now selected the National Constituent Assembly, this is the true expression of our citizens' will. It will have the powers to draw up a new Constitution."

"The opposition in Venezuela is back on the path of rule of law and democracy, we will see dialogue emerging thanks to mediation of our friends," he said.

Source(s): Reuters