The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Venezuela: Human Rights Council-appointed fact-finding report urges accountability for crimes against humanity
Rights violations against anti-Government protesters in Venezuela “amounted to crimes against humanity”, UN-appointed rights investigators have said in their first report.
Announcing their findings on Wednesday, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela cited evidence of unlawful executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture since 2014.
Senior military and ministerial figures were likely aware of the crimes, said the investigators, who were appointed by the Human Rights Council in Geneva, in September last year.
“They gave orders, coordinated activities and supplied resources in furtherance of the plans and policies under which the crimes were committed,” the report stated.
Marta Valiñas, chairperson of the FFM, highlighted the extent of atrocities committed in Venezuela since 2014 until today. “The UN Human Right Council in September of last year, investigated and documented extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture and other inhumane or degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence.”
President Nicolas Maduro also likely “side-tracked the chain of command” to ensure the commission of crimes, involving the head of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), the report’s authors maintained.
“We have involvement and contribution to the crime by Mr Maduro, either directly through the chain of command and sometimes circumventing the chain of command and giving the direct order,” said investigator Francisco Cox.
Paul Seils, the third member of the FFM added that the Mission had “reasonable grounds to believe that even in specific operation planning, high-level officials, including senior military and ministerial levels, were also involved”.
The investigators added that they had reasonable grounds to believe that “many of those detained in the context of those protests was subject to torture, cruel and inhuman degrading treatment.”
Ms. Valiñas explained that close to 2,500 incidents involving close to 4,600 deaths were linked to security forces. “This provides the context to what are the violations that we document in the report and that we consider are extrajudicial executions.”
Mr. Seils added that few individuals had been prosecuted in Venezuela for crimes covered in the report.
“There is as far as we can see no record of any serious investigation into those with a higher level of responsibility in terms of organising crime and instigating these kinds of crimes that have been committed”, he said, adding that “the International Criminal Court has already indicated that it’s examining that position and I think one can assume it stands ready to make a decision”.
The panel’s work, which was carried out without the cooperation of the Venezuelan Government, despite official requests, is contained in a 411-page report covering more than 220 cases.
Thousands more files were also reviewed which identified “patterns of violations …that were highly coordinated” by the authorities.
These included crime-fighting operations by the State, “politically motivated detention and torture” by State intelligence agencies, and the “increasingly violent response” to mass opposition protests including last year.
Alleged violations included the killing of 36 protesters, as well as torture in detention, including beatings and humiliation, sexual and gender-based violence and mock executions.
State authorities had also failed to intervene in several cases where protesters were killed by armed civilian groups known as “colectivos”, the report’s authors noted, amid an increased State “reliance on military-civilian coordination to maintain public order in recent years”.
The Mission’s report is due to be presented to the Human Rights Council on Wednesday 23 September.
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a beautiful day.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Marta Valiñas, chairperson of the FFM (Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela): “Over the past months, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in accordance with the mandate it was given by the UN Human Rights Council in September of last year, investigated and documented extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, committed in Venezuela since 2014 to the present.”
- Medium shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a beautiful day.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Francisco Cox Vial, member of the FFM (Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela): “We have involvement and contribution to the crime by Mr Maduro, either directly through the chain of command and sometimes circumventing the chain of command and giving the direct order. But as we said, what we have reasonable grounds to believe is that this is a State policy, it’s not just a random acts of officials in SEBIN, but it is a political decision to target political opposition to quash this opposition.”
- Exterior medium shot, scooter passing in front of Palais des Nations entrance, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Paul Seils, member of the FFM (Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela): “The mission has reasonable grounds to believe that even in specific operational planning, high-level officials, including senior military and ministerial levels, were also involved. The Mission has looked in close detail at almost 100 cases of protests, and it has reasonable grounds to believe that many of those detained in the context of those protests was subjected to torture, cruel, inhumane, degrading treatment.”
- Exterior wide shot, Place des Nations and Palais des Nation main entrance.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Marta Valiñas, Chairperson of the FFM (Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela): “Our team has reviewed close to 2,500 incidents involving close to 4,600 deaths committed by the security forces. This provides the context to what are the violations that we document in the report and that we consider are extrajudicial executions.”
- Exterior medium shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Paul Seils, member of the FFM (Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela): “If the Venezuelan authorities are not willing, fail to do anything or do anything genuinely, then of course the International Criminal Court has already indicated that it’s examining that position and I think one can assume it stands ready to make a decision.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
More than 280,000 people have now been displaced by fighting in Yemen and many vulnerable people are unable to access lifesaving relief because it is too dangerous to do so, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN
Tour guides at UN Geneva turned heads at the Palace of Nations on Thursday as they unveiled stylish new uniforms, designed in partnership with leading Italian sustainable fashion designers and manufacturers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WFP
Aid agencies warned on Friday of the fast-developing humanitarian emergency inside Taiz City in Yemen, which has been encircled by de facto Houthi forces fighting government troops along the country’s west coast.
2
17
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | OCHA , WMO
Two UN agencies teamed up on Wednesday to issue an appeal for immediate assistance to help communities already being impacted by the strongest El Niño on record.
3
16
2
2
Edited News , B-roll , Conferences , Images | UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
Sixth Consultative Meeting on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts for Sudan
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , UNHCR
Yemen war continues to force families from homes amid hunger and disease
More than 250,000 people have now fled renewed fighting in Yemen, the UN said on Tuesday, citing particular concern for those sheltering in the southwestern city of Taiz and the wider governorate, where access is “essentially blocked”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
A little over one year since a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hamas fighters and Israel, more than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds more injured, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated delays in bringing lifesaving medicines, prosthetics and more from Israel into Gaza risk having devastating consequences on Palestinians who urgently need them in the wartorn enclave, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. “A truck full of non-priority supplies or the right supplies arriving too late, doesn't save lives. That's the question that actually matters," said Dr Reinhilde Van De Weerdt, WHO Representative in the OPT.